RRB ALP 2018 Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

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 D, 1911. King George V announced at the Delhi Durbar on 12 December 1911 that the capital of British India would move from Calcutta to Delhi. Lord Hardinge II was the Viceroy at the time, and the same Durbar also cancelled the Partition of Bengal of 1905. Delhi was chosen because it was more central, had long been the seat of the Sultans and the Mughals, and was away from the strong nationalist movement in Bengal. The new city of New Delhi was planned by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker and was formally inaugurated in 1931. A is wrong because 1912 is when the move was carried out; the decision was declared in 1911. B is wrong because 1905 is the year of the Partition of Bengal under Lord Curzon. C is wrong because 1910 is the year George V became king. Exam tip: 1905 Partition of Bengal (Curzon); 1911 partition annulled and capital shift announced (Hardinge II, Delhi Durbar); 1931 New Delhi inaugurated.

The correct answer is D, Shah Jahan. The Jama Masjid of Delhi was built by Shah Jahan between 1650 and 1656 as the main mosque of his new capital, Shahjahanabad. It is one of the largest mosques in India, made of red sandstone and white marble, with three great gateways, four towers and two tall minarets. Its courtyard can hold about 25,000 worshippers. Its original name was Masjid-i-Jahan Numa, and it stands facing the Red Fort, which Shah Jahan also built. A is wrong because Humayun died in 1556, almost a century before the mosque was built. B is wrong because Babur founded the Mughal Empire in 1526 and died in 1530. C is wrong because Aurangzeb built the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore and the Moti Masjid inside the Red Fort, not the Jama Masjid. Exam tip: Shah Jahan = Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Jama Masjid (Delhi), Moti Masjid (Agra); Aurangzeb = Badshahi Mosque (Lahore), Bibi ka Maqbara (Aurangabad).

The correct answer is B, indigo. Under the tinkathiya system, European planters forced the peasants of Champaran in Bihar to grow indigo on 3 out of every 20 katthas (one bigha) of their land. Indigo was a blue dye in demand abroad, and the planters paid the farmers very little for it. When cheap German synthetic dye made indigo less profitable, the planters demanded higher rents and illegal dues instead. A local farmer, Raj Kumar Shukla, persuaded Gandhiji to visit Champaran in 1917. This became Gandhi's first satyagraha in India, and the Champaran Agrarian Act of 1918 ended the tinkathiya system. A is wrong because sugarcane was not the crop forced on the peasants under this system. C is wrong because the Champaran planters were indigo planters, and cotton was not imposed there. D is wrong because jute is a crop of Bengal and was not linked with the Champaran struggle. Exam tip: Gandhi's first three struggles in India: Champaran 1917 (indigo), Ahmedabad mill strike 1918 (wages), Kheda 1918 (land revenue).

The correct answer is D, Nucleus. The nucleus is called the master or control centre of the cell because it directs all the activities of the cell. It holds the chromosomes, which carry DNA, the genetic instructions for making proteins and for passing traits from parents to children. It is wrapped in a double membrane called the nuclear envelope, whose pores let messages move in and out. Robert Brown discovered the nucleus in 1831. Mature red blood cells of mammals have no nucleus. A is wrong because mitochondria release energy as ATP and are called the powerhouse of the cell. B is wrong because the endoplasmic reticulum is a network of membranes that makes and carries proteins and fats. C is wrong because the nucleolus is a small body inside the nucleus that makes ribosomes, so it is only a part of the control centre. Exam tip: Nucleus = control centre, Mitochondria = powerhouse, Ribosome = protein factory, Lysosome = suicide bag, Golgi body = packaging unit.

The correct answer is B, Copper and Zinc. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, usually about 70 per cent copper and 30 per cent zinc. Adding zinc makes brass harder than pure copper, gives it a golden-yellow shine and helps it resist corrosion. That is why brass is used for utensils, door handles, taps, musical instruments like the trumpet, and cartridge cases. An alloy is a mixture of a metal with other metals or a non-metal, made to improve properties such as strength, hardness or resistance to rust. A is wrong because copper and tin make bronze, the alloy that gave its name to the Bronze Age. C is wrong because copper with aluminium gives aluminium bronze, not brass. D is wrong because copper and iron do not form a common alloy; iron with a little carbon makes steel. Exam tip: Brass = Cu + Zn, Bronze = Cu + Sn, Solder = Pb + Sn, Stainless steel = Fe + Cr + Ni + C, German silver = Cu + Zn + Ni.

