Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level Exam
Question : Comprehension: Read the passage and answer the questions given after it.
The savanna landscape is typified by tall grass and short trees. It is rather misleading to call the savanna 'tropical grassland' because trees are always present with the luxuriant tall grass. The terms 'parkland' or 'bush-veld' perhaps describe the landscape better.
Trees grow best towards the equatorial humid latitudes or along river banks but decrease in height and density away from the equator. They occur in clumps or as scattered individuals. The trees are deciduous, shedding their leaves in the cool, dry season to prevent excessive loss of water through transpiration, e.g. acacias. Others have broad trunks, with water-storing devices to survive through the prolonged drought such as baobabs and bottle trees. Trees are mostly hard, gnarled and thorny and may exude gum-like gum arable. Many trees are umbrella-shaped, exposing only a narrow edge to the strong winds.
Palms which cannot withstand the drought are confined to the wettest areas or along rivers. Vegetative luxuriance reaches its peak in the rainy season when trees renew their foliage and flower. In true savanna lands, the grass is tall and coarse, growing 6 to 12 feet high. The elephant grass may attain a height of even 15 feet! The grass tends to grow in compact tufts and has long roots which reach down in search of water. It appears greenish and well-nourished in the rainy season but turns yellow and dies down in the dry season that follows. The grass lies dormant throughout the long, rainless period and springs up again in the next rainy season.
In between the tall grass are scattered short trees and low bushes. As the rainfall diminishes towards the deserts the savanna merges into thorny scrub. In Australia, this scrubland is particularly well represented by a number of species: mallee, mulga, spinifex grass and other bushes.
The savanna, particularly in Africa, is the home of wild animals. It is known as the "big game country' and thousands of animals are trapped or killed each year by people from all over the world. Some of the animals are tracked down for their skins, horns, tusks, bones or hair, others are captured alive and sent out of Africa as zoo animals, laboratory specimens or pets. There is such a wealth of animal life in Africa that many of the animal films that we see at the cinema are actually taken in the savanna. There are, in fact, two main groups of animals in the savanna, the grass-eating herbivorous animals and the fleshing-eating carnivorous animals. The herbivorous animals are often very alert and move swiftly from place to place in search of green pastures.
They are endowed with great speed to run away from the savage flesh-eaters that are always after them. The leaf and grass-eating animals include the zebra, antelope, giraffe, deer, gazelle, elephant and okapi.
Many are well camouflaged species and their presence amongst the tall greenish-brown grass cannot be easily detected. The giraffe with such a long neck can locate its enemies a great distance away, while the elephant is so huge and strong that few animals will venture to come near it. It is well equipped with tusks and a trunk for defence.
Carnivorous animals like the lion, tiger, leopard, hyena, panther, jaguar, jackal, lynx and puma have powerful jaws and teeth for attacking other animals. Their natural colourings of light yellowish-brown, often with stripes like the tiger or spots like the leopard, match perfectly with the tawny background of the savanna. They often hide themselves in shady spots up in the branches or amidst the tall bushes, and many wild animals, as well as hunters themselves, are caught unawares in this manner.
Question: What kind of a passage is it?
Option 1: Analytical
Option 2: Informative
Option 3: Narrative
Option 4: Literary
Correct Answer: Informative
Solution : The correct choice is the second option.
Explanation: The passage is informative because its primary purpose is to convey factual information about the savanna landscape. It describes the characteristics of the savanna, such as the vegetation (tall grass and short trees), the types
Question : The mean of marks secured by 50 students in Division A of class X is 61, 25 students in Division B is 57 and that of 50 students in Division C is 55. What will be the mean marks of the students of the three divisions of Class X?
