SSC 2022 Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is C, Football. All three are Indian football tournaments. The Durand Cup, first played in 1888 and named after Sir Mortimer Durand, then Foreign Secretary of British India, is Asia's oldest football tournament and is still organised with the help of the armed forces. The Santosh Trophy is the national football championship for state teams, first held in 1941. The Rovers Cup was a famous club tournament played in Mumbai from 1891. Papers often mix these with trophies from other sports, so learn them in sets. A is wrong because hockey's well-known Indian trophies include the Beighton Cup and the Aga Khan Cup. B is wrong because cricket's domestic trophies are the Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Irani Cup and Vijay Hazare Trophy. D is wrong because badminton's world team events are the Thomas Cup for men, the Uber Cup for women and the Sudirman Cup for mixed teams. Exam tip: Durand, Santosh, Rovers, Federation Cup = football; Ranji, Duleep, Irani = cricket; Beighton, Aga Khan = hockey.

The correct answer is D, stratification. It means the layering of an ecosystem from top to bottom, with each layer holding its own set of species. The NCERT example is a forest: tall trees form the top layer, shrubs the second, and herbs and grasses the bottom layer, and each layer gets a different amount of light, heat and moisture. A tropical rainforest shows the most layers, with emergent trees, the canopy, the understorey and the forest floor, and animals such as birds, monkeys and insects also live at particular heights. Lakes are stratified too, into a warm upper layer and a cold bottom layer. Stratification lets many species share the same patch of land without competing directly. A is wrong because levelling is not a term used in ecology for vertical layers. B is wrong because grouping simply means putting things together and says nothing about height. C is wrong because ramification means branching and describes how a plant spreads, not layers of species. Exam tip: vertical layering in an ecosystem is stratification; trees, shrubs, herbs from top to bottom.

The correct answer is B, Hirakud dam – Odisha. The Hirakud dam stands on the Mahanadi near Sambalpur in Odisha. Completed in 1957, it was among the first big multipurpose river valley projects after Independence, built to control the Mahanadi's floods and to give irrigation and hydroelectric power. With its long earthen dykes it is one of the longest earthen dams in the world, about 26 km in total length. A is wrong because the Tehri dam, India's tallest, is on the Bhagirathi in Uttarakhand; it was in Uttar Pradesh only until Uttarakhand was formed in 2000, which is the trap here. C is wrong because Bhakra Nangal is on the Sutlej, with the Bhakra dam in Himachal Pradesh and the Nangal dam in Punjab, and its reservoir is the Gobind Sagar. D is wrong because Nagarjuna Sagar is on the Krishna, on the border of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, far from Rajasthan. Exam tip: match dams with rivers too, Hirakud–Mahanadi, Tehri–Bhagirathi, Bhakra–Sutlej, Nagarjuna Sagar–Krishna.

The correct answer is D, Beijing. China's capital hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008 and the Winter Olympics in 2022, which made it the first city ever to stage both. The 2008 Games are remembered for the Bird's Nest stadium and for Abhinav Bindra's gold in the 10 m air rifle, India's first individual Olympic gold. In 2022 the ice events were held in Beijing itself, with snow events in the nearby hill areas, and several 2008 venues were reused, such as the Water Cube, which became the curling venue. A is wrong because Tokyo has hosted only the Summer Games, in 1964 and 2020, while Japan's Winter Games went to Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998. B is wrong because Sydney hosted only the Summer Olympics of 2000. C is wrong because New York City has never hosted the Olympics; the Winter Games of 1932 and 1980 were at Lake Placid, a small town in New York State. Exam tip: Beijing 2008 summer plus 2022 winter; first city with both.

The correct answer is B, Potassium – Po. The symbol of potassium is K, from its Latin name kalium; Po is the symbol of polonium, the radioactive element discovered by Marie Curie in 1898 and named after Poland. Potassium has atomic number 19, sits in group 1 as an alkali metal, and is soft enough to cut with a knife. Several common elements carry symbols from Latin names rather than English ones, and examiners love them: sodium Na (natrium), iron Fe (ferrum), copper Cu (cuprum), silver Ag (argentum), gold Au (aurum), tin Sn (stannum), lead Pb (plumbum), mercury Hg (hydrargyrum) and tungsten W (wolfram). A is a correct pair because phosphorus is P, atomic number 15. C is a correct pair because iron is Fe from ferrum, atomic number 26. D is a correct pair because iodine is I, atomic number 53, a halogen. Exam tip: K is potassium and Po is polonium; when a symbol looks like the first two letters of the English name, check whether the element actually uses a Latin name.

