Match the following and identify the correct tropical grassland:

The correct answer is B, Tropical monsoon. India's climate is usually called a tropical monsoon type, because the Tropic of Cancer runs across the middle of the country and the seasonal reversal of winds brings almost all of its rain. From June to September the south-west monsoon blows from the sea towards the land and gives about three quarters of the year's rainfall; in winter the north-east monsoon blows from land to sea and leaves most of India dry, although it does water the Tamil Nadu coast. Regional differences are wide, from the wet slopes of Meghalaya to the sands of Rajasthan, yet this rhythm of one wet and one dry season is what gives the whole country its label. A is wrong because a polar climate has long freezing winters and is found near the poles. C is wrong because a desert climate fits only western Rajasthan and not the country. D is wrong because an arid climate again describes a few dry pockets alone. Exam tip: India is tropical monsoon, and the south-west monsoon brings about 75 per cent of the annual rain.

The correct answer is A, Marble. Marble is a non-metallic mineral: no metal can be drawn out of it, and it is used as a building and sculpting stone, the Makrana marble of Rajasthan being the stone of the Taj Mahal. Minerals are first divided into metallic and non-metallic. A metallic mineral yields a metal when smelted and is either ferrous, containing iron, or non-ferrous. A non-metallic mineral has no metal content of that kind, and limestone, mica, gypsum, dolomite, marble and rock salt are the common examples; marble itself is limestone changed by heat and pressure. B is wrong because manganese is a ferrous metallic mineral, used to harden steel and to make dry cells and paints. C is wrong because silver is a non-ferrous metallic mineral, used in jewellery, coins and electrical contacts. D is wrong because lead too is a non-ferrous metal, used in batteries and sheeting. Exam tip: metallic – ferrous such as iron and manganese, non-ferrous such as copper, lead, zinc and silver; non-metallic – limestone, mica, gypsum, marble.

The correct answer is A, B, D and E, that is landslide, tsunami and floods. An earthquake is the shaking of the ground when energy stored along a fault is suddenly released, and that shaking sets off further hazards. On a steep slope the tremor loosens soil and rock and brings down a landslide. Under the sea, a sudden movement of the ocean floor lifts a huge column of water and sends out a tsunami, as in the Indian Ocean in December 2004. Floods follow when the shaking cracks a dam or an embankment, or when a landslide dams a river and the water later bursts through. Option B is wrong because lightning and thundering are weather events born in tall cumulonimbus clouds and have nothing to do with movement inside the earth. Option C is wrong because it keeps only the landslide and leaves out the tsunami. Option D is wrong because it adds floods but still misses the tsunami. Exam tip: earthquake – landslide, tsunami and dam-burst floods; lightning and thunder belong to a thunderstorm.

The correct answer is B, Nagpur Road Plan. The Nagpur Plan, drawn up at a conference of chief engineers of the provinces and states held at Nagpur in 1943, was the first attempt at planned road development in India and covered the twenty years from 1943 to 1963. It sorted roads into four classes, national highways, state highways, district roads and village roads, laid them out in a star and grid pattern, and set the target of about 16 kilometres of road for every 100 square kilometres of country. A is wrong because there is no Poona Road Plan among India's road development plans. C is wrong because the Bombay Plan, from 1961 to 1981, was the second twenty-year plan and aimed at roughly double that road length. D is wrong because the Lucknow Plan, from 1981 to 2001, was the third such plan, the first prepared after independence by Indian engineers alone, and it brought in the idea of expressways. Exam tip: Nagpur 1943-63 first, Bombay 1961-81 second, Lucknow 1981-2001 third.

The correct answer is D, Tropical deciduous forests. Sandalwood is a tree of the tropical deciduous or monsoon forests, and in India it grows best on the dry eastern slopes of the Western Ghats in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Tropical deciduous forests are the most widespread forests of India, found where the yearly rainfall is roughly between 70 and 200 centimetres, and their trees shed their leaves for about six to eight weeks in the dry season to save water. Teak, sal, shisham, sandalwood, khair, mahua and amla belong to them, and they are the most useful of Indian forests for timber. A is wrong because savanna is a tropical grassland with scattered trees, not a forest belt of sandalwood. B and C are wrong because equatorial evergreen forests and tropical rainforests get very heavy rain through the year, are thick and dark, and carry trees such as rosewood, ebony and mahogany instead. Exam tip: tropical deciduous – teak, sal, sandalwood, shisham; evergreen – rosewood, ebony, mahogany.