General Knowledge Questions

Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given four alternatives.

The Amazon basin has been continuously inhabited for at least 10, 000 years, possibly more. Its earliest inhabitants were stone-age peoples, living in hundreds of far-flung tribes, some tiny, others numbering in the tens of thousands. It was from the west that Europeans explorers first arrived. In 1541 a Spanish expedition from Quito, led by Gonzalo Pizarro, ran short of supplies while exploring east of the Andes in what is today Peru. Pizarro’s cousin Francisco de Orellana offered to take 60 men along with the boats from the expedition and forage for supplies. De Orellana floated down the Rio Napo to its confluence with the Amazon, near Iquitos (Peru), and then to the mouth of the Amazon. Along the way his expedition suffered numerous attacks by Indians; some of the Indian warriors, they reported, were female, like the Amazons of Greek mythology, and thus the world’s greatest river got its name. No one made a serious effort to claim this sweaty territory, however, until the Portuguese built a fort near the mouth of the river at Belém in 1616, and sent Pedro Teixeira up the river to Quito and back between 1637 and 1639. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Portuguese bandeirantes (groups of roaming adventurers) penetrated ever further into the rain forest in pursuit of gold and Indian slaves, exploring as far as present-day Rondônia, and the Guaporé and Madeira river valleys. Amazonian Indians had long used the sap from rubber trees to make waterproof bags and other items. European explorers recognized the potential value of natural latex, but were unable to market it because it tended to grow soft in the heat, or brittle in the cold, and thus had limited appeal outside the rain forest. However, in 1842 American Charles Goodyear developed vulcanization (made natural rubber durable) and in 1890 Ireland’s John Dunlop patented pneumatic rubber tires. Soon there was an unquenchable demand for rubber in the recently industrialized USA and Europe, and the price of rubber on international markets soared. As profits skyrocketed, so did exploitation of the seringueiros, or rubber tappers, who were lured into the Amazon, mostly from the drought-stricken northeast, by the promise of prosperity only to be locked into a cruel system of virtual slavery dominated by seringalistas (owners of rubber-bearing forests). Rigged scales, hired guns, widespread illiteracy among the rubber tappers, and monopoly of sales and purchases all combined to perpetuate the workers’ debt and misery. In addition, seringueiros had to contend with jungle fevers, Indian attacks and all manner of deprivation.

From where did the Europeans explorers first arrive?

Rearrange the parts of the sentence in correct order.
 
The whole biosphere, like
 
P : a chemically dynamic state
Q : the individual organisms that
R : live inside it, exists in

A universal recipient blood group belongs to

Which countries launched a common digital currency "Aber"?

Which High Court has ordered a ban over online sale of medicines across India?

Which of the following countries is associated with 'Glorious Revolution'?

The headquaters of food and agriculture organisation is in

A passage is given with 5 questions following it. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives and click the button corresponding to it.

My brother, David, was always close to our grandmother. Both of them shared a love of Mother Nature and of food that they had grown themselves. Whenever his schedule permitted, he would drop in for a short visit and a cup of coffee. One day, when he found no one home, he left a chunk of dirt on her porch. This started what was later to be known as his "calling card". Grandmother would come home occasionally and instantly know that Dave had been by when she spotted the chunk of dirt on her porch.

Although Grandmother had a poor upbringing in Italy, she managed to do well in the United States. She was always healthy and independent and enjoyed a fulfilling life. Recently she had a stroke and died. Everyone was saddened by her death. David was disconsolate. His life­long friend was now gone.

Grandmother used to be _____ .