Which is the largest national park in India by area?

The correct answer is B, Kangchenjunga. Kangchenjunga rises to 8,586 metres on the border of Sikkim with Nepal and is the third highest mountain in the world after Mount Everest and K2. It is the highest peak in India and its summit region is treated as sacred in Sikkim, so climbers traditionally stop short of the final point.

Option A, Nanda Devi, in Uttarakhand, is a very high Himalayan peak and the second highest in the country, but it is lower than Kangchenjunga. Option C, Anamudi, at 2,695 metres in Kerala, is the highest peak of peninsular India and of the Western Ghats, not of the country. Option D, Doda Betta, is the highest peak of the Nilgiri hills in Tamil Nadu and is lower still. The question is set to see whether a candidate can keep the national, the peninsular and the regional superlatives apart.

The correct answer is C, Kerala. Anamudi stands 2,695 metres high in the Idukki district of Kerala, in the Anaimalai hills of the Western Ghats, close to Eravikulam National Park, which protects the Nilgiri tahr. It is the highest point of peninsular India and the highest point of the Western Ghats.

Option A, Karnataka, has Mullayanagiri in the Chikkamagaluru district as its highest point, which is far lower. Option B, Tamil Nadu, has Doda Betta in the Nilgiris as its highest peak, and the state shares the Anaimalai range with Kerala but not the summit itself. Option D, Maharashtra, has Kalsubai in the Sahyadri as its highest point. Since all four states lie along or near the Western Ghats, the examiner expects the candidate to know not only the name of the peak but the state that holds the summit.

The correct answer is D, Rajasthan. Rajasthan is the largest state of India by area, holding the Thar desert in its west and the Aravalli range running across it from the south-west to the north-east. The smallest state by area is Goa, while among the union territories Ladakh is the largest and Lakshadweep the smallest.

Option A, Madhya Pradesh, is the second largest state by area and became so after Chhattisgarh was carved out of it. Option B, Maharashtra, is third by area and the second most populous state. Option C, Uttar Pradesh, is the most populous state according to the 2011 Census but stands well below these in area. The trap in this question is the word area: a candidate who reads it as population will pick Uttar Pradesh, which is why the two superlatives should always be learnt as a pair.

The correct answer is B, Wular Lake. Wular Lake lies in the Kashmir valley in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, is fed by the Jhelum and is the largest freshwater lake in India. It is a Ramsar site and acts as a natural flood absorber for the valley.

Option A, Chilika Lake in Odisha, is the largest brackish water lagoon in India, connected to the Bay of Bengal by a narrow mouth, and is known for migratory birds and Irrawaddy dolphins; it is not freshwater. Option C, Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan, is the largest inland salt lake in the country and a major source of common salt. Option D, Vembanad in Kerala, is the longest lake in India and the heart of the backwater system, but it is a brackish lagoon as well. The question turns on the word freshwater, which rules out three of the four.

The correct answer is B, Brahmaputra. Majuli lies in the Brahmaputra in Assam and is the largest river island in India. It is inhabited, it has been made a district of Assam, and it is famous for the satras, the Vaishnava monasteries founded in the tradition of Srimanta Sankardeva. Its area has been shrinking steadily because of erosion by the river.

Option A, the Ganga, is the longest river of India and forms the Sundarbans delta with the Brahmaputra and the Meghna, but Majuli is not on it. Option C, the Godavari, is the longest river of peninsular India and is called the Dakshin Ganga; it forms a large delta on the eastern coast. Option D, the Mahanadi, flows through Chhattisgarh and Odisha and is dammed at Hirakud, the longest dam in India. All four are major rivers, so the question checks a single precise pairing rather than a general idea.