SSC Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is B, Tropical Deciduous Forests. These are called monsoon forests because they grow where rainfall comes with the monsoon, between about 70 and 200 centimetres a year, and the trees shed their leaves for six to eight weeks in the dry season to save water. They are the most widespread forests of India, covering much of the northern plains, the Deccan plateau and the lower Himalayan slopes. The moist type, with over 100 centimetres of rain, gives teak, sal, shisham, sandalwood and bamboo, while the drier type gives teak, axlewood and bel. Option A is wrong because montane forests are the belts of oak, deodar, pine and fir that change with height in the mountains. Option C is wrong because tropical evergreen forests grow in very wet areas above 200 centimetres of rain and never shed all their leaves together. Option D is wrong because mangrove forests are tidal forests of deltas and coasts. Exam tip: monsoon forest means tropical deciduous, and sal and teak are its trees.

The correct answer is C, Carotenoid. Carotenoids are the yellow, orange and red pigments inside the chloroplast that absorb sunlight and hand the energy on to chlorophyll, so they are the only choice here that traps light for photosynthesis. They come in two groups, the carotenes and the xanthophylls, and they also protect chlorophyll from damage by strong light. Because they lie hidden under the green of chlorophyll, they become visible in autumn leaves, in carrots and in ripe tomatoes. Option A is wrong because cristae are the folds of the inner membrane of the mitochondrion and belong to respiration, not photosynthesis. Option B is wrong because amyloplasts are colourless plastids that only store starch and have no pigment to absorb light. Option D is wrong because the vacuole is a sap filled sac that stores water and waste and keeps the cell firm. Exam tip: chlorophyll is the main photosynthetic pigment and carotenoids are the accessory pigments.

The correct answer is C, its mass. Inertia is the tendency of a body to stay at rest or keep moving in a straight line, and the measure of that tendency is mass. A heavier body is harder to start, stop or turn, so mass is called the measure of inertia. This follows from Newton's first law of motion, which is also called the law of inertia. Mass is a scalar quantity, measured in kilograms, and it stays the same everywhere. Option A is wrong because weight is the force of gravity on the body, equal to mass times the acceleration due to gravity, so it changes from the Earth to the Moon while inertia does not. Option B is wrong because mass times velocity is momentum, which describes motion already in progress. Option D is wrong because mass times acceleration is force, the cause of a change in motion. Exam tip: mass is inertia, mass times velocity is momentum, mass times acceleration is force.

The correct answer is B, Article 32. Article 32 gives every person the right to move the Supreme Court directly when a fundamental right is violated, and it is itself a fundamental right. Under it the Court may issue five writs: habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo warranto. Dr B. R. Ambedkar called Article 32 the heart and soul of the Constitution, because the rights in Part III would mean little without a way to enforce them. Article 226 gives High Courts a wider writ power, but that is not a fundamental right. Option A is wrong because Article 40 is a Directive Principle asking the state to organise village panchayats. Option C is wrong because Article 38 is a Directive Principle on securing a just social order. Option D is wrong because Article 36 only defines the word state for Part IV. Exam tip: Article 32 Supreme Court, Article 226 High Courts, and only 32 is a fundamental right.

The correct answer is B, Red laterite soil. Cashew grows best on red laterite soil, which is coarse, well drained and slightly acidic, exactly what the crop needs. Laterite soil forms in areas of heavy rain and high temperature, where running water washes away the lime and silica and leaves behind iron and aluminium oxides. It is poor in nitrogen and organic matter, so ordinary food grains do badly on it, but plantation crops such as cashew, tea, coffee, rubber and coconut do well. This is why the cashew belt runs along the laterite coasts of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu. Option A is wrong because black or regur soil holds moisture and is the cotton soil of the Deccan. Option C is wrong because red and yellow soil is used mainly for millets, pulses and groundnut. Option D is wrong because alluvial soil of the plains suits wheat, rice and sugarcane. Exam tip: laterite soil means plantation crops, cashew above all.

The correct answer is C, Lakshadweep. With an area of only about 32 square kilometres, Lakshadweep is the smallest Union Territory of India. It is a group of 36 coral islands in the Arabian Sea, of which only ten are inhabited, and its capital is Kavaratti. Being coral atolls, the islands are tiny and low lying, which is why the total land area stays so small even though the lagoons and waters around them stretch very wide. Option A is wrong because Daman and Diu covers about 112 square kilometres, more than three times Lakshadweep, and since 2020 it is part of the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Option B is wrong because Ladakh is the largest Union Territory by area. Option D is wrong because Jammu and Kashmir is also far larger and is the Union Territory with the biggest population. Exam tip: Lakshadweep is the smallest by area, Ladakh the largest.

The correct answer is C, 151. Article 151 deals with the audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. It provides that the CAG's reports on the accounts of the Union are given to the President, who has them laid before each House of Parliament, while the reports on a state's accounts go to the Governor, who lays them before the state legislature. Parliament's Public Accounts Committee then examines these reports, which is why the CAG is called the guardian of the public purse. Option A is wrong because Article 148 creates the office of the CAG and protects its independence through the manner of appointment, removal and service conditions. Option B is wrong because Article 150 deals with the form in which the accounts of the Union and the states are kept, prescribed by the President on the advice of the CAG. Option D is wrong because Article 149 lists the duties and powers of the CAG. Exam tip: 148 office, 149 duties, 150 form of accounts, 151 audit reports.

