General Knowledge Questions

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

Eight north Indian Ocean countries, namely, Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand, were asked to contribute names so that a combined list could be compiled. Each country gave eight names and a combined list of 64 names was prepared. This list is currently in use, and all cyclones arising in the north Indian Ocean are named from this list, with one name from each country being used in turn. Almost 38 or 39 names from the list have been used up, but since many cyclones dissipate long before they hit land, their names rarely figure in the papers or other media. The names that people do know about, and remember are, naturally, those that were most destructive ones, or very recent. Aila, in 2009 is remembered with a shudder for the enormous destruction it caused in West Bengal and Bangladesh; Phaillin, also for the damage it caused when it hit the Odisha coast in 2013. Two harmless cyclones, which also might remain in people’s memory, are the more recent ones of 2014 — Hudhud, which threatened the east coast of India and Nilofar, which was expected to, but did not, devastate the western coast. The names in the cyclone list are usually words one associates with storms; words which mean water or wind or lightning in various national languages. Sometimes they are names of other things — birds or flowers or precious stones. The name ‘Aila’, contributed by the Maldives means ‘fire’, the name ‘Phaillin’ from Thailand means sapphire, the name ‘Hudhud’ from Oman is the name of a bird, probably the hoopoe, and the name ‘Nilofar’, given by Pakistan, is the Urdu name of the lotus or water lily. The eight names suggested by India, and which are in the list of 64, are Agni, Akaash, Bijli, Jal, Leher, Megh, Sagar and Vayu, meaning in that order, fire, sky, lightning, water, wave, cloud, sea and wind. Five of these names (that is, up to Leher) have been used so far.

Which of the following names is a type of a precious stone?

Select the antonym of

obligation

Select the antonym of

sibilate

Junk e-mail is also called ______

Rearrange the parts of the sentence in correct order.

Echolocating bats

P : emit sounds in patterns that

Q : and constant-frequency (CF) signals

R : contain both frequency modulated (FM)

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

There's more than the 101-seater dining table at the Falaknuma Palace that is awe inspiring. The library done in rosewood and mahogany is a place that will force anyone to pause, if only to admire the fine original polish, the furniture and the walnut carved high roof. The last is supposedly an imitation of the one at Windsor Castle.

The library is almost the size of a large banquet hall and acts as the passage to other parts of the palace including the dining area. For years the palace had no librarian because they couldn't find the right person to do justice to the treasure trove of books collected by the Nizam's family over several decades. That is until they found Asif Husain Arastu who belongs to the family that owned the famous A A Husain book store in Abids. So when his friend and historian Anuradha Naik pointed out the palace's requirement at the library, Husain was delighted. On his very first day as the librarian at the magnificent Taj Falaknuma palace, Asif Husain found a reference book on 'How to paint grass' by Alfred East.

Name the author of the book that Mr Hussain found on his first day as the librarian?

Epsom(England) is the place associated with

Improve the bracketed part of the sentence.

When the prodigal son returned home, his father welcomed him (with open hands).