Geography Previous Year Questions (PYQ) with Answers – Page 2

The correct answer is D, (a) and (b). Mount Kilimanjaro and Fujiyama were both built up by volcanic eruptions, while the Alps were formed by folding. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is the highest mountain in Africa, and Fujiyama, or Mount Fuji, is the highest mountain in Japan. Both are cone-shaped mountains made of layers of lava and ash piled up over many eruptions. The Alps in Europe are young fold mountains, raised when the African plate pushed against the Eurasian plate and the rock layers crumpled, much like the Himalayas. A is wrong because it includes the Alps, which are fold mountains. B is wrong for the same reason, even though Fujiyama is volcanic. C is wrong because the Alps alone are not volcanic, and this option leaves out both of the real volcanic mountains. Exam tip: volcanic, Kilimanjaro and Fujiyama; fold, Himalayas, Alps and Andes; block, the Vosges and the Black Forest along the Rhine valley.

The correct answer is D, the mid-day sun is exactly overhead. Vertical rays pour the Sun's energy onto a small area, so this zone gets the most heat. The Torrid Zone lies between the Tropic of Cancer (23½° N) and the Tropic of Capricorn (23½° S), and it is the only belt where the mid-day sun is exactly overhead at least once a year. North and south of it the rays fall at a slant, so the same energy spreads over a larger area. That is why the Temperate Zones get moderate heat and the Frigid Zones near the poles stay very cold. A is wrong because slanting rays give less heat, which is the case in the Temperate and Frigid Zones. B is wrong because the zone is not landlocked, and being landlocked does not decide how much heat the Sun gives. C is wrong because oceans only make the climate milder, they do not add solar heat. Exam tip: Torrid, between the two Tropics; Temperate, from the Tropics to the Arctic and Antarctic Circles; Frigid, beyond the Circles.

The correct answer is D, Nitrogen and Oxygen. Together these two gases make up about 99 percent of the air around the Earth. Nitrogen alone is about 78 percent of the atmosphere and oxygen about 21 percent. The remaining 1 percent is mostly argon, with very small amounts of carbon dioxide, helium, ozone, hydrogen and water vapour. NCERT's Class 7 geography book puts it in one line: nitrogen and oxygen are the two gases that make up the bulk of the atmosphere. Plants need nitrogen to grow, and all living things need oxygen to breathe. A is wrong because ozone and helium are found only in tiny amounts, though ozone shields us from ultraviolet rays. B is wrong because hydrogen, unlike nitrogen, is present only in traces in the air. C is wrong because carbon dioxide is a very small share of the air, even though it traps heat and matters for climate. Exam tip: nitrogen about 78 percent, oxygen about 21 percent, argon about 0.93 percent.

The correct answer is A, Canada and the United States of America. Their boundary, about 8,891 km long including the Alaska section, is the longest border between any two countries. It has two parts: about 6,400 km along the southern edge of Canada, much of it along the 49th parallel west of the Great Lakes and through the lakes themselves, and about 2,475 km between Alaska and Canada's Yukon and British Columbia. It is often called the world's longest undefended border and is looked after by the International Boundary Commission. Option D is wrong, though close: the Kazakhstan–Russia border, about 7,600 km, is the longest continuous land border. Option B is wrong because the Chile–Argentina border along the Andes, about 5,300 km, comes third. Option C is wrong because the China–India border is about 3,488 km. Exam tip: Canada–USA is the longest overall, Kazakhstan–Russia the longest continuous land border; India's longest border is with Bangladesh, 4,096 km.

The correct answer is B, Stalagmite. A stalagmite is a column of calcium carbonate that rises from the floor of a limestone cave. Rainwater with dissolved carbon dioxide slowly dissolves limestone and carries it as calcium bicarbonate. When this water drips inside a cave, carbon dioxide escapes and a thin layer of calcium carbonate is left behind, drop after drop, for thousands of years. The drop that hangs from the roof builds a stalactite, and the water that falls on the floor builds a stalagmite below it; when the two meet they form a pillar. Such cave landforms are part of karst topography, seen in India in the Borra Caves of Andhra Pradesh and the caves of Meghalaya. A is wrong because hatectite is not a standard cave term. C is wrong because a stalactite hangs down from the roof, the opposite of what the question describes. D is wrong because dripstone is the general name for all such drip deposits, stalactites and stalagmites alike, not the upward form alone. Exam tip: stalaCtite hangs from the Ceiling, stalaGmite rises from the Ground.