The correct answer is B, Baking soda. Its chemical name is sodium hydrogen carbonate and its formula is NaHCO3. It is a mild, non-corrosive base made by the Solvay process, in which brine is treated with ammonia and carbon dioxide. When heated it gives off carbon dioxide, which is why it makes cakes rise; it is also used in antacids, soda-acid fire extinguishers and as a cleaning agent. Note the trap in this question: baking soda and baking powder are different things. A is wrong because baking powder is a mixture of baking soda with a mild edible acid such as tartaric acid, not a single compound. C is wrong because washing soda is sodium carbonate decahydrate, Na2CO3.10H2O, used to soften hard water and in glass and soap making. D is wrong because plaster of Paris is calcium sulphate hemihydrate, CaSO4.1/2H2O, used for casts and moulds. Exam tip: baking soda NaHCO3, washing soda Na2CO3.10H2O, plaster of Paris CaSO4.1/2H2O, bleaching powder CaOCl2.

The correct answer is B, Both I and II. Both pairs are wrong. Amyloplasts store starch, a carbohydrate, and aleuroplasts store proteins; oils and fats are stored by elaioplasts. Plastids are organelles found only in plant cells. Chloroplasts hold chlorophyll and do photosynthesis, chromoplasts hold the yellow, orange and red pigments of flowers and fruits, and leucoplasts are colourless storage plastids. The leucoplasts are named after what they keep: amyloplasts keep starch (amylum), as in potato tubers; elaioplasts keep oils (elaion means oil), as in castor seeds; aleuroplasts keep proteins (aleurone), as in the outer layer of wheat grains. A is wrong because it accepts pair II, which links aleuroplasts to carbohydrates instead of proteins. C is wrong because it treats both pairs as correct. D is wrong because it accepts pair I, which links amyloplasts to fats instead of starch. Exam tip: amylo = starch, elaio = oil, aleuro = protein; all three are leucoplasts.

The correct answer is B, 14 : 3. Ammonia is NH3, so one nitrogen atom of mass 14 is joined to three hydrogen atoms of mass 1 each, giving 14 : 3 by mass. This is the law of constant proportions given by Proust in 1799: a pure compound always contains the same elements in the same ratio by mass, whatever its source. The NCERT Class 9 chapter uses exactly these examples, water H2O with hydrogen to oxygen 1 : 8 and ammonia NH3 with nitrogen to hydrogen 14 : 3. Remember that the ratio by mass is not the ratio by atoms; by atoms ammonia is 1 : 3, by mass it is 14 : 3 because nitrogen is fourteen times heavier than hydrogen. A is wrong because 11 is not the atomic mass of nitrogen. C is wrong for the same reason, even though the hydrogen part is right. D is wrong because it counts only one hydrogen atom instead of three. Exam tip: water 1 : 8, ammonia 14 : 3, carbon dioxide 3 : 8, all by mass.

The correct answer is D, Gustav Robert Kirchhoff. This is Kirchhoff's first law, the current law or junction rule, which he stated in 1845. It says the total current entering a junction equals the total current leaving it, because charge cannot pile up or vanish at a point. So it is really the law of conservation of charge applied to a circuit node. Kirchhoff's second law, the voltage law or loop rule, says the algebraic sum of potential differences around any closed loop is zero, which follows from conservation of energy. Together the two laws let us solve circuits that Ohm's law alone cannot handle. A is wrong because Faraday's laws deal with electromagnetic induction and electrolysis, not junctions. B is wrong because Ohm's law relates voltage, current and resistance in a single conductor (V = IR). C is wrong because Victor Hess discovered cosmic rays and won the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics. Exam tip: Kirchhoff current law = charge conserved at a junction; Kirchhoff voltage law = energy conserved around a loop.

The correct answer is C, Second. The Second Five-Year Plan, 1956 to 1961, moved the focus from farming to rapid industrialisation, especially heavy and basic industries. It was built on the Mahalanobis model, drawn up by the statistician P. C. Mahalanobis, which argued that investing in machine-making and steel would give faster long-run growth. Three public-sector steel plants came up in this plan: Bhilai with Soviet help, Rourkela with West German help and Durgapur with British help. The First Plan, 1951 to 1956, had put agriculture, irrigation and power first, on the Harrod-Domar model. A is wrong because the Third Plan, 1961 to 1966, aimed at a self-reliant, self-generating economy and was hit by the wars of 1962 and 1965. B is wrong because the Fourth Plan, 1969 to 1974, aimed at growth with stability and progressive achievement of self-reliance. D is wrong because the Fifth Plan, 1974 to 1979, made removal of poverty its main goal. Exam tip: First plan farms, Second plan factories on the Mahalanobis model, Fifth plan Garibi Hatao.