Option 1: 57.1
Option 2: 56.4
Option 3: 59.2
Option 4: 57.8
Correct Answer: 57.8
Solution : Total marks secured by 50 students in division A of Class X = 50 × 61 = 3050 Total marks secured by 25 students in division B of Class X = 25 × 57 = 1425 Total marks secured by 50 students in division C
Question : If 20 % or more area of the country suffers from rain deficits during monsoon season, it is termed as
Option 1: flood year
Option 2: drought year
Option 3: famine year
Option 4: self sufficient year
Correct Answer: drought year
Solution : The correct option is - Drought year
According to the Indian Meteorological Department, a year is considered to be an all-India drought when the country as a whole experiences a rainfall shortfall of more than 10% of normal and more than 20% of the
Question : Directions: Select the option that is related to the third word in the same way as the second word is related to the first word. (The words must be considered meaningful English words and must not be related to each other based on the number of letters/number of consonants/vowels in the word.) Cricket : Pitch :: Badminton : ?
Option 1: Track
Option 2: Field
Option 3: Court
Option 4: Pool
Correct Answer: Court
Solution : Given: Cricket : Pitch :: Badminton : ?
Like, the game of Cricket is played on the pitch. Similarly, Badminton is played on the court.
Hence, the third option is correct.
Question : Select the option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words.
The money paid to former wife, husband or partner when the marriage is ended.
Option 1: Alimony
Option 2: Compensation
Option 3: Recompense
Option 4: Maintenance
Correct Answer: Alimony
Solution : The correct option is the first option.
Alimony refers to the financial support paid by one spouse to another after a divorce or separation.
The meanings of the other options are as follows:
Compensation: Something, typically money, awarded to someone in recognition of loss,
Question : Gandhara Art is a combination of
Option 1: Indo - Roman
Option 2: Indo - Greek
Option 3: Indo - Islamic
Option 4: Indo - China
Correct Answer: Indo - Greek
Solution : The correct answer is Indo-Greek.
Gandhara art is a Buddhist sculptural art which developed in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It has both Indian and Greek features. Here, Buddha resembles the Greek God Apollo, and some common features are a muscular body, fewer ornaments and
Question : Wangala festival is celebrated by which of the following tribes?
Option 1: Bhil tribe
Option 2: Garo tribe
Option 3: Tharu tribe
Option 4: Bhutia tribe
Correct Answer: Garo tribe
Solution : The correct answer is the Garo tribe.
The Garo tribe in the state of Meghalaya celebrates the Wangala festival. From September to December, there is a lot of dancing and music during the celebrations. Assam, Nagaland, and Meghalaya are home to the Garo
Question : A bomb explodes on the moon. You will hear its sound on the Earth after _____.
Option 1: 20 minutes
Option 2: 2 hours and 20 minutes
Option 3: 3.7 hours
Option 4: You cannot hear the sound of explosion
Correct Answer: You cannot hear the sound of explosion
Solution : The correct option is you cannot hear the sound of an explosion.
The medium through which sound travels affects its speed. Since there is no air or other medium for sound waves to travel through in space, the sound
Question : Ram sells a suitcase to Mohan at a 20% profit. Mohan sells it to Shyam at a 40% profit. If Shyam pays INR 1,430 for it, then the price at which Ram bought it is:
Option 1: INR 875
Option 2: INR 870
Option 3: INR 880
Option 4: INR 851.19
Correct Answer: INR 851.19
Solution : Given: Ram sells a suitcase to Mohan at a 20% profit. Mohan sells it to Shyam at a 40% profit. If the price at which Ram bought the suitcase is INR $x$. Then, $x \times \frac{120}{100} \times \frac{140}{100}$ = 1,430 ⇒ $x = \frac{(1430
Question : The following bar chart shows the export of a certain commodity P in crore rupees between 2014 and 2020. For how many years, there was less export of P than the average export of P?
Option 1: 2
Option 2: 1
Option 3: 4
Option 4: 3
Correct Answer: 3
Solution : Average export of P = $\frac{300+650+1300+1200+800+1400+1250}{7}$ = $\frac{6900}{7}$ = 985.71 Number of years which have less export of P than the average export of P = 3 Hence, the correct answer is 3.
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