The correct answer is B, Chlorine. Bleaching powder gives off chlorine when it reacts with water, and this chlorine does the bleaching and kills germs. Bleaching powder is calcium oxychloride, CaOCl2, made by passing chlorine gas over dry slaked lime, Ca(OH)2. With water it gives back calcium hydroxide and chlorine: CaOCl2 + H2O → Ca(OH)2 + Cl2. The chlorine it can release is called "available chlorine", which is why the powder smells of chlorine and is used to disinfect drinking water and swimming pools and to bleach cotton and paper. A is wrong because bleaching powder does not give off hydrogen gas. C is wrong because carbon monoxide comes from the incomplete burning of fuels. D is wrong because carbon dioxide is released when an acid reacts with a carbonate such as washing soda or baking soda. Exam tip: Bleaching powder = CaOCl2 (releases chlorine), Baking soda = NaHCO3, Washing soda = Na2CO3.10H2O, Plaster of Paris = CaSO4.½H2O.

The correct answer is C, Calcium Carbonate. Carbon dioxide reacts with lime water to form calcium carbonate, which does not dissolve, and its fine white particles make the water look milky. Lime water is a clear solution of calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2, and the reaction is Ca(OH)2 + CO2 → CaCO3 + H2O. This is the standard test for carbon dioxide, for example to show that the air we breathe out contains CO2. If CO2 is passed for a long time, the milkiness disappears because soluble calcium hydrogen carbonate forms. A is wrong because lime water contains no barium, so barium carbonate cannot form. B is wrong because calcium oxide (quicklime) is made by heating limestone, not by bubbling CO2. D is wrong because calcium hydrogen carbonate forms only with excess CO2, and since it dissolves in water it clears the milkiness instead of causing it. Exam tip: CO2 in lime water = milky (CaCO3); excess CO2 = clear again (Ca(HCO3)2); limestone, chalk and marble are all CaCO3.

The correct answer is D, Vitamin K. Vitamin K is needed to make the clotting proteins, so without it even a small cut keeps bleeding. The liver uses vitamin K to make prothrombin and other clotting factors that turn blood into a clot at a wound. The letter K comes from the German word "Koagulation", meaning clotting. Green leafy vegetables such as spinach and cabbage are rich sources, and bacteria in the large intestine also make some of it. Newborn babies are usually given a vitamin K injection because they are born with very little. A is wrong because lack of the vitamin B group causes diseases like beriberi (B1) and pellagra (B3). B is wrong because lack of vitamin A causes night blindness. C is wrong because lack of vitamin C causes scurvy with bleeding gums, but the vitamin that makes blood clot is K. Exam tip: A = night blindness, B1 = beriberi, C = scurvy, D = rickets, K = bleeding; vitamins A, D, E and K dissolve in fat.

The correct answer is D, Medulla. The medulla oblongata is the breathing centre of the brain, which is why we keep breathing even while asleep. It is the lowest part of the hindbrain and joins the brain to the spinal cord. It controls involuntary actions such as breathing, heartbeat, blood pressure, swallowing, coughing, sneezing and vomiting. It senses the level of carbon dioxide in the blood and speeds up or slows down breathing to match, so an injury at the base of the skull can be fatal. A is wrong because the forebrain (cerebrum) handles thinking, memory, speech and voluntary actions. B is wrong because the cerebellum keeps the body balanced and makes voluntary movements smooth and precise. C is wrong because the midbrain mainly carries reflexes linked to seeing and hearing. Exam tip: Medulla = breathing and heartbeat, Cerebellum = balance, Cerebrum = thinking and memory, Hypothalamus = body temperature, hunger and thirst.