The correct answer is B, Geology. Geology is the science of the solid Earth: the rocks it is made of, how it formed and changed over time, and the minerals, coal, oil and gas found inside it. The word comes from the Greek geo (earth) and logos (study). A geologist reads rock layers to date events, studies earthquakes and volcanoes, and maps where iron ore, coal or petroleum lie. In India this work is done by the Geological Survey of India, founded in 1851 at Kolkata, one of the oldest such bodies in the world. A is wrong because geophysics uses physics, such as gravity, magnetism and seismic waves, to probe the Earth's interior; it is a branch within the earth sciences, not the broad study asked here. C is wrong because geography studies the Earth's surface, its climate, people and places, not the rocks and resources beneath. D is wrong because geometry is the mathematics of shapes, lines and angles and has nothing to do with the Earth. Exam tip: geo-logy = rocks and resources, geo-graphy = surface and people, geo-physics = physics of the interior.

The correct answer is C, Neither I nor II. Both pairs are reversed: in Punjab rice is a commercial crop, while in Odisha it is a subsistence crop. The same crop can be commercial in one state and subsistence in another; it depends on why the farmer grows it. A subsistence crop feeds the farmer's own family, and a commercial crop is grown mainly for sale. Punjab and Haryana farmers do not eat much rice, yet they grow it on irrigated land with high-yielding seeds and sell almost all of it to the government at the minimum support price. In Odisha, West Bengal and Assam rice is the staple food, grown mostly on small rain-fed plots for the family's own kitchen. A is wrong because Punjab rice is sold, not eaten at home, so it is commercial. B is wrong because Odisha rice is largely eaten by the growers, so it is subsistence. D fails because neither pair is correct. Exam tip: NCERT line to remember, rice is commercial in Punjab and Haryana but subsistence in Odisha.

The correct answer is C, a seasonal shift in wind direction that brings heavy summer rain and dry winters. That is exactly what the Indian monsoon is. The word monsoon comes from the Arabic mausim, meaning season, and describes winds that reverse direction with the season. From June to September the south-west monsoon blows from sea to land and gives India about three-quarters of its yearly rain. From October the winds reverse, the north-east monsoon blows from land to sea, and most of the country stays dry; only Tamil Nadu gets its main rain in this retreating season. A is wrong because summer is the wet season, not the dry one. B is wrong because a monsoon is a change in wind direction, not a sudden change in temperature. D is wrong because summer rain is heavy, not moderate, and winter is dry rather than completely rainless. Exam tip: monsoon = seasonal wind reversal; south-west June to September wet, north-east October to December dry except Tamil Nadu.

The correct answer is C, First Anglo-Maratha War. The Treaty of Salbai, signed in May 1782, closed that war between the English East India Company and the Marathas. The war had begun in 1775 when the Company backed Raghunath Rao for the Peshwa's seat through the Treaty of Surat. After the British defeat at Wadgaon in 1779 the fighting dragged on until Mahadji Scindia mediated the peace at Salbai. The treaty gave Salsette to the British, recognised Madhav Rao Narayan as Peshwa, and bought about twenty years of peace between the two powers. A is wrong because the Third Battle of Panipat, 1761, was fought between the Marathas and Ahmad Shah Abdali and ended in a single day, not with a treaty. B is wrong because the Battle of Buxar, 1764, was followed by the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765. D is wrong because the Second Anglo-Maratha War ended with the treaties of Deogaon and Surji-Arjangaon in 1803. Exam tip: remember the Maratha treaty chain Surat 1775, Purandar 1776, Wadgaon 1779, Salbai 1782.

The correct answer is A, Article 37. It says the Directive Principles shall not be enforceable by any court, yet they are fundamental in the governance of the country and the State must apply them in making laws. The Directive Principles of State Policy sit in Part IV of the Constitution, Articles 36 to 51, and the idea was borrowed from the Constitution of Ireland. Non-justiciable means a citizen cannot go to court to force the government to follow them, which is the key difference from Fundamental Rights in Part III, enforceable through Article 32. B is wrong because Article 40 asks the State to organise village panchayats as units of self-government. C is wrong because Article 38 asks the State to secure a social order based on social, economic and political justice to promote people's welfare. D is wrong because Article 39 lists principles such as equal pay for equal work for men and women and fair distribution of material resources. Exam tip: Article 36 defines the State for Part IV, and Article 37 says the principles are not enforceable but fundamental.