The correct answer is D, 74.04%. This is the overall literacy rate the Census of 2011 reported for India, the figure used in textbooks and exam papers. The Census counts a person aged seven or above who can read and write with understanding in any language as literate, so small children are left out. The same Census gave 82.14 percent for males and 65.46 percent for females, and the paper has cleverly put both of those numbers in the options. Kerala was the most literate state and Bihar the least. A is wrong because 16.68 is the gap between the male and female rates (82.14 minus 65.46), not a literacy rate at all. B is wrong because 65.46 percent is the female literacy rate of 2011, not the overall rate. C is wrong because 82.14 percent is the male literacy rate of 2011. Exam tip: Census 2011 literacy is 74.04 overall, 82.14 male and 65.46 female; the overall figure always lies between the two.

The correct answer is B, 1 and 3, that is Bihar and Manipur. The Sun is overhead, with its rays vertical at noon, only at places between the Tropic of Cancer (23.5 degrees N) and the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5 degrees S). The Tropic of Cancer crosses India through eight states: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram. Any state lying wholly north of this line never gets vertical rays. Bihar stretches roughly from 24.3 to 27.5 degrees N and Manipur from about 23.8 to 25.7 degrees N, so both lie entirely north of the tropic and the Sun is never directly overhead there. A and C are wrong because they include Chhattisgarh, and D is wrong because it includes Rajasthan; the Tropic of Cancer passes through both, so their southern parts do receive vertical rays around 21 June. Exam tip: memorise the eight tropic states, Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura, Mizoram; states such as Bihar, UP, Punjab, Manipur and Assam lie north of the line.

The correct answer is C, At the North Pole. The Coriolis force is the apparent force caused by the rotation of the Earth that deflects moving air and water to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere. Its size is proportional to the sine of the latitude, so it is zero at the equator, where the sine of 0 degrees is zero, and greatest at the poles, where the sine of 90 degrees is one. This is why tropical cyclones cannot form within about 5 degrees of the equator, and why winds around a low-pressure system circle anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern. It was described by the French scientist Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis in 1835. A, At the Equator, the effect is zero, not largest. B, At the tropics, at 23.5 degrees, the effect is small. D, At 45 degrees latitude, the effect is only about 71 percent of its value at the poles. Exam tip: the Coriolis force is zero at the equator and maximum at the poles, and it grows with the speed of the moving body.

The correct answer is B, Darjeeling Hills. The Mahananda rises in the Darjeeling hills of West Bengal, near Kurseong, at a height of about 2,100 metres. It flows down through Siliguri, enters Bihar near Kishanganj, and then passes into Bangladesh, where it joins the Ganga (called the Padma there). It is a left-bank tributary of the Ganga, and its own tributaries include the Balason and the Mechi. The Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary near Siliguri is named after it, and the river is a reason why Siliguri and the 'chicken's neck' corridor are so important for connecting the North-East. A is wrong because the Chota Nagpur Plateau gives rise to the Damodar and Subarnarekha, not the Mahananda. C is wrong because the Kaimur hills are near the Son valley in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. D is wrong because Nanda Devi in Uttarakhand feeds the Rishi Ganga and the Alaknanda system. Exam tip: Mahananda = Darjeeling hills, flows through Siliguri, left-bank tributary of the Ganga; Damodar and Subarnarekha = Chota Nagpur.

The correct answer is A, Tamil Nadu. The Arabian Sea branch of the southwest monsoon strikes the Western Ghats first and drops most of its moisture on the windward western slopes, so the land on the eastern, leeward side gets little rain. This dry leeward zone is the rain shadow, and Tamil Nadu lies in it, which is why it receives its main rain later, from the retreating north-east monsoon in October to December. A famous local example is Mumbai getting far more monsoon rain than Pune, which lies just behind the Ghats. B is wrong because Gujarat is on the windward side and gets direct rain from the Arabian Sea branch. C is wrong because Goa lies on the west coast in front of the Ghats and is one of the wettest states. D is wrong because Kerala is where the southwest monsoon first arrives in India, around 1 June, and it gets very heavy rain. Exam tip: the Western Ghats block the Arabian Sea branch; west side wet (Kerala, Goa), east side dry (Tamil Nadu), which is why Tamil Nadu depends on the north-east monsoon.

