Assistant Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Past Paper 2008 Solved MCQs

Correct Answer: On

Success is said to smile on a person, meaning fortune favours them.

Correct Answer: To

To be a slave to one's passions is to be controlled by them.

Correct Answer: With

To side with someone in a dispute is to support them.

Correct Answer: Of

To run short of funds is to have almost no funds left.

Correct Answer: For

To send for someone is to summon them when needed.

Correct Answer: To

Keats is second only to Shakespeare among English poets, in the book's ranking.

Correct Answer: At

To scold at someone is to rebuke them angrily, as here with rage.

Correct Answer: Of

To be sanguine of success is to be confidently optimistic about it.

Correct Answer: Of

To rob someone of money is to take all their money from them.

Correct Answer: Of

A memory retentive of dates is one that holds dates well.

Correct Answer: to

To resign oneself to one's fate is to accept it without resistance.

Correct Answer: Later

You can come later, the time word; latter refers to the second of two things mentioned.

Correct Answer: Illegible

Handwriting that cannot be read is illegible.

Correct Answer: Humane

To be loved for a humane nature is to be loved for kindness and compassion.

Correct Answer: Whole

He witnessed the whole incident, the entire event.

Correct Answer: Healing

A wound that is healing is closing and recovering.

Correct Answer: Flexible

Intransigent means refusing to compromise, so its antonym is flexible.

Correct Answer: Tasty

Insipid means tasteless, so its antonym is tasty.

Correct Answer: Dubious

Infallible means incapable of error; dubious is the nearest antonym offered, since fallible itself is not an option.

Correct Answer: Energetic

Indolent means lazy, so its antonym is energetic.

Correct Answer: 12 year

Let the girl be g: in 6 years (g + 6) + (g + 24) = 54, so 2g = 24 and g = 12 years.

Correct Answer: 15.98%

The book keys this item to 15.98% (B); by calculation a 17% profit on a Rs. 50,000 sale implies cost about Rs. 42,735, giving about 9.98% on a Rs. 47,000 sale, which is not offered, so the item is retained at the key.

Correct Answer: 240kg

With P = 120 kg, Q twice P = 240 kg and R half of Q = 120 kg, the shares total 480 kg, so family Q gets 240 kg.

Correct Answer: 11 sec

At 35 km/h the train moves at 9.72 m/s, so it covers its own 110 m length in about 11.3 seconds, the closest offered answer being 11 seconds.

Correct Answer: 97

For an average of 85 over 4 tests the total must be 340; 75 + 82 + 86 = 243, so the fourth test needs 97 marks.

Correct Answer: 1000

With 45% failing, 55% pass, and 55% of the total is 550, so the total appeared is 1,000 students.

Correct Answer: 48%

Sold at Rs. 76 with 52% gain, the cost is Rs. 50; sold at Rs. 74 the gain is Rs. 24 on Rs. 50, or 48%.

Correct Answer: six days

Six women equal nine girls, so 8 women and 3 girls equal 15 girls; 9 girls take 10 days, so 15 girls take 9 x 10 / 15 = 6 days.

Correct Answer: 10hrs

The work is 8 x 5 = 40 hours, so finishing in 4 days needs 40 / 4 = 10 hours a day.

Correct Answer: 44%

Cost per orange is Rs. 5/6 and selling price Rs. 6/5, giving a gain of (11/30) / (5/6) = 44%.

Correct Answer: 10

Cost per sweet is 1/14 rupee; with 40% gain the selling price is 1.4/14 = 1/10 rupee, so 10 sweets sell for a rupee.

Correct Answer: 5

The arithmetic mean of 4 and 6 is (4 + 6) / 2 = 5.

Correct Answer: 6

Three men equal six boys, so 6 men and 8 boys equal 20 boys; 6 boys take 20 days, so 20 boys take 6 x 20 / 20 = 6 days.

Correct Answer: 37

If the average before was x, then 16x + 85 = 17(x + 3), giving x = 34, so the average after the 17th innings is 37.

Correct Answer: 4cm

Half the perimeter is 12 cm, so breadth = 12 - 8 = 4 cm.

Correct Answer: 8w

One week is 7 days, so w weeks and w days make 7w + w = 8w days.

Correct Answer: 12%gain

Sold at Rs. 240 with 25% gain, the cost is Rs. 192; sold at Rs. 216 the gain is Rs. 24 on Rs. 192, or 12.5%, keyed here as 12%.

Correct Answer: 12

Fifteen men take 20 days, so 25 men take 15 x 20 / 25 = 12 days.

Correct Answer: 40%

Failing at least one subject is 40% + 30% - 10% (both) = 60%, so the pass percentage is 100% - 60% = 40%.

Correct Answer: 33%

If B's income is 100, A's is 75, so B exceeds A by 25 on 75, or 33.33%, keyed here as 33%.

Correct Answer: the first man-made transmutations

Rutherford performed the first artificial transmutation in 1919, bombarding nitrogen with alpha particles; the cyclotron was Lawrence's invention, not his.

Correct Answer: Newton's Third Law of Motion

To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction is Newton's Third Law of Motion.

Correct Answer: carbon

Proteins, fats and carbohydrates are all carbon compounds, so carbon is the element they share.

Correct Answer: pathogenic

A micro-organism capable of producing disease is called pathogenic.

Correct Answer: Archimedes principle

The upward thrust on an immersed body equals the weight of liquid displaced, which is Archimedes' principle.

Correct Answer: a negative charge

Electrons carry a negative charge, though they orbit the nucleus rather than sitting in its core.