The correct answer is A, Night blindness. Vitamin A, chemically retinol, is needed to make rhodopsin, the light-sensitive pigment in the rod cells of the retina that lets us see in dim light. When the vitamin is short, the eye cannot adjust to darkness, and the person cannot see properly at night or in poor light; this is night blindness (nyctalopia). If the deficiency continues, the eye becomes dry and the cornea is damaged, a condition called xerophthalmia, which can end in total blindness. Vitamin A is fat-soluble and comes from carrots, papaya, mango, green leafy vegetables, milk, eggs and fish liver oil. B is wrong because scurvy, with bleeding gums, is caused by lack of vitamin C. C is wrong because marasmus is caused by a severe shortage of both calories and protein in young children. D is wrong because kwashiorkor is a protein deficiency disease marked by a swollen belly. Exam tip: vitamin A night blindness, C scurvy, D rickets, K bleeding; marasmus and kwashiorkor are protein-energy problems, not vitamin diseases.

The correct answer is B, Base year. Real GDP measures the value of all final goods and services produced in a year at the prices of one fixed earlier year, called the base year, so that the effect of rising prices is removed and true growth can be seen. Nominal GDP uses the current year's prices. The ratio of nominal GDP to real GDP, multiplied by 100, is the GDP deflator, a measure of inflation. The base year is chosen by the government's statistics office and is revised from time to time so that it reflects the present structure of the economy. A is wrong because the fiscal year is simply the twelve months over which accounts are kept, April to March in India. C is wrong because financial year is another name for the same accounting period, not a price reference. D is wrong because 'common year' means a calendar year of 365 days, a term from the calendar, not economics. Exam tip: real GDP = base-year prices, nominal GDP = current prices; GDP deflator = nominal divided by real, times 100.

The correct answer is D, Andhra Pradesh. The Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve lies in the Seshachalam hill ranges of the Eastern Ghats in southern Andhra Pradesh, across the old Chittoor and Kadapa districts, and was notified in 2010 as India's 17th biosphere reserve. The Tirumala temple of Lord Venkateswara stands on these very hills, and the reserve includes the Sri Venkateswara National Park. It is famous for red sanders, the valuable red-wood tree found almost nowhere else in the world, and shelters the slender loris, the golden gecko and the Indian giant squirrel. Option A is wrong because Tamil Nadu's biosphere reserves are the Gulf of Mannar and its shares of the Nilgiri and Agasthyamalai reserves. Option B is wrong because Karnataka's only biosphere reserve is its part of the Nilgiri. Option C is wrong because Kerala shares the Nilgiri and Agasthyamalai reserves but has no Seshachalam. Exam tip: Seshachalam = Andhra Pradesh, red sanders, Tirumala hills, notified 2010 as the 17th reserve.

The correct answer is D, Hawkish. A hawkish stance means the central bank treats inflation as its first enemy and is ready to raise interest rates and tighten money supply, even at some cost to growth. Higher rates make loans dearer, so people and firms borrow and spend less, demand cools and prices stop rising so fast. India saw this when the RBI raised the repo rate from 4 per cent to 6.5 per cent between May 2022 and February 2023 to fight inflation. The opposite, a dovish stance, cuts rates to support growth and jobs, as in 2020 during the Covid slowdown. Option A is wrong because 'owlish' is only an informal label some writers use for a wait-and-watch, neutral position, not the usual anti-inflation stance. Option B is wrong because a dovish stance eases money and fuels inflation rather than fighting it. Option C is wrong because 'Hicksian' refers to the economist John Hicks and his IS-LM model, not to a policy stance. Exam tip: hawk = fight inflation, raise rates; dove = support growth, cut rates.

The correct answer is C, Deccan Plateau. The Deccan plateau is the large triangular block of the Peninsular plateau south of the Narmada, bounded by the Satpura and Vindhya ranges in the north, the Western Ghats in the west and the Eastern Ghats in the east, with an average height of about 600 metres. It is higher in the west, up to 900 to 1,200 metres along the Western Ghats, and tilts east, so the Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri flow east into the Bay of Bengal. Its north-western part is the Deccan Trap of basalt lava, which weathers into black cotton soil. Option A is wrong because the Marwar plateau is a low upland of eastern Rajasthan, drained by the Banas. Option B is wrong because the Meghalaya plateau is a detached block in the north-east, made of the Garo, Khasi and Jaintia hills. Option D is wrong because the Chota Nagpur plateau lies in Jharkhand, drained by the Damodar and rich in coal and iron. Exam tip: Deccan = between Satpura, Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats, high in the west, sloping east.