Geography Previous Year Questions (PYQ) with Answers – Page 7

The correct answer is D, Madhya Pradesh. The Son rises at Amarkantak on the Maikal hills in Anuppur district of Madhya Pradesh, the same plateau from which the Narmada starts in the opposite direction. It flows north and then east for about 780 km through Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and joins the Ganga near Maner, a little west of Patna. It is the largest right-bank (southern) tributary of the Ganga; its own tributaries include the Rihand and the North Koel, and the Bansagar dam in Madhya Pradesh and the Rihand dam in Uttar Pradesh stand on this system. The famous Koilwar rail-road bridge in Bihar crosses the Son. A is wrong because West Bengal is where the Ganga ends its Indian course, not where the Son begins. B is wrong because Uttar Pradesh only lies on the Son's middle course. C is wrong because Assam belongs to the Brahmaputra basin. Exam tip: Amarkantak sends the Narmada west and the Son north-east; the Son meets the Ganga near Patna.

The correct answer is D, Madhya Pradesh. The Bansagar Dam stands on the Sone river in the Shahdol region of Madhya Pradesh.

Bansagar is a joint project of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the three states through which the Sone flows, and it serves both irrigation and power. The Sone is a major right bank tributary of the Ganga; it rises near Amarkantak, the same highland that gives birth to the Narmada, and joins the Ganga near Patna. The dam is named after the sage Bana, who is linked in tradition with the Sone valley.

Option A is wrong because Maharashtra has Koyna and Jayakwadi. Option B is wrong because Gujarat has the Sardar Sarovar on the Narmada and Ukai on the Tapi. Option C is wrong because Andhra Pradesh has Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam on the Krishna.

Exam tip: Bansagar on the Sone in Madhya Pradesh, shared with Uttar Pradesh and Bihar; Amarkantak is the source of both the Narmada and the Sone.

The correct answer is B, Westerlies Winds. The westerlies blow from the subtropical high pressure belt towards the subpolar low, which makes them south-westerly in the northern hemisphere and north-westerly in the southern. Between 40 and 50 degrees south there is almost no land to slow them down, so over the Southern Ocean they blow strong and steady all year and sailors named them the Roaring Forties. Further south they are called the Furious Fifties and the Shrieking Sixties. Option A is wrong because the polar easterlies are cold, dry winds that move from the polar high towards the sixty degree latitudes. Option C is wrong because the trade winds blow from the subtropical highs towards the equator, north-easterly above the equator and south-easterly below it, and once carried sailing ships on their trade routes. Option D is wrong because the doldrums is not a wind at all but the belt of calm near the equator along the inter-tropical convergence zone. Exam tip: forties roar, fifties are furious, sixties shriek, and all three are westerlies.

The correct answer is A, Orange River. The Orange River is the longest river of South Africa, about 2,200 km long. It rises in the Drakensberg mountains of Lesotho, flows west across South Africa and falls into the Atlantic Ocean at Alexander Bay. For part of its course it forms the border between South Africa and Namibia. Its main tributary is the Vaal, and the Augrabies Falls lie on the Orange. The Limpopo is the other big river of South Africa, flowing east into the Indian Ocean. B is wrong because the Nile, the longest river in the world, flows north through countries such as Uganda, Sudan and Egypt into the Mediterranean Sea. C is wrong because the Congo flows through Central Africa, crosses the Equator twice and enters the Atlantic. D is wrong because the Niger flows through West Africa (Guinea, Mali, Niger and Nigeria) into the Gulf of Guinea. Exam tip: South Africa = Orange and Limpopo; Nile = north-east Africa; Congo = crosses the Equator twice; Niger = West Africa; Zambezi = Victoria Falls.

The correct answer is C, Panama Canal. The Panama Canal cuts across the narrow Isthmus of Panama in Central America and joins the Atlantic Ocean, through the Caribbean Sea, with the Pacific Ocean. It was opened in 1914 by the United States and is about 82 km long. Because the land in between is higher than the sea, ships are raised and lowered by locks that use water from the man-made Gatun Lake. The canal saves ships the long voyage around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America. The USA handed the canal over to Panama on 31 December 1999. A is wrong because the Kiel Canal in Germany joins the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. B is wrong because the Suez Canal in Egypt, opened in 1869, joins the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. D is wrong because the White Sea Canal in Russia links the White Sea with the Baltic Sea. Exam tip: Suez 1869 (Mediterranean to Red Sea, no locks), Panama 1914 (Atlantic to Pacific, with locks), Kiel (North Sea to Baltic Sea).

The correct answer is C, southern. Indira Point, the southernmost point of India, lies at the southern tip of Great Nicobar Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is at about 6°45' North latitude. Its old name was Pygmalion Point, and it was renamed in 1985 in memory of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The southernmost point of mainland India is Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, at about 8°4' N. The Six Degree Channel, south of Great Nicobar, separates India from Sumatra in Indonesia. A is wrong because the northern tip of Great Nicobar faces Little Nicobar, the next island in the chain. B is wrong because the eastern coast runs along the side of the island and does not reach its southern end. D is wrong because the western coast also runs along the side of the island, not at its southern end. Exam tip: India's extreme points: south = Indira Point, mainland south = Kanyakumari, east = Kibithu (Arunachal Pradesh), west = Guhar Moti (Kutch, Gujarat).