The correct answer is A, Mizo Hills. The Lushai Hills are the old British name for the hills of present-day Mizoram, home of the Mizo (Lushai) people. The Lushai Hills district of Assam was renamed the Mizo Hills district in 1954, became the Union Territory of Mizoram in 1972 and the 23rd State on 20 February 1987 under the 53rd Amendment. These hills form the southern part of the Purvanchal, the eastern extension of the Himalayas along the Myanmar border, and their highest point is Phawngpui, the Blue Mountain, at 2,157 metres. Option B is wrong because the Patkai Hills lie further north on the Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland border with Myanmar. Option C is wrong because the Khasi Hills are in Meghalaya, with Shillong, Cherrapunji and Mawsynram. Option D is wrong because the Naga Hills are in Nagaland, with Mount Saramati as the highest peak. Exam tip: Purvanchal from north to south runs Patkai, Naga, Manipur and Mizo (Lushai) hills; the Garo, Khasi and Jaintia hills of Meghalaya are a separate plateau block.

The correct answer is C, Godavari river. The Wardha rises in the Satpura range near Multai in the Betul district of Madhya Pradesh, flows south-east through Vidarbha and meets the Wainganga; the combined stream is called the Pranhita, which is the largest tributary of the Godavari and joins it at Kaleshwaram in Telangana. So the Wardha reaches the Godavari through the Pranhita, and both names appear in exams. The Godavari is the longest river of peninsular India, about 1,465 km, rising at Trimbakeshwar near Nashik and ending in the Bay of Bengal. A, Mahanadi, is fed by the Seonath, Ib, Tel and Ong, not the Wardha. B, Tapi, receives the Purna, Girna and Panzara. D, Narmada, has tributaries like the Tawa and Hiran. Exam tip: Wardha + Wainganga = Pranhita, and Pranhita, Indravati, Manjra all feed the Godavari, the "Dakshin Ganga".

The correct answer is C, The air always moves from high pressure areas to low pressure areas. Air flows from where pressure is high to where it is low, and that moving air is what we call wind; the greater the difference in pressure, the stronger the wind. The Coriolis force then bends this flow, to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern. Option A is wrong because high pressure means sinking air, which brings clear skies and dry weather. Option B is wrong because low pressure means rising air that cools and condenses, so it brings clouds and rain. Option D is wrong because air pressure is highest at sea level, about 1,013 millibars, and falls as one goes up and the air thins. Pressure is measured with a barometer and shown on weather maps by isobars, the lines joining places of equal pressure. Exam tip: high pressure means sinking air and clear weather; low pressure means rising air, clouds and rain.

The correct answer is D, Jupiter. The four inner or terrestrial planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Jupiter lies beyond the asteroid belt and is the first of the outer planets. Inner planets are small, rocky and dense and have few or no moons. The outer planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune - are gas or ice giants, far bigger, much less dense, ringed and rich in moons. Jupiter is the largest planet of the solar system and takes about twelve years to go once round the Sun. Option A is wrong because Mars, the red planet, is the fourth planet and the outermost of the inner group. Option B is wrong because Venus is the second planet and the hottest one. Option C is wrong because Mercury is the planet nearest the Sun and the smallest of all. Exam tip: the asteroid belt separates the four rocky inner planets from the four giant outer planets.

The correct answer is B, Kalbaisakhi. Kalbaisakhi is the name given in West Bengal to the violent evening thunderstorms of the hot weather season, from March to May. The word means the calamity of the month of Baisakh, because the squalls arrive with strong winds, thunder and sudden heavy rain that can flatten crops and huts. They help the jute and rice nurseries and bring brief relief from the heat. The same storms are called Bardoli Chheerha in Assam and Norwesters in English, since they blow in from the north-west. Option A is wrong because the Loo is the hot, dry wind that blows over north-western India in the afternoons of May and June. Option C is wrong because the retreating monsoon is the withdrawal of the south-west monsoon from October onwards. Option D is wrong because mango showers are the pre-monsoon rains of Kerala and coastal Karnataka that help the mango crop ripen. Exam tip: Kalbaisakhi in Bengal, Bardoli Chheerha in Assam, mango showers in Kerala and the Loo in the north-west.

