Q1. The terms longitude and latitude were first used by
(a) Herodotus
(b) Eratosthenes
(c) Posidonius
(d) Ptolemy
Answer: (b)
Explanation: The terms longitude and latitude were first used by Eratosthenes. Eratosthenes of Cyrene was a Greek mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer, and music theorist. He was a man of learning, becoming the chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria.
Q2. The original home of the gipsies was:
(a) Egypt
(b) Russia
(c) India
(d) Persia
Answer: (c)
Explanation: The ‘Gypsies’ are a group of people found in Central Asia. But, the original home of Gypsies was in India (Western Rajasthan and Punjab) area.
Gipsies’ are an ethnic group, which for unknown reasons took to a wandering lifestyle during the late Middle Ages.
Q3. The continent through which both the tropic of cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn pass is
(a) North America
(b) Asia
(c) Africa
(d) Europe
Answer: (c)
Explanation: Tropic of cancer, Tropic of Capricorn as well as equator pass through Africa.
Q4. . Which one of the following does not belong to the biosphere reserves set-up so far?
(a) Great Nicobar
(b) Sunderbans
(c) Nanda Devi
(d) Gulf of Kutch
Answer: (d)
Explanation: Great Nicobar, Sundarbans, and Nanda Devi are biosphere reserves declared by Govt. of India. The Gulf of Kutch is not a biosphere reserve, dry sandy plain.
Q5. Consider the following statements and select the correct answer using the codes given below:
Assertion (A): The length of the day at the equator is always 12 hours.
Reason (R): The angle of incidence of the Sun’s rays at the equator is constant.
Codes:
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true, but R is false.
(d) A is false, but R is true.
Answer: (a)
Explanation: The length of the day at the equator is always 12 hrs as the angle of incidence of the Sun’s rays at the equator is constant.
Q6. Which one of the following is the correct sequence of the descending order of the latitudinal zones of ocean salinity? Use the codes given below to select the correct answer:
10°N — 15°N
15°N — 40°N
40°N — 50°N
50°N — 70°N
Codes:
(a) 1, 3, 2, 4
(b) 2, 1, 3, 4
(c) 2, 1, 4, 3
(d) 1, 4, 3, 2
Answer: (b)
Explanation: 15°N – 40° N > 10° N – 15° N > 40° N – 50° N > 50° N – 70° N
Q7. Who founded the word “Geography”?
(a) Ptolemy
(b) Eratosthenes
(c) Hicatus
(d) Herodotus
Answer: (b)
Explanation: Eratosthenes was a Greek mathematician, geographer, astronomer, and poet. He was born in 276 BC. He propounded the word ‘geography’.
Q8. Arakan Yoma is the extension of the Himalayas located in:
(a) Baluchistan
(b) Myanmar
(c) Nepal
(d) Kashmir
Answer: (b)
Explanation: ArakanYoma is located in western Myanmar. It is a part of the eastern Himalayas. It includes the Naga Hills, the Chin Hills, and the Patkai range which includes the Lushai hills.
Q9. Which one of the following characteristics of the earth is not explained by the tetrahedral hypothesis?
(a) Drifting of the continents.
(b) Location of the chain of Fold Mountains around the Pacific Ocean.
(c) Antipodal arrangement of the continents and oceans.
(d) Triangular shape of the continents and the oceans.
Answer: (a)
Explanation: The Tetrahedral hypothesis is an obsolete scientific theory attempting to explain the arrangement of the Earth’s continents and oceans by referring to the geometry of a tetrahedron. Although it was a historically interesting theory in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was superseded by the concepts of continental drift and modern plate tectonics.
Q10. Milky Way Galaxy was first seen by-
(a) Galileo
(b) Martin Schmidt
(c) Marconi
(d) Newton
Answer: (a)
Explanation: According to Big Bang theory, the cosmic substance was in the form of a single dense mass which got scattered through explosion-forming galaxies. Ours is a Milky Way galaxy discovered first by Galileo in 1610.
Q11. Consider the map given below:
The dotted (broken) line in the map is the:
(a) Durand line
(b) McMohan line
(c) Line of demarcation between India and Pakistan suggested by the Boundary Commission (1947)
(d) Route followed by young husband’s expedition.
Answer: (a)
Explanation: The dotted (broken) line in the map represents the Durand Line, the boundary between India and Afghanistan. This line was demarcated by a commission headed by Durand.
Q12. Consider the following statements:
Either of the two belts over the oceans at about 30° to 35° N and S latitudes is known as Horse Latitude.
Horse latitude is low-pressure belts.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (a)
Explanation: Horse latitudes or subtropical highs are subtropical latitudes between 30 and 35 degrees both north and south where Earth’s atmosphere is dominated by the subtropical high, an area of high pressure, which suppresses precipitation and cloud formation and has variable winds mixed with calm winds.
Q13. . The distance between Earth and Sun is maximum on?
(a) January 30
(b) December 20
(c) September 22
(d) July 4
Answer: (d)
Explanation: As Earth follows an elliptical path around the Suit’s distance from the Sun never remains constant. It is nearest to the Sun on January 3rd (Perihelion) & furthest from the Sun on July 4 (Aphelion).
Q14. Match List-I with List-II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the list.
