Assistant Director, Directorate of Education, Capital Administration Past Paper 2003 Solved MCQs

Correct Answer: up

To stir up trouble is to provoke it, so 'up' completes the phrasal verb.

Correct Answer: of

To be robbed of something is to have it taken away, so 'of' is the correct preposition, not 'off'.

Correct Answer: by

To live by the gun means to live by violence and weapons.

Correct Answer: with

One quarrels with a person, so 'with' is the correct preposition.

Correct Answer: over

To get over problems is to overcome them, so 'over' is correct.

Correct Answer: Comma

The comma represents the shortest pause in a sentence.

Correct Answer: Comma

A comma is used after a nominative absolute, an absolute phrase set off from the main clause.

Correct Answer: exclamation mark

An exclamation mark is used after words or sentences expressing an invocation.

Correct Answer: Exclamation Mark

An exclamation mark is used after words or sentences expressing strong emotion.

Correct Answer: Dash

A dash is used to indicate an explanation, addition, repetition or afterthought.

Correct Answer: Had the boys entered the room when the bell rang?

The past perfect 'had entered' comes before the past simple 'rang', so option (B) is correct.

Correct Answer: He has been living in this house for six years.

A duration of six years takes 'for', with the present perfect continuous, so 'has been living ... for six years' is correct.

Correct Answer: He said that he would get up-early in the morning.

In reported speech 'will' becomes 'would' after 'said', so 'He said that he would get up early in the morning' is correct, despite the stray hyphen in print.

Correct Answer: No sooner had he left than the storm broke

'No sooner had he left than the storm broke' uses the inverted form with 'than', not 'then'.

Correct Answer: If he had had worked harder he would have achieved his objective.

The fully correct conditional is 'If he had worked harder, he would have achieved his objective'; none of the options gives it exactly, and the key's (B) is retained as the closest offered.

Correct Answer: She said that it might rain the next day.

In indirect speech 'may' becomes 'might' and 'tomorrow' becomes 'the next day', with 'that', so option (C) is correct.

Correct Answer: The teacher asked why he was so late.

A reported question uses 'asked' with the statement word order and the past tense, so 'The teacher asked why he was so late' is correct.

Correct Answer: He said that he had passed the examination long before

In indirect speech 'passed' becomes 'had passed' and 'long ago' becomes 'long before', so option (B) is correct.

Correct Answer: I suggested to my brother that we should go to some hill station for a change.

'Let us' expresses a suggestion, so it is reported as 'I suggested to my brother that we should go to some hill station for a change'.

Correct Answer: She exclaimed with sorrow that she had lost all her money

An exclamation is reported with 'exclaimed with sorrow', 'have' becomes 'had', so option (B) is correct.

Correct Answer: luxurious

Sumptuous means luxurious, richly splendid.

Correct Answer: slow

The book keys 'slow' as not an adverb in this set; 'angrily' is an adverb, while 'cowardly' is also an adjective and 'fastly' is not a standard word, so this item is loose and the key is retained.

Correct Answer: India

India has the highest number of cattle in the world.

Correct Answer: South America (amazon river)

The Amazon, the world's largest river by discharge, is in South America.

Correct Answer: Warren Hastings

Warren Hastings was the first Governor-General of British India, from 1773 to 1785.

Correct Answer: 3rd tier

Local government is the third tier of government, after the federal and provincial tiers.

Correct Answer: all of them

District, union and tehsil are all parts of the local government system, so 'all of them' is correct.

Correct Answer: 1911

The capital of British India was shifted from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911.

Correct Answer: Syed Ameer Ali

'A Short History of the Saracens' was written by Syed Ameer Ali.

Correct Answer: Partition of Bengal

The year 1905 is important in Indo-Pak history for the Partition of Bengal.

Correct Answer: more than 90

The book keys more than 90 universities in Pakistan, an era figure that has since grown much larger.

Correct Answer: China

China is the largest user of cell phones in the world, with the largest subscriber base.

