SSC GRADUATE LEVEL PRELIMINARY EXAM GENERAL AWARENESS

STAFF SELECTION COMMISSION GRADUATE LEVEL PRELIMINARY EXAM

General Awareness

(Held on 27-7-2008)


1. Which of the following is not considered as National
Debt ?

(A) National Savings Certificates

(B) Long-term Government Bonds

(C) Insurance Policies

(D) Provident Fund

Ans : (C)



2. The main determinant of real wage is—

(A) Extra earning

(B) Nature of work

(C) Promotion prospect

(D) Purchasing power of money

Ans : (D)



3. The birthrate measures the number of births during a year per—

(A) 100 population

(B) 1000 population

(C) 10000 population

(D) 100000 population

Ans : (B)



4. Which of the following is not included in the National
Income ?

(A) Imputed rent of owneroccupied houses

(B) Government expenditure on making new bridges

(C) Winning a lottery

(D) Commission paid to an agent for sale of house

Ans : (C)



5. Personal disposable income is—

(A) Always equal to personal income

(B) Always more than personal income

(C) Equal to personal income minus indirect taxes

(D) Equal to personal income minus direct taxes

Ans : (D)



6. Who prepared the first estimate of National Income for the country ?

(A) Central Statistical Organisation

(B) National Income Committee

(C) Dadabhai Naoroji

(D) National Sample Survey Organisation

Ans : (C)



7. A Bill referred to a ‘Joint Sitting’ of the two Houses of the
Parliament is required to be passed by—

(A) A simple majority of the members present

(B) Absolute majority of the total membership

(C) 2/3rd majority of the members present

(D) 3/4th majority of the members present

Ans : (A)



8. Who is the constitutional head of the Government of India ?

(A) President

(B) Prime Minister

(C) Chief Justice of India

(D) Attorney General

Ans : (A)



9. Who certifies a Bill to be a Money Bill in India ?

(A) Finance Minister

(B) President

(C) Speaker of the Lok Sabha

(D) Prime Minister

Ans : (C)



10. By which Amendment were ‘Fundamental Duties’ added to the
Constitution ?

(A) 40th Amendment

(B) 42nd Amendment

(C) 44th Amendment

(D) 45th Amendment

Ans : (B)



11. The Vice-President of India is elected by—

(A) The members of the Parliament

(B) The members of the Rajya Sabha

(C) The elected members of the Parliament

(D) The members of the Parliament and State Legislatures

Ans : (A)



12. When was the comprehensive reorganisation of Indian States completed in
accordance with the recommendations of States Reorganisation Commission ?

(A) 1953

(B) 1956

(C) 1960

(D) 1966

Ans : (B)



13. When Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, who said, "None will believe
that a man like this in body and soul ever walked on this earth" ?

(A) Bertrand Russell

(B) Leo Tolstoy

(C) Albert Einstein

(D) Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

Ans : (C)



14. Who built the ‘Tower of Victory’ (Vijay Stambha) in the Chittor Fort
?

(A) Rana Sanga

(B) Rana Ratan Singh

(C) Rana Hamir Deva

(D) Rana Kumbha

Ans : (D)



15. In violation of the Salt Laws, Gandhiji started a movement called—

(A) Non-Cooperation Movement

(B) Swadeshi Movement

(C) Civil Disobedience Movement

(D) None of the above

Ans : (C)



16. In which of the following wars, were the French completely defeated by
the English ?

(A) Battle of Wandiwash

(B) Battle of Buxar

(C) Battle of Plassey

(D) Battle of Adyar

Ans : (A)



17. The Cabinet Mission came to India in—

(A) 1943

(B) 1944

(C) 1945

(D) 1946

Ans : (D)



18. The first to come and the last to leave India were—

(A) The Portuguese

(B) The French

(C) The English

(D) The Dutch

Ans : (A)



19. IR 20 and Ratna are two important varieties of—

(A) Wheat

(B) Bajra

(C) Jowar

(D) Paddy

Ans : (D)



20. The Trans-Siberian Railway (9438 km) connects…...........… in the
West to …........… in the East.

(A) Moscow, Tashkent

(B) St. Petersburg, Omsk

(C) Moscow, Irkutsk

(D) St. Petersburg, Vladivostok

Ans : (D)



21. Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Academy is located at—

(A) Secunderabad

(B) Rae Bareilly

(C) Jodhpur

(D) Delhi

Ans : (B)



22. Which one of the following rivers of Peninsular India does not join
Arabian Sea ?

(A) Periyar

(B) Cauvery

(C) Narmada

(D) Tapti

Ans : (B)



23. Which one of the following correctly describes AGNI ?

(A) A fighter plane

(B) A versatile tank

(C) A long-range missile

(D) A long-range gun

Ans : (C)



24. Instrument used for measuring area on maps is called—

(A) Planimeter

(B) Eidograph

(C) Pantograph

(D) Opisometer

Ans : (A)