The correct answer is D, Aravalli Range. Guru Shikhar, about 1,722 m high on Mount Abu in the Sirohi district of Rajasthan, is the highest peak of the Aravalli Range. The Aravallis are among the oldest fold mountains in the world and have been worn down into low hills. They run about 700 km from Gujarat through Rajasthan and Haryana to Delhi, where the Delhi Ridge is their last part. The range acts as a barrier to the spread of the Thar Desert towards the east, and Mount Abu is the only hill station of Rajasthan. A is wrong because the Vindhyas are a lower range in central India and Guru Shikhar is not part of them. B is wrong because the highest peak of the Western Ghats is Anamudi (2,695 m) in Kerala. C is wrong because the highest peak of the Satpura Range is Dhupgarh, near Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh. Exam tip: Aravalli = Guru Shikhar, Satpura = Dhupgarh, Western Ghats = Anamudi, Nilgiris = Doddabetta.

The correct answer is A, Borneo. Of the four islands listed, Borneo has the largest area; it is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. The world's top islands by area run Greenland, New Guinea, Borneo, Madagascar, Baffin and Sumatra, with Australia counted as a continent rather than an island. Borneo lies in South-East Asia and is the only island shared by three countries: Indonesia, whose part is called Kalimantan, Malaysia, with Sabah and Sarawak, and the small nation of Brunei. Option B is wrong because Great Britain, though the largest island in Europe, ranks only around ninth in the world. Option C is wrong because Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa, is the fourth-largest, just behind Borneo. Option D is wrong because Sumatra, also in Indonesia, is sixth, well behind Borneo. Exam tip: remember the top four as Greenland, New Guinea, Borneo, Madagascar, and that Borneo belongs to three countries.

The correct answer is D, Chambal. Rana Pratap Sagar Dam stands on the Chambal at Rawatbhata in the Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan. It is one of the four structures of the Chambal Valley Project: Gandhi Sagar Dam upstream in Madhya Pradesh, then Rana Pratap Sagar, Jawahar Sagar and the Kota Barrage in Rajasthan. The dam was completed in 1970 and has a hydropower station of 172 MW, and the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station also stands at Rawatbhata. The Chambal rises in the Janapav hills near Mhow in Madhya Pradesh and joins the Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh. A is wrong because the Ganga is known for the Farakka Barrage, not this dam. B is wrong because the Jhelum carries projects such as Uri in Jammu and Kashmir. C is wrong, and is the usual trap, because the Pong Dam on the Beas in Himachal Pradesh has a reservoir called Maharana Pratap Sagar. Exam tip: Rana Pratap Sagar = Chambal (Rajasthan); Maharana Pratap Sagar = Pong Dam on the Beas.

The correct answer is B, Meghalaya. Shillong is the capital of Meghalaya, the hill state whose name means abode of the clouds. Meghalaya was carved out of Assam and became a full state on 21 January 1972, the same day as Manipur and Tripura. Before that, Shillong had been the capital of undivided Assam, and its pine hills and cool weather earned it the name Scotland of the East. The state is home to the Khasi, Garo and Jaintia hills, and Mawsynram and Cherrapunji (Sohra) in the Khasi hills are among the wettest places on Earth. A is wrong because the capital of Tripura is Agartala. C is wrong because the capital of Nagaland is Kohima. D is wrong because Assam moved its capital from Shillong to Dispur, in Guwahati, after Meghalaya was formed. Exam tip: Shillong = Meghalaya, Kohima = Nagaland, Agartala = Tripura, Dispur = Assam, Imphal = Manipur, Aizawl = Mizoram, Itanagar = Arunachal Pradesh.

The correct answer is C, Uttarakhand. Nainital, the eye-shaped lake, lies in the Kumaon hills of Uttarakhand at a height of about 1,938 metres. The town grew around it after the British trader P. Barron reached the lake in 1841, and it became the summer capital of the United Provinces. The lake is a natural crescent, with Mallital at its northern end and Tallital at its southern end, and the Naina Devi temple on its bank gives it its name. Nearby lakes of the same district are Bhimtal, Sattal and Naukuchiatal, which is why the area is called the Lake District of India. A is wrong because Assam's well-known lakes are Chandubi and Deepor Beel. B is wrong because Himachal Pradesh has Renuka, Rewalsar and Chandra Tal. D is wrong because Nainital was part of Uttar Pradesh only until Uttarakhand was carved out in November 2000. Exam tip: Nainital, Bhimtal, Sattal and Naukuchiatal all lie in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand.

The correct answer is C, Mexico. Milpa is the name given to shifting cultivation in Mexico and in the neighbouring parts of Central America, where maize, beans and squash are grown together on a patch cleared from the forest. In shifting cultivation a plot is cleared by cutting and burning the trees, cropped for two or three years until the ash-fed soil loses its fertility, and then left fallow while the farmer moves to a fresh patch. Because the same practice grew up in forest belts across the world, it carries a different local name in each region. A is wrong because in India it is called jhum in the north-east, podu in Andhra Pradesh and bewar or dahiya in Madhya Pradesh. B is wrong because in Malaysia and Indonesia it is known as ladang. D is wrong because in Brazil it is called roca or coivara. Exam tip: milpa in Mexico, ladang in Malaysia, roca in Brazil, chena in Sri Lanka and jhum in north-east India.