Correct Answer: Enamel

Enamel is the hardest part of the teeth, harder than dentine.

Correct Answer: Hindus and Muslims can never be united

The Khilafat Movement's failure led Muslims of the subcontinent to realise that Hindus and Muslims could never be united, a step towards separate nationhood.

Correct Answer: End of Khilafat by Turks themselves

The death blow to the Khilafat Movement was the end of the Khilafat by the Turks themselves, when it was abolished in 1924.

Correct Answer: 5 litres

An adult human being has about 5 litres of blood, the value given by both options (B) and (D).

Correct Answer: Roentgen

X-rays were discovered by Wilhelm Roentgen in 1895.

Correct Answer: Bacquerel

The phenomenon of radioactivity was discovered by Henri Becquerel in 1896.

Correct Answer: 15000

A human being breathes roughly 11,000 to 15,000 litres of air each day, and the book keys 15,000.

Correct Answer: 20 x 20 x 20

The book keys 20 x 20 x 20 as the area for a bio lab.

Correct Answer: Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon wrote 'The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'.

Correct Answer: Venezuela

The world's highest waterfall, Angel Falls, is in Venezuela.

Correct Answer: None

Laissez-faire means non-interference by the state, letting things take their own course, so none of the offered definitions fits and 'None' is correct.

Correct Answer: Immune

The AIDS virus destroys the immune system of the human body.

Correct Answer: Capt James Cook

Captain James Cook charted the coasts of New Zealand and the east coast of Australia, New South Wales, in 1770.

Correct Answer: Tokyo

Tokyo is keyed as the most densely populated city, in the metropolitan-population reading.

Correct Answer: Pluto

Pluto was dropped from the list of planets in 2006, when the IAU reclassified it as a dwarf planet.

Correct Answer: Uprising

Intifada is an Arabic word meaning uprising.

Correct Answer: Albania

Albania is in Europe; Algeria and Libya are in Africa and Venezuela is in South America.

Correct Answer: Anwar Saddat

Anwar Sadat, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978, was the first Muslim Nobel laureate; Abdus Salam followed in 1979.

Correct Answer: New York

The headquarters of the United Nations are in New York.

Correct Answer: Bajra

Bajra has the highest calcium content of the four cereals, about 42 mg per 100 g, against maize about 11 mg, sorghum about 13 mg and wheat about 36 mg.

Correct Answer: Blue whale

The blue whale, up to about 30 metres long, is the longest animal in the world.

Correct Answer: Legal proceedings

Litigation means legal proceedings, taking a dispute to court.

Correct Answer: Right to intervene

Locus standi is legal standing, the right to bring a case before a court; 'right to intervene' is the closest offered answer.

Correct Answer: Juvenile

The book keys 'Juvenile' for a person below 18 who cannot sue or be sued without representation; 'minor' is the general term for such a person.

Correct Answer: The Grand Canal

The Grand Canal of China, about 1,794 km long, is the longest canal in the world.

Correct Answer: Reduction of the size and scope of government

Downsizing is a reduction in the size and scope of government.

Correct Answer: Federal

The Government of India Act 1935 introduced a federal system.

Correct Answer: Present state

Status quo means the present state, the existing state of affairs.

Correct Answer: Geneva

The headquarters of the Red Cross, the ICRC, are in Geneva.

Correct Answer: Stock Exchange

Wall Street in New York is famous for the stock exchange, home of the New York Stock Exchange.

Correct Answer: Thailand

Thailand is called the land of the free, since 'Thai' means free.

Correct Answer: Red Sea

Sharm-el-Sheikh is an Egyptian seaport on the Red Sea, on the Sinai coast.

Correct Answer: National Database and Registration Authority

NADRA stands for the National Database and Registration Authority.

Correct Answer: Japan

Mount Aso, a volcano, is situated in Japan, on Kyushu.

