Staff Selection Commission Stenographer Grade C & D Exam
Question : Comprehension:
Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.
Blue Pottery is widely recognised as a traditional craft of Jaipur, though it is Turko-Persian in origin. The name 'blue pottery' comes from the eye-catching cobalt blue dye used to colour the pottery. It is relatively unusual as a type of luxury Indian pottery as most Indian types are functional and though often highly decorated, relatively low prestige wares. Jaipur blue pottery is glazed and low-fired. No clay is used: the 'dough' for the pottery is prepared by mixing quartz stone powder, powdered glass, fuller's earth, borax, gum and water.
Some of this pottery is semi-transparent and mostly decorated with bird and animal motifs. Being fired at very low temperatures makes them fragile. The range of items is primarily decorative, such as vases, coasters, small bowls, and boxes for trinkets. The colour palette is restricted to blue derived from the cobalt oxide, green from the copper oxide and white, though other non-conventional colours, such as yellow and brown, are sometimes included. The use of blue glaze on pottery is an imported technique, first developed by artisans who combined Chinese glazing technology with Persian decorative arts. This technique travelled east to India with early Turkic conquests in the 14th century. During its infancy, it was used to make tiles to decorate mosques, tombs and palaces in Central Asia. Later, following their conquests and arrival in India, the Mughals began using them in India. Gradually the blue glaze technique grew beyond an architectural accessory to Indian potters. From there, the technique travelled to the plains of Delhi and in the 17th century went to Jaipur.
Other accounts of the craft state that blue pottery came to Jaipur in the early 19th century under the ruler Sawai Ram Singh II. The Jaipur king had sent local artisans to Delhi to be trained in the craft. However, by the 1950s, blue pottery had all but vanished from Jaipur, when it was re-introduced through the efforts of the muralist and painter Kripal Singh Shekhawat, with the support of patrons such as Kamladevi Chattopadhaya and Rajmata Gayatri Devi.
Question:
Which of the following are conventional colours used in blue pottery?
Option 1: Green and yellow
Option 2: Brown and white
Option 3: Yellow and brown
Option 4: Blue and green
Correct Answer: Blue and green
Solution : The correct choice is the fourth option.
In Jaipur blue pottery, the conventional colour palette is limited, focusing primarily on three colours:
These colours are traditional and commonly seen in blue pottery pieces.
Question : Directions: After 6 years, the sum of the years of service of P, Q, and R will be 56 years. Before 3 years, the sum of years of service of Q and R was 17 years. What is the current length of service of P?
Option 1: 17 years
Option 2: 15 years
Option 3: 11 years
Option 4: 12 years
Correct Answer: 15 years
Solution : Let, the length of years of service of P = P years The length of years of service of Q = Q years The length of years of service of R = R years ⇒After 6 years, the sum of the years of service of P, Q, and R = (P + 6) + (Q + 6) + (R + 6) = 56 P + Q + R + 18 = 56 P + Q + R = 38 ----- (I) ⇒Before 3 years, the sum of years of service of Q and R = (Q – 3) + (R – 3) = 17 R + Q – 6 = 17 R + Q = 23 ----- (II) From the equation (I) and (II) above, P + 23 = 38 P = 15 years
Therefore, the current length of service of P is 15 years. Hence, the second option is correct.
Question : Directions: Study the given pattern carefully and select the number that can replace the question mark (?) in it.
Option 1: 110
Option 2: 100
Option 3: 90
Option 4: 80
Correct Answer: 90
Solution : The 4th root of the sum of the second and third numbers equals the first number – Row I: 45 + 36 = 81; $\sqrt[4]{81}$ = 3 Row III: 3 + 13 = 16; $\sqrt[4]{16}$ = 2 Similarly, in Row II: 166 + X = 44 ⇒ X = 256 – 166 ⇒ X = 90
So, the missing number is 90. Hence, the third option is correct.
Question : Select the correct direct narration of the given sentence.
I told my parents that I would miss them when I was away. I also requested them to take good care of themselves in my absence.
Option 1: I said to my parents, "I'll miss you when I'm away. Please take good care of yourselves in my absence.
Option 2: I said to my parents, "I had missed you when I'm away, You have to take good care of yourselves in my absence."
Option 3: I said to my parents, "You will be missed when you are away. You should take good care of yourselves in my absence."
Option 4: I said to my parents, "I'll have missed you when you are away. Please take good care of yourselves in my absence."
Correct Answer: I said to my parents, "I'll miss you when I'm away. Please take good care of yourselves in my absence.
Solution : The correct answer is the first option.
Direct speech is a form of speech or writing where the actual words spoken by a person are quoted within quotation marks and attributed to the speaker.
Narration conversion for the first sentence:
Narration conversion for the second sentence:
Therefore, the correct answer is: I said to my parents, "I'll miss you when I'm away. Please take good care of yourselves in my absence."
Question : Who among the following was elected as the first-ever President of Barbados to replace Britain's Queen Elizabeth in October 2021 with a two-thirds vote during a joint session of the country's House of Assembly and Senate?
Option 1: Jacinda Ardern
Option 2: Sandra Mason
Option 3: Angela Merkel
Option 4: Najla Bouden
Correct Answer: Sandra Mason
Solution : The correct answer is Sandra Mason.
Barbados elected its first-ever president, which means that Queen Elizabeth will no longer be the head of state. Dame Sandra Mason was sworn in as the new president of the country on the 55th anniversary of Barbados' independence from Britain. She has held the position of governor-general since 2018.
