Questions

Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives and click the button corresponding to it.

The first working steam­ powered vehicle was designed and most likely built by Ferdinand Verbies, a Flemish member of a Jesuit mission in China around 1672. It was a 65 cm long scale­ model toy for the Chinese Emperor, that was unable to carry a driver or a passenger. It is not known if Verbiest's model was ever built. Nicolas- Joseph Cugnot is widely credited with building the first full­ scale, self ­propelled mechanical vehicle or automobile in about 1769; he also created a steam­ powered tricycle. He constructed two steam tractors for the French Army, one of which is preserved in the French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts. His inventions were however handicapped by problems of water supply and maintaining steam pressure. In 1801, Richard Trevithick built and demonstrated his Puffing Devil road locomotive, believed by many to be the first demonstration of a steam ­powered road vehicle. It was unable to maintain sufficient steam pressure for long periods. Sentiment against steam ­powered road vehicles led to the Locomotive Acts of 1865. In 1807 Nicephore Niepce and his brother Claude probably created the world's first internal combustion engine which they called Pyreolophore.

The problem with Trevithick's Puffing Devil was:

In the following question, the sentence given with blank to be filled in with an appropriate word. Select the correct alternative out of the four and indicate it by selecting the appropriate option.

___________ being an intangible idea, the nation is quite real because it is a shared idea. _______________ of nationhood are important for this sharing to be reliably reproduced, which is why we have familiar _____________ to memory like maps, flags, or the figure of Mother India. National symbols are extremely powerful ________________ they connect to compressed reservoirs of intense _________________.

National symbols are extremely powerful ________________

In the following question the 1st and the last part of the sentence/passage are numbered 1 and 6. The rest of the sentence/ passage is split into four parts and named P, Q, R and S. These four parts are not given in their proper order. Read the sentence/passage and find out which of the four combinations is correct.

1. There was a large gathering at the party.
P. I, too wore a brand new gold jacket.
Q. My black leather shoes were shining.
R. It matched well with my new pair of faded stone washed pants.
S. Everybody had put-on new colourful clothes.
6. They had been polished.

In the following question, a sentence / a part of sentence is underlined. Below are given alternatives to the underlined part which may improve the sentence. Choose the correct alternative. In case no improvement is required, choose "No Improvement" option.

The reason why the magazine sells so well is because it is written in a pleasant style.

Who is the Vice Chairperson of NITI Aayog ?

In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the word similar in meaning to the word given.
Pernicious

In the given question, an idiom/phrase highlighted in bold is given in a sentence. Choose the most suitable meaning of the idiom/phrase.

I heard it on the grapevine that the vacancies are going to be increased this year for many posts.

In the following question, the sentence given with blank to be filled in with an appropriate word. Select the correct alternative out of the four and indicate it byselecting the appropriate option.

Being linked with nature brings joy and peace as it is the ______ of the laws of Nature.