List I
List II
(A) 0° latitude
(i) Standard meridian of India
(B) 88½° E
(ii) Arctic Circle
(C) 23½° S
(iii) the Equator
(D) 66½° N
(iv) Tropic of Capricorn
Codes:
(a) A – (iii), B – (i), C – (iv), D – (ii)
(b) A – (ii), B – (iii), C – (iv), D – (i)
(c) A – (iii), B – (ii), C – (i), D – (iv)
(d) A – (iii), B – (i), C – (ii), D – (iv)
Answer: (a)
Explanation: The Equator is the parallel line located at 0° latitude. It is identified as the latitude that falls at the point that is equidistant from the North Pole and the South Pole. The Equator covers a distance on the Earth’s surface approximately 24,901 miles long.
The standard meridian of India is 88.5 ̊ E of the Greenwich Meridian. This meridian passes through the city of Allahabad. It runs through the centre of the country.
The Tropic of Capricorn, or Southern tropic, is one of the five major circles of the latitude of a map of the Earth. It is 23° 26′ 22″ south of the Equator. It marks the most southerly latitude at which the sun can appear directly overhead.
The Arctic Circle is the parallel of latitude that runs 66° 33´ 39” (or 66.56083°) north of the Equator and is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. Everything north of this circle is known as the Arctic, and the zone just to the south of this circle is the Northern Temperate Zone.
Q15. In the Indian context, the term ‘Denotified tribes‘ refers to:
(a) Tribes which are aboriginals
(b) Nomadic tribes
(c) Tribespracticing shifting cultivation
(d) Tribes which were earlier classified as criminal tribes
Answer: (d)
Explanation: Denotified tribe in India refers to the tribes who were originally listed under the originally terrible act of 1871. They are also known as VimuktaJati.
Q16. What is the total number of planets move around the Sun?
(a) Five
(b) Eight
(c) Seven
(d) Six
Answer: (b)
Explanation: Planets of the solar system which revolve around the Sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus Neptune.
Q17. 90° E Ridge lies in
(a) Atlantic ocean
(b) Indian ocean
(c) Pacific ocean
(d) Mediterranean ocean
Answer: (b)
Explanation:90°E Ridge lies in the Indian Ocean. The Ninety East Ridge (also rendered as Ninety east Ridge, 90E Ridge, or 90°E Ridge) is a linear, age-progressive seamount chain in the Indian Ocean and is named for its near-parallel strike along the 90th meridian. It is approximately 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi) in length and can be traced topographically from the Bay of Bengal southward towards the Southeast Indian Ridge (SEIR), though the feature continues to the north where it is hidden beneath the sediments of the Bengal Fan. The ridge extends between latitudes 33°S and 17°N and has an average width of 200 km.
Q18. Consider the following programs:
Afforestation and development of wastelands
Reforestation and replantation in existing forests
Encouraging the wood substitutes and supplying other types of fuel
Promotion of wide use of insecticides and pesticides to restrict the loss of forest area from degradation caused by pests and insects.
The National Forest Policy of 1988 includes:
(a) 1, 2, 3 and 4
(b) 2 and 4
(c) 1, 3 and 4
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (d)
Explanation: National Forest Policy, 1988 describes the protection of forests and development of the forest. It does not describe the use of insecticides and pesticides in forest areas.
Q19. The four largest planets of the solar system in descending order are-
(a) Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn, and Uranus
(b) Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune
(c) Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
(d) Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn, and Neptune
Answer: (c)
Explanation: According to the size of the planets, the descending order will be: Jupiter (largest planet), Saturn (2nd largest), Uranus (3rd largest) & Neptune (4th Largest).
Q20. What are the date/dates on which day and night are equal in both hemispheres?
(a) June 21
(b) December 22
(c) March 21 and September 23
(d) June 21 and December 22
Answer: (c)
Explanation: It happens during Vernal Equinox (21st March) and Autumn Equinox (September 23).
Q21. Which of the following planets do not have satellites?
(a) Mars and Venus
(b) Mercury and Venus
(c) Mars and Mercury
(d) Neptune and Pluto
Answer: (b)
Explanation: Both Mercury and Venus have no satellites (Moons)of their own. Mercury is very small to have powerful gravitational pull while Venus has great gravitational pull but still doesn’t have a Moon.
Q22. The rough outline map shows a portion of the MiddleEast
The countries labelled A, B, C and D are respectively:
(a) Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia
(b) Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan
(c) Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan
(d) Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia
Answer: (c)
Explanation: In the given map the labelled countries are
‘A’ in Iraq
‘B’ in Syria
‘C’ in Saudi Arabia
‘D’ in Jordan
Q23. How many days in one year on mercury?
(a) 56
(b) 88
(c) 300
(d) 36
Answer: (b)
Explanation: Being nearest to Sun, its path around Sun is the smallest. Hence it is one year is equal to 88 days. 59 days spent on Earth are equivalent to 1 day spent on Mercury as days there are bigger than the days on Earth.
Q24. Given below is a map of some countries that were parts of the erstwhile Soviet Union, with water bodies shown by shaded areas:
The countries marked 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are respectively:
Explanation: The marked countries in the figure are:
‘1’ – Kazakhstan
‘2’ – Turkmenia
‘3’ – Uzbekistan
‘4’ – Kirgizia
‘5’ – Tajikistan
Q25. Which of the following Scientist proved that the path of each planet around the Sun is elliptical?
(a) Kepler
(b) Galileo
(c) Newton
(d) Copernicus
Answer: (a)
Explanation: Kepler stated that the ratio of squares of the periods of any two planets is equal to the ratio of cubes of their average distance from the Sun.