Correct Answer: Security Council

Pakistan was elected to the United Nations Security Council for the 2003-04 term, the era answer keyed here.

Correct Answer: West Bank

Ramallah, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, is situated in the West Bank.

Correct Answer: 1985

The book keys 1985 for the separate electorate system in Pakistan, Zia's reintroduction; separate electorates had existed in British India from 1909.

Correct Answer: Afghanistan

Afghanistan, under the Taliban government, recognised Chechnya as an independent Muslim state in January 2000, an era answer that no longer stands.

Correct Answer: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Jordan, Kuwait

Iraq borders Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Jordan and Kuwait, exactly option (C).

Correct Answer: Muawiyah, Radi-Allahu anhu

Muawiyah was the first Umayyad Khalifah, ruling from 661 to 680.

Correct Answer: 6

Pakistan has been a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council six times, including the 2025-26 term; at the labelled 2003 exam it was the fourth term.

Correct Answer: Muhammad ibn Musa Khawarizmi

Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi developed algebra, from 'al-jabr'.

Correct Answer: Mariana's trench

The Mariana Trench, about 11 km deep, is the world's deepest trench.

Correct Answer: Mississippi

The book keys Mississippi as the longest river of America, the North America / USA reading; the Amazon is longer in South America.

Correct Answer: Oxygen

Oxygen, about 46 per cent, is the most abundant element in the Earth's crust.

Correct Answer: Pascal

The SI unit of pressure is the pascal.

Correct Answer: osmium

Osmium is the densest substance on earth among the options.

Correct Answer: Convex lens

A camera uses a convex lens to form an image.

Correct Answer: inflammation of gums

Gingivitis is inflammation of the gums, not disturbed hearing.

Correct Answer: Enlarged male breast.

Gynaecomastia is enlargement of the male breast, not a flat chest in females.

Correct Answer: Mosquito

The mosquito is the greatest disease carrier among the options, spreading malaria, dengue and other diseases.

Correct Answer: sulphur

The book keys sulphur for hair setting in beauty parlours, where sulphur compounds break and reform the hair's disulphide bonds in perming.

Correct Answer: Robert Millikari

Robert Millikan first measured the charge on an electron, with the oil-drop experiment.

Correct Answer: Karl F. Braum

Karl F. Braun developed the cathode-ray tube, the Braun tube, the basis of the cathode-ray oscillograph.

Correct Answer: Fritz Haber

Fritz Haber first developed a process to manufacture ammonia on an industrial scale, the Haber process.

Correct Answer: Laveran

Alphonse Laveran discovered the malarial parasite in blood cells in 1880.

Correct Answer: Mendel

The laws of heredity were discovered by Gregor Mendel.

Correct Answer: Hahnemann

Homoeopathy was introduced by Samuel Hahnemann.

Correct Answer: Aspirin

Aspirin, synthesised in 1897, was the first drug to be produced in a laboratory.

Correct Answer: E.H. Land

Edwin H. Land invented the first instant-development, Polaroid, camera.

Correct Answer: Schick

Jacob Schick developed the first electric shaver; Gillette's invention was the safety razor, not an electric shaver.

Correct Answer: gold

Gold is the most malleable metal among the options.

Correct Answer: Sputnik I

Sputnik I, launched on 4 October 1957, was the first ever man-made satellite to orbit the earth.

Correct Answer: Lithium

Lithium was the first element transmuted into another by an accelerator, in the Cockcroft-Walton experiment of 1932.

Correct Answer: Chennai

The first modern astronomical observatory in India was built in Chennai, the Madras Observatory of 1786.

Correct Answer: Hydroxide

The book keys Hydroxide (OH) as the first molecule discovered in space; CH had been detected earlier, in 1937, while OH was the first found by radio astronomy.

Correct Answer: Date Palm

The date palm was among the first trees cultivated as a crop, in ancient times.

Correct Answer: Galileo

Galileo first discovered the rotation of the Sun, from the movement of sunspots.