Question : Who received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Times of India Sports Award, 2019?
Option 1: Bhaichung Bhutia
Option 2: Sunil Gavaskar
Option 3: Balbir Singh (Sr)
Option 4: Prakash Padukone
Correct Answer: Bhaichung Bhutia
Solution : The correct answer is Bhaichung Bhutia
Bhaichung Bhutia, the former Indian Football captain, received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Times of India Sports Award in 2019. It was the fourth Times of India sports awards event in New Delhi in 2019.
Question : Given below are four sentences, three of which, are jumbled. Pick the option that gives the correct order. A. In less than ten minutes, the two young men found the way that led to the cliff top. B. Half way up, a large rock blocked their way. C. But their troubles were not over. D. They started shouting, hoping that someone might hear them.
Option 1: ABCD
Option 2: ACBD
Option 3: ADCB
Option 4: ADBC
Correct Answer: ABCD
Solution : The correct choice is the first option.
Explanation: The sequence begins with the two young men swiftly finding the path to the cliff top in less than ten minutes (A). However, their progress is hindered when they encountered a large rock halfway up (B). The narrative then takes a turn with the statement that their troubles are not over, introducing a new challenge or complication (C). To overcome this obstacle, the young men resort to shouting, hoping that someone might hear them, suggesting a potential solution or coping strategy in response to the problem posed by the large rock (D).
Therefore, the correct answer is ABCD.
Question : Select the most appropriate ANTONYM of the given word. Confused
Option 1: Lucid
Option 2: Developed
Option 3: Stupid
Option 4: Tangled
Correct Answer: Lucid
Solution : The first option is the correct choice.
The word confused describes a state of being unclear, disordered, or lacking coherence in thought. The most suitable antonym is lucid, which refers to clarity, transparency, and easily understood expression.
The meanings of the other options are as follows:
Developed means advanced, matured, or brought to a more advanced or effective state.
Stupid means lacking intelligence or common sense.
Tangled means twisted together in a confused mass, complicated, or intricately involved.
Therefore, the correct answer is lucid.
Read the following passage and answer the questions given that follow.
An excavation of ancient Babylon revealed evidence that Babylonians were making soap around 2800 B.C. This is the first concrete evidence we have of a soap-like substance. The early soap makers were Babylonians, Mesopotamians, and Egyptians, as well as the ancient Greeks and Romans. All of them made soap by mixing fat, oils, and salts. Soap wasn't made and used for bathing and personal hygiene but was rather produced for cleaning cooking utensils or goods or was used for medicine purposes. The early references to soap making were for the use of soap in cleaning wool and cotton used in textile manufacture, which was used medicinally for at least 5000 years. Soap is a product for cleaning made from natural ingredients that may include both plant and animal products, including items such as animal fat, such as tallow, or vegetable oil, such as castor, olive, or coconut oil. Soap supposedly got its name from Mount Sapo in Rome. The word 'sapo', Latin for soap, first appeared in Pliny the Elder's Historia Naturalis. The first soap was made by the Babylonians around 2800 B.C. Soap-making history goes back many thousands of years. In the early beginnings of soap making, it was an exclusive technique used by small groups of soap makers. The demand for soap was high, but it was very expensive, and there was a monopoly on soap production in many areas. Back then, plant byproducts and animal and vegetable oils were the main ingredients in soap. The price of soap was significantly reduced in 1791 when a Frenchman by the name of LeBlanc discovered a chemical process that allowed soap to be made cheaply and sold for significantly less money. More than 20 years later, another Frenchman identified relationships between glycerine, fats, and acid—what marked the beginning of modern soap-making. With the discovery of another method of making soap, soap became even less expensive. Since that time, there have been no major discoveries, and the same processes are used for the soap making we use and enjoy today. Advances came as the science of chemistry developed because more was understood about the ingredients. In the mid-nineteenth century, soap for bathing became a separate commodity from laundry soap, with milder soaps being packaged, sold, and made available for personal use. Liquid hand soaps were invented in the 1970s, and this invention keeps soaps in the public eye. Today, there are many different kinds of soaps made for a vast array of purposes. Soap is available for personal, commercial, and industrial use. There is handmade, homemade, and commercially produced soap; there is soap used to wash clothes, dishes, and cars; there is soap used for your pet; there is soap for your carpet; and there is also soap for your child.
Question:-
In the eighteenth century, which ingredient was NOT used in making soap?
Option 1: Plant byproducts
Option 2: Animal fat
Option 3: Vegetable oils
Option 4: Glycerin
Correct Answer: Glycerin
Solution : The fourth option is the correct answer.
Explanation: The passage mentions that the price of soap was significantly reduced in 1791 when a Frenchman named LeBlanc discovered a chemical process. This discovery allowed soap to be made cheaply and sold for significantly less money. It implies that before this discovery, soap-making did not involve the use of glycerine.
Therefore, the correct answer is glycerine.
Question : Who among the following was the first chairman of the Rajya Sabha?
Option 1: B. R. Ambedkar
Option 2: Sachchidananda Sinha
Option 3: Rajendra Prasad
Option 4: S. Radhakrishnan
Correct Answer: S. Radhakrishnan
Solution : The correct answer is S. Radhakrishnan.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was the first chairman of the Rajya Sabha. He served as India's first vice president. Rajya Sabha is the Upper House, often known as the House of Elders. It represents the states and union territories.
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