Previous-year questions are the most reliable guide to the CDS General Knowledge paper, because the syllabus in the notice is one paragraph long and the paper is not. UPSC uploads the question papers of every CDS on upsc.gov.in the day after the exam, so a full record of what was asked exists for each cycle. Reading them shows the weight of each area, the depth UPSC expects in Polity, History, Geography, Economy and Science, and the question forms it prefers: statements with "which of the above are correct", "how many of the following pairs are correctly matched", match the lists, and arrange in chronological order. Many topics return: writs and constitutional bodies, dynasties and reform movements, Ramsar sites and World Heritage sites, budget and balance-of-payments terms, and school science applied to everyday situations. This page collects CDS previous-year General Knowledge questions in English and Hindi, each with the correct answer, an explanation and the topic it belongs to, so that a question leads you to the GK note that covers it. Use them in three passes: untimed to learn, timed to build speed, and a week later to revisit your wrong answers.
School bells are made of metals because metals are
Metals produce a ringing sound when struck, a property called sonority, which is why bells are made of metal. Sonorous means 'producing a deep, ringing sound'.
Read the full explanation →The power of a lens of focal length 10 cm is
Power is the reciprocal of focal length in metres, and 10 cm is 0.1 m, so P = 1 ÷ 0.1 = 10 D. The power of a lens measures how strongly it converges or diverges light.
Read the full explanation →The rest mass of Higgs boson is estimated to be close to
The Higgs boson found at CERN in 2012 has a mass of about 125 GeV, which among the given options is closest to 100 GeV.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements with reference to Easter Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is/are correct? 1. It is part of Polynesia group of islands. 2. It is a territory of the South American nation Chile. Select the answer using the code given below:
Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is a Polynesian island in the south-eastern Pacific that has belonged to Chile since 1888.
Read the full explanation →An X-ray can be deflected:
X-rays are electromagnetic waves made of uncharged photons, so electric and magnetic fields cannot bend them. Electric and magnetic fields exert force only on charged particles: a charge q feels a force qE in an electric field and qvB in a magnetic field.
Read the full explanation →Which one among the following generation computers used microprocessors in their hardware technology?
Fourth-generation computers, from about 1971, were built around the microprocessor, a whole CPU on a single chip. Computer generations are named after the main switching technology of the time.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements about State Election Commissioner is/are correct? 1. Preparation of electoral rolls for elections to the Panchayats takes place under his/her direction 2. He/she is appointed by the Governor of the concerned State on the advice of the Chief Election Commissioner of India Select the answer using the code given below:
The State Election Commission directs the preparation of electoral rolls for panchayat elections, but the State Election Commissioner is appointed by the Governor, not on the Chief Election Commissioner's advice.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following air pollutants combines with the haemoglobin of human blood and reduces its oxygen-carrying capacity, leading to suffocation and may cause even death?
Carbon monoxide binds with haemoglobin far more strongly than oxygen does, so the blood can no longer carry enough oxygen.
Read the full explanation →Most viruses that infect plants possess
The great majority of plant viruses carry their genes as single-stranded RNA. Viruses contain either DNA or RNA, never both, wrapped in a protein coat.
Read the full explanation →The Summary Settlement of 1856 was based on which one of the following assumptions?
The British settlement in Awadh treated the talukdars as intruders who had gained land by force and fraud. After Awadh was annexed in 1856, the British introduced the Summary Settlement of land revenue there.
Read the full explanation →In India, May 21 is observed as
India marks 21 May as Anti-Terrorism Day because former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on that day in 1991.
Read the full explanation →While studying vegetation of an area, terms like 'population' and 'community' are often used. Which one of the following statements best describes a population?
In ecology, a population is defined by three things together: one species, one place and one time. Ecology studies life in levels.
Read the full explanation →The number of saturated and unsaturated bonds in cyclohexane are:
Cyclohexane, C 6 H 12, has 6 C–C single bonds and 12 C–H single bonds, 18 single bonds in all and no double or triple bond.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following pairs of metals are very good conductors of heat?
Silver and copper are the two best conductors of heat among metals. Metals conduct heat because their free electrons carry energy quickly through the solid.
Read the full explanation →The area under the velocity-time graph for a particle moving in a straight line with uniform acceleration gives
Velocity multiplied by time is displacement, so the area between a velocity-time graph and the time axis gives the displacement.
Read the full explanation →Bacteria have an undefined nuclear region which lacks a nuclear membrane and contains only DNA without proteins. Such a region is called:
A bacterium is a prokaryote, so its DNA lies in an irregular region called the nucleoid, with no nuclear membrane around it.
Read the full explanation →Photo 51 refers to an image of
Photo 51 is the X-ray diffraction photograph of DNA that revealed its helical shape. The picture was taken in May 1952 at King's College London by Rosalind Franklin and her student Raymond Gosling.
Read the full explanation →River Danube does not flow through which one of the following capital cities in Europe?
Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, stands on the Vltava river, not on the Danube. The Danube is Europe's second-longest river after the Volga.
Read the full explanation →A sound wave travelling at a speed of 330 m/s produces 20 crests and 20 troughs in 0.1 second. The wavelength of the sound wave is:
Twenty crests and twenty troughs make twenty complete waves in 0.1 second, so the frequency is 200 Hz and the wavelength is 330 ÷ 200 = 1.65 m. One complete wave, or one cycle, contains one crest and one trough (for sound, one compression and one rarefaction).
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements about Goods and Services Tax (GST) in course of inter-State trade or commerce is/are correct? 1. Levy and collection of GST are governed under Article 269A of the Constitution of India 2. GST on supplies in the course of inter-State trade or commerce may not be levied and collected by the States 3. GST is apportioned between the Union and the States Select the answer using the code given below:
Article 269A makes inter-State GST a tax that only the Centre levies and collects and then shares with the States.
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