Correct Answer: naturally activated

Radium is naturally radioactive, decaying spontaneously without human or chemical activation.

Correct Answer: 7

Sunlight is made up of seven colours, as seen in a rainbow.

Correct Answer: rises

The speed of sound in air rises as temperature rises.

Correct Answer: burning

Combustion is the chemical process commonly called burning.

Correct Answer: enters the mouth

Digestion begins in the mouth, where saliva starts breaking down food.

Correct Answer: vitamins

Fresh fruits are valued for their vitamins, the answer keyed here.

Correct Answer: skin

Sodium (salt) is stored in the skin's interstitium as well as circulating in blood, and the book keys skin here.

Correct Answer: take a long walk

A long walk is the book's remedy for a desk worker exhausted by hours of sitting.

Correct Answer: arteries to veins

Capillaries are the tiny vessels that carry blood from arteries to veins.

Correct Answer: a horn-like material

Nails are horn-like keratin with no nerve endings, so cutting them causes no pain; the book keys horn-like material.

Correct Answer: to express our feeling

We laugh to express a feeling, such as amusement or joy.

Correct Answer: cheetah

The cheetah is the fastest four-legged animal on land.

Correct Answer: humming bird

The hummingbird can hover still in the air beside a flower while feeding on nectar and insects.

Correct Answer: gills

Fish breathe through gills, which extract oxygen from water.

Correct Answer: 750

The book keys this defective item to 750 (B); in fact Abbasid rule began in 750 and ended in 1258, and the true end year is not offered.

Correct Answer: 712

Muhammad bin Qasim attacked Sindh in 712 AD, landing at Debal.

Correct Answer: 61 Hijrah

Imam Hussain reached Karbala in 61 Hijrah, where he was martyred on 10 Muharram.

Correct Answer: Sindh

Sindh is known as Bab-ul-Islam, the gateway through which Islam entered the subcontinent.

Correct Answer: 714

The book keys Multan's conquest to 714 (A); the campaign is commonly dated 712, so this is a date variant retained at the key.

Correct Answer: Badr

Abu Jahl was killed at the Battle of Badr in 624 AD.

Correct Answer: Sheba

Abdul Muttalib's real name was Shaybah ibn Hashim, rendered Sheba here.

Correct Answer: Habl

Hubal, rendered Habl here, was the largest idol of the Quraish in the Kaaba.

Correct Answer: Khalid Bin Walid (R.A)

Saifullah, the Sword of Allah, is the title of Khalid bin Walid (R.A).

Correct Answer: 3 years

The boycott of Shiab Abi Talib lasted three years, about 616-619 AD.

Correct Answer: Sindh

The Muslim League formed a ministry in Sindh after the 1946 elections, the answer keyed here, though it also formed the Bengal ministry that year.

Correct Answer: All of these

Diwan-i-Aam, Diwan Khas, Jamia Masjid Delhi, Red Fort, Taj Mahal and Moti Masjid are all Shah Jahan's buildings, so All of these is the answer.

Correct Answer: China

Gwadar Port was built with Chinese financial assistance; Singapore later operated it under contract.

Correct Answer: Hari Singh

Hari Singh was the ruler of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947.

Correct Answer: Line of Actual Control

The Line of Actual Control separates Indian-administered Kashmir from Aksai Chin held by China.

Correct Answer: Gujrati

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah's mother tongue was Gujrati.

Correct Answer: Bar-at-Law

Jinnah qualified as a barrister, Bar-at-Law, from Lincoln's Inn.

Correct Answer: Munich University. Germany

Allama Iqbal earned his PhD from Munich University in Germany in 1908.

Correct Answer: Stanley Wolpert

Jinnah of Pakistan was written by Stanley Wolpert.

Correct Answer: 1959

Islamabad was designated Pakistan's capital in 1959, printed here as 1859; the capital functions moved there in 1967.

Correct Answer: Imaginary line on globe

The Tropic of Cancer is an imaginary line of latitude on the globe, at about 23.5 degrees north.

Correct Answer: Pacific

The Pacific is the largest ocean in the world.

Correct Answer: USA

The Mississippi river is in the United States of America.

Correct Answer: Russia

The Volga river is in Russia, flowing into the Caspian Sea.

Correct Answer: Suleiman

The Bolan Pass lies in the Suleiman Range of Balochistan.

Correct Answer: North Africa

The Sahara desert is in North Africa, the world's largest hot desert.

Correct Answer: Indian Ocean

Sumatra lies in the Indian Ocean region, off western Indonesia.

Correct Answer: Himalayas

The Himalayas are the highest mountain range in the world, home to Mount Everest.

Correct Answer: Danube

Vienna stands on the Danube river.

Correct Answer: Tagus

Lisbon stands on the Tagus river.

Correct Answer: Japan

The Diet is the parliament of Japan.

Correct Answer: Parliament of Norway

The Storting is the parliament of Norway.

Correct Answer: Iran

The rose is the national flower keyed here for Iran.

Correct Answer: A Clock

Big Ben is the name of the clock (strictly its Great Bell) at Westminster in London.

Correct Answer: Russia

Red Square is in Moscow, Russia.

Correct Answer: Uzbekistan

Bukhara is in Uzbekistan.

Correct Answer: North and South Korea

The 38th Parallel is the boundary between North and South Korea.

Correct Answer: Gibraltar

Gibraltar is called the Key of the Mediterranean, guarding its western entrance.

Correct Answer: Rome

Rome is the City of Seven Hills.

Correct Answer: Germany

Hitler belonged to Germany, which he ruled as Chancellor and Fuhrer from 1933.