The correct answer is C, Tropic of Cancer. The Tropic of Cancer, at 23 degrees 30 minutes north, cuts India almost in half and divides it into a tropical south and a subtropical north. This is why the south stays warm through the year while the north has a cold winter, and it is the main reason India is described as having a tropical monsoon climate. The line passes through eight states, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram. Option A is wrong because the Equator, at zero degrees, lies well south of India and passes through countries such as Kenya, Indonesia and Brazil. Option B is wrong because the Tropic of Capricorn lies in the southern hemisphere at 23 degrees 30 minutes south. Option D is wrong because the Antarctic Circle at 66 degrees 30 minutes south is far from India. Exam tip: remember the eight states on the Tropic of Cancer from west to east, starting with Gujarat and ending with Mizoram.

The correct answer is D, Saturn. Saturn lies beyond the asteroid belt, so it is an outer planet. The eight planets are divided by the asteroid belt that runs between Mars and Jupiter. The four inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, are small, rocky and dense, with solid crusts and few or no moons; they are called terrestrial planets. The four outer planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, are huge balls of hydrogen and helium with low density, ring systems and many moons; they are called Jovian or gas giant planets. Saturn is the second largest planet and its bright rings make it the easiest to recognise. Option A is wrong because Venus is the second planet from the Sun and an inner planet. Option B is wrong because Earth is the third planet and also an inner one. Option C is wrong because Mercury is the smallest planet and the closest to the Sun. Exam tip: four rocky planets inside the asteroid belt, four gas giants outside it.

The correct answer is D, Polar Easterlies. The polar easterlies blow out of the high pressure belts over the poles towards the sub-polar low pressure belts, so they carry extremely cold and dry air. Cold air holds very little moisture, which is why these winds bring almost no rain and the polar regions are counted among the driest places on earth. They are one of the three planetary wind systems, along with the trade winds and the westerlies, and where they meet the warmer westerlies near sixty degrees latitude they form the polar front, the birthplace of temperate cyclones. Option A is wrong because monsoon winds reverse with the season and the summer monsoon is warm and heavy with moisture. Option B is wrong because the westerlies, blowing from the sub-tropical highs towards the sub-polar lows, bring rain to the western margins of continents. Option C is wrong because the trade winds blow towards the equator and are warm and moist over the oceans. Exam tip: trades from the east near the equator, westerlies in the middle latitudes, easterlies again at the poles.

The correct answer is C, El Nino. El Nino is the warming of the surface water of the central and eastern Pacific, and it weakens the trade winds that normally blow from east to west across that ocean. In normal years those winds push warm water towards Australia and Indonesia, letting cold water rise along the coast of Peru. When the pressure pattern flips, the winds slacken or even reverse, warm water spreads east, and the upwelling off South America stops, which hurts the anchovy catch. El Nino usually means a weaker monsoon and drier conditions over India. Option A is wrong because the Coriolis force, caused by the earth's rotation, only deflects winds and does not weaken them. Option B is wrong because a Mango Shower is a local pre-monsoon rain of Kerala and Karnataka. Option D is wrong because La Nina is the opposite phase, with cooler Pacific water and stronger trade winds. Exam tip: El Nino means warm Pacific, weak trade winds and a weak Indian monsoon; La Nina is the reverse on all three.

The correct answer is A, Dang. Dang is not a South Indian tribe. The name belongs to the Dangs district of southern Gujarat, whose tribal people are mainly Bhil, Warli and Konkana, all of western India. The other three are communities of the Nilgiri hills, where Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka meet. The Toda are pastoralists known for their barrel-shaped huts and their buffalo-centred rituals. The Badaga are farmers of the Nilgiri plateau who speak a tongue close to Kannada. The Irula, a Scheduled Tribe of Tamil Nadu, are known for snake catching and for collecting forest produce. Option B is wrong because the Toda are the best known tribe of the Nilgiris. Option C is wrong because the Badaga live on the same plateau, around Udhagamandalam. Option D is wrong because the Irula are spread across Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Exam tip: remember Toda, Kota, Kurumba, Badaga and Irula as the five main Nilgiri tribes, and place Bhil, Warli and the Dangs in Gujarat and Maharashtra.