25. If the blood group of one parent is AB and that of the other O, the
possible blood group of their child would be—

(A) A or B

(B) A or B or O

(C) A or AB or O

(D) A or B or AB or O

Ans : (A)



26. How many bones are there in the human body ?

(A) 187

(B) 287

(C) 206

(D) 306

Ans : (C)



27. Dinosaurs were—

(A) Mammals that became extinct

(B) Large herbivorous creatures which gave rise to hippopotamus species

(C) Egg-laying mammals

(D) Reptiles that became extinct

Ans : (D)



28. Sweat glands in mammals are primarily concerned with—

(A) Removal of excess salts

(B) Excretion of nitrogenous wastes

(C) Thermoregulation

(D) Sex-attraction

Ans : (C)



29. The vitamin that helps to prevent infections in the human body is—

(A) Vitamin A

(B) Vitamin B

(C) Vitamin C

(D) Vitamin D

Ans : (A)



30. The normal RBC count in adult male is—

(A) 5•5 million

(B) 5•0 million

(C) 4•5 million

(D) 4•0 million

Ans : (B)



31. A storm is predicted if atmospheric pressure—

(A) Rises suddenly

(B) Rises gradually

(C) Falls suddenly

(D) Falls gradually

Ans : (C)



32. The gas which turns into liquid at the lowest temperature among the
following is—

(A) Hydrogen

(B) Oxygen

(C) Helium

(D) Nitrogen

Ans : (A)



33. An egg sinks in soft water but floats in a concentrated solution of salt
because—

(A) Egg absorbs salt from the solution and expands

(B) Albumin dissolves in salt solution and egg becomes lighter

(C) The density of salt solution exceeds the density of eggs

(D) Water has high surface tension

Ans : (C)



34. What should a person on a freely rotating turn table do to decrease his
(angular) speed ?

(A) Bring his hands together

(B) Raise his hands up

(C) Spread his hands outwards

(D) Sit down with raised hands

Ans : (C)



35. Gunpowder consists of a mixture of—

(A) Sand and TNT

(B) TNT and charcoal

(C) Nitre, sulphur and charcoal

(D) Sulphur, sand and charcoal

Ans : (C)



36. Which of the following is the sweetest sugar ?

(A) Sucrose

(B) Glucose

(C) Fructose

(D) Maltose

Ans : (C)



37. In nuclear reactors, graphite is used as a/an—

(A) Fuel

(B) Lubricant

(C) Moderator

(D) Insulator

Ans : (C)



38. Which of the following celestial bodies contains abundant quantities of
helium-3, a potential source of energy ?

(A) Earth

(B) Moon

(C) Venus

(D) Saturn

Ans : (D)



39. Which of the following International Tennis Tournaments is held on grass
court ?

(A) US Open

(B) French Open

(C) Wimbledon

(D) Australian Open

Ans : (C)



40. What is the name of the writer of Indian origin whose novel, The
Inheritance of Loss has bagged Man Booker Prize ?

(A) Vikram Seth

(B) Kiran Desai

(C) Salman Rushdie

(D) V. S. Naipaul

Ans : (B)



41. Which country from the following is a permanent member of the UN
Security Council ?

(A) Switzerland

(B) People’s Republic of China

(C) Japan

(D) Ukraine

Ans : (B)



42. The Loktak Lake on which a hydroelectric project was constructed is
situated in the State of—

(A) Madhya Pradesh

(B) Manipur

(C) Meghalaya

(D) Himachal Pradesh

Ans : (B)



43. What is the motto incorporated under our National Emblem ?

(A) Satyam Shivam

(B) Satyam Shivam Sundaram

(C) Satyameva Jayate

(D) Jai Hind

Ans : (C)



44. The H5N1 virus which causes bird flu was first discovered in—

(A) 1991

(B) 1995

(C) 1997

(D) 2001

Ans : (C)



45. The Southern tip of India is—

(A) Cape Comorin (Kanyakumari)

(B) Point Calimere

(C) Indira Point in Nicobar Islands

(D) Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram

Ans : (A)



46. According to a resolution adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly, ‘International Day of Peace’ is observed every year on—

(A) September 1

(B) September 14

(C) September 21

(D) September 30

Ans : (C)



47. Where was the last Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit held
?

(A) Sydney

(B) Auckland

(C) New York

(D) Beijing

Ans : (A)



48. According to the UN Convention on the rights of children, which of the
following is not a right ?

(A) Safe drinking water

(B) Adequate standard of living

(C) Education

(D) Marriage

Ans : (D)



49. Who is the author of Ageless Body, Timeless Mind ?

(A) V. S. Naipaul

(B) Deepak Chopra

(C) Dom Moraes

(D) Tony Kusher

Ans : (B)



50. Which cricketer holds the record for scoring highest number of runs in a
test match innings ?

(A) Gary Sobers

(B) Vivian Richards

(C) Sunil Gavaskar

(D) Brian Lara

Ans : (D)