The correct answer is C, Neither I nor II, because both pairs are the wrong way round. Iron is a micronutrient, needed by plants only in very small amounts, and calcium is a macronutrient, needed in large amounts. Macronutrients are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulphur, while the micronutrients are iron, manganese, boron, zinc, copper, molybdenum, chlorine and nickel. Iron works in chlorophyll formation and in the electron carriers of photosynthesis, so a shortage shows as yellowing between the veins of young leaves. Calcium builds calcium pectate in the middle lamella of the cell wall and holds cells together. A is wrong because the first pair calls iron a macronutrient. D is wrong because the second pair calls calcium a micronutrient. B is wrong because neither pair is correct. Exam tip: remember the nine macronutrients; anything outside that list is a micronutrient.

The correct answer is D, 16.68 percent. In the Census of 2011 the male literacy rate was 82.14 per cent and the female literacy rate was 65.46 per cent, so the gap between them was 16.68 percentage points. Overall literacy stood at 74.04 per cent. The gap had been more than twenty one points in 2001, so it narrowed over the decade because female literacy rose faster than male literacy. Kerala had the highest literacy at 93.91 per cent and Bihar the lowest at 61.80 per cent, while the union territory of Lakshadweep stood second after Kerala. A, B and C are wrong because 14.96, 15.23 and 17.98 do not match the difference between the two published figures. Exam tip: Census 2011 literacy, total 74.04, male 82.14, female 65.46, gap 16.68, Kerala highest and Bihar lowest.

The correct answer is A, Greece. The Gandhara School of Art, which grew in the north west around Taxila and Peshawar between the first and fifth centuries, was shaped by Greek or Hellenistic sculpture that had reached the region after Alexander's campaign and stayed on through the Indo Greek and Kushana rulers. That is why its Buddha figures have wavy hair, sharp features, a halo without decoration and heavy robes with deep folds, carved mostly in blue grey schist. The school also produced the first images of the Buddha in human form, alongside the Mathura school. Kanishka was its best known patron. B is wrong because Roman influence came later and in small measure, mainly through trade. C and D are wrong because Hungary and Belgium had no contact with ancient India. Exam tip: Gandhara Greek and grey schist, Mathura Indian and red sandstone, Amaravati white marble.

The correct answer is A, Arteries. Arteries are the blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart to the different parts of the body. Because the heart pushes blood into them under high pressure, arteries have thick, muscular and elastic walls and no valves, and they are placed deep in the body. The largest artery is the aorta, which leaves the left ventricle. One important exception is the pulmonary artery, which carries deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs, so arteries are defined by direction, not by the kind of blood. B is wrong because veins bring blood back to the heart, have thinner walls and carry valves to stop backflow. C is wrong because the septum is the wall of muscle that separates the right and left sides of the heart. D is wrong because capillaries are the very thin vessels where exchange of gases and nutrients takes place. Exam tip: arteries away from the heart, veins towards it.

The correct answer is C, Five. The Citizenship Act of 1955 lays down five ways of acquiring Indian citizenship: by birth, by descent, by registration, by naturalisation and by incorporation of territory. Citizenship by birth applies to those born in India within the periods the Act sets out, descent covers children born abroad to Indian parents, registration is for persons of Indian origin and spouses of Indian citizens who meet the conditions, naturalisation is for foreigners who have lived here for the required years, and incorporation of territory applies when new territory becomes part of India, as with Goa and Sikkim. The same Act provides three ways of losing citizenship: renunciation, termination and deprivation. A and B are wrong because three and four leave out modes the Act lists. D is wrong because there is no sixth mode. Exam tip: five ways in, three ways out, all under the Citizenship Act 1955.

The correct answer is B, Majjhima Nikaya. The Sutta Pitaka is the basket of the Buddha's discourses and is divided into five collections called Nikayas: Digha, Majjhima, Samyutta, Anguttara and Khuddaka. The Majjhima Nikaya is the collection of middle length discourses and holds about one hundred and fifty two sermons on meditation, right conduct and the middle path. The Sutta Pitaka is one of the three baskets of the Pali canon, the others being the Vinaya Pitaka on monastic rules and the Abhidhamma Pitaka on philosophy. A is wrong because the Dipavamsa is a Sri Lankan chronicle of the island's history, not part of the canon. C is wrong because the Dhammasangani is the first book of the Abhidhamma Pitaka. D is wrong because the Manu Smriti is a Brahmanical law text and has nothing to do with Buddhism. Exam tip: Tripitaka means Vinaya, Sutta and Abhidhamma, and Sutta holds five Nikayas.

The correct answer is D, 1856. Lord Dalhousie annexed Awadh in February 1856, in the last month of his term as Governor General. He did not use the Doctrine of Lapse here, because the Nawab Wajid Ali Shah had heirs; instead the British said the province was badly governed and took it over under the terms of the subsidiary alliance treaty of 1801. Wajid Ali Shah was pensioned off to Calcutta. The annexation angered the taluqdars who lost their estates and the sepoys of the Bengal Army, many of whom came from Awadh and lost the privileges they had enjoyed there, which is why Awadh became a centre of the revolt the very next year. A is wrong because 1857 is the year of the revolt itself. B and C are wrong because 1855 and 1858 fall on either side of the annexation. Exam tip: Awadh 1856, misgovernment not lapse, Wajid Ali Shah.

The correct answer is A, Wild yak. Bos mutus is the scientific name of the wild yak, the long haired bovine of the high cold plateaus of Ladakh, Tibet and the Karakoram, which grazes above four thousand metres and is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. The domestic yak is called Bos grunniens, the grunting ox, and mutus means mute, since the wild animal is far quieter. The two part naming system, with the genus first and the species second, was given by Carl Linnaeus. B is wrong because the horse is Equus caballus. C is wrong because the ox, meaning domestic cattle, is Bos taurus or Bos indicus for the humped Indian breeds. D is wrong because the Asiatic water buffalo is Bubalus bubalis. Exam tip: the genus Bos covers cattle and yak, Bos mutus wild yak and Bos grunniens domestic yak.

The correct answer is A, Kerala. Ashtamudi is a backwater lake in Kollam district of Kerala and the second largest estuarine system in the state after Vembanad. Its name means eight braids, because the lake spreads out in several arms before meeting the Arabian Sea at Neendakara. It was declared a Ramsar site in 2002 for its mangroves, migratory birds and the short necked clam fishery, which became the first fishery in India to get Marine Stewardship Council certification. The lake also carries the houseboat route to Alappuzha. B is wrong because Karnataka's noted wetlands include Ranganathittu and Magadi. C is wrong because Tamil Nadu's Ramsar wetlands include Point Calimere and Pallikaranai. D is wrong because Assam has Deepor Beel near Guwahati. Exam tip: Kerala's Ramsar sites are Ashtamudi, Vembanad Kol and Sasthamkotta, the last being the largest freshwater lake in the state.

The correct answer is C, Tax levied on revenue. Sardeshmukhi was a levy of one tenth, that is ten per cent, of the land revenue, which the Marathas claimed in territory outside their own kingdom. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj claimed it as the hereditary sardeshmukh or chief headman of Maharashtra, so it was presented as an old right rather than a new tax. It was collected along with chauth, which was one fourth or twenty five per cent of the revenue and was taken in return for protection, so together the two claims brought the Marathas thirty five per cent of the revenue of the areas they raided. A is wrong because sardeshmukhi was a tax, not an office ranking with the Peshwa, who was the chief minister. B is wrong because it was not a coin; Maratha coins included the hon and the shivrai. D is wrong because it was never a name for Shivaji himself. Exam tip: chauth one fourth, sardeshmukhi one tenth.

The correct answer is D, 30 th December, 2016. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the BHIM app on 30 December 2016, a few weeks after the note ban of November 2016, to push people towards digital payment. BHIM stands for Bharat Interface for Money and is named after Dr B R Ambedkar, whose full name was Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. The app is built by the National Payments Corporation of India on the Unified Payments Interface, so money moves straight from one bank account to another using a UPI identifier or a mobile number, and it works in several Indian languages. A is wrong because 15 August 2016 saw no such launch. B is wrong because 31 October 2016 is before the note ban announcement. C is wrong because 26 January 2016 is Republic Day of that year and unconnected. Exam tip: BHIM, Bharat Interface for Money, NPCI, UPI, 30 December 2016.

The correct answer is A, Change in sales during the year. Inventory investment, also called change in stock, measures the physical stock of goods a firm holds at the end of the year minus the stock it held at the start. Sales are goods that have already left the firm and gone to buyers, so a change in sales is part of consumption or final demand and is never counted as inventory. The three items that do make up stock are unsold finished goods, goods still being made and raw material waiting to be used. B is wrong because a change in the stock of raw material is a clear part of inventory. C is wrong because semi finished goods, also called work in progress, are counted in stock. D is wrong because unsold finished goods are the most obvious part of inventory. Exam tip: inventory equals raw material plus semi finished plus finished goods, and change in stock is a part of gross domestic capital formation.

The correct answer is D, Assam. The Ambubachi Mela is held every year at the Kamakhya temple on Nilachal hill in Guwahati, Assam. It falls in the month of Ahaar, around the middle of June, and marks the belief that the goddess goes through her yearly cycle of menstruation, so the temple doors stay shut for three days and open on the fourth with the distribution of red cloth as prasad. Thousands of sadhus, tantriks and pilgrims gather for it, which is why the fair is sometimes called the Mahakumbh of the East. Kamakhya is counted among the Shakti Peethas. A is wrong because Kerala is known for the Thrissur Pooram and the Nehru Trophy boat race. B is wrong because Gujarat is known for the Rann Utsav and Tarnetar fair. C is wrong because Sikkim holds festivals such as Losar and Pang Lhabsol. Exam tip: Ambubachi, Kamakhya temple, Guwahati, June.