CDS General English Solved Paper (I) : 2006
(COMPREHENSION)

Directions (For the 24 items which follows): In this section you have four short passages. After each passage, you will find several questions based on the passage. First, read passage I, and answer the questions based on it. Then go on to the other passages. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of the author only. Examples ‘I’ and ‘J’ are solved for you.

Passage

In our approach to life, be it pragmatic or otherwise, a basic fact that confronts us squarely  and unmistakably is the desire for peace, security  and happiness.  Different forms of life at different  levels of existence make up the teeming denizens of this earth of ours. And, no matter whether they belong to the higher groups such as human beings or to the lower groups such as animals, all beings primarily seek peace, comfort and  security. Life is as dear to a mute creature as it is to a man. Even the lowliest insect strives for protection against dangers that threaten its life. Just as each one of us wants to live and not to die, so do all other creatures. I. The author ’s main point is that

(a) different forms of life are found on earth

(b) different levels of existence are possiblein nature

(c) peace and security are the chief goals of all living beings

(d) even the weakest creature struggles to preserve its life

J. Which one of the following assumptions orsteps is essential in developing the author ’s position ?

(a) All forms of life have a single overriding goal

(b) The wi ll to survive of a creature is identified with a desire for peace

(c) All beings are divided into higher and lower groups

(d) A parallel is drawn between happiness and life, and pain and death

I. The idea which represents the author ’s main point is “peace and security are the chief goals of all living beings”, which is response (c). So (c) is the correct answer.

J. The best assumption underlying the passage is “The will to survive of a creature is identified with a desire for peace”, which is response (b). So (b) is the correct answer.

Passage – I

Incredible though it may seem, while the percentage of literacy in India has been going up, the number of illiterates has also been increasing. Thus, according to the 1966 figures there were 353 million illiterates in the country - 20 million more than in 1961. During the same period the percentage of literacy went up from 24 to 29 per cent. The explanation for this paradox lies in the rapid growth of population which has outpaced whatever little progress has been achieved in literacy. For instance from 1951 to 1961, literacy increased at an annual average rate of 0.7 per cent while the country’s population grew by 2.15 per cent every year. But the population explosion is not ent irely responsible for the growing number of illiterates. The apathy of most states in failing to tackle the problem of adult literacy is also partly to blame. Till now, they have shown little awareness of the magnitude of the problem. Moreover, follow up measures to prevent neoliterates from relapsing into illiteracy is just asimportant as the initial adult literacy campaigns. Here too, the State Education authorities have been negligent. Not sufficient provision has been made for ‘continued education’. This can be done by setting up more rural libraries, adult schools and correspondence courses.

1.Which of the following is as important as the literacy campaign ?
(a) A new policy on education
(b) Vocational education system
(c) Prevention of neo-literates dropping into illiteracy
(d) Opening more universities

2. In this passage what is one of the steps for continued education ?
(a) Starting short-term courses
(b) Opening more rural libraries
(c) Making education a fundamental right
(d) Making education a subject in the Union List

3.What was the number of illiterates in 1961?
(a) 37.3 crore
(b) 35.3 crore
(c) 33.3 crore
(d) 2 crore

4.What is the paradox refer red to in the passage?
(a ) The number of illiterates has decreased whi le the percentage of literacy has increased
(b) The number of literates has increased while the percentage of literacy has gone down
(c) The number of l i ter ates and the percentage of i l l i ter ates hav e both decreased
(d) The number of i l l i ter ates and the percentage of literacy have both increased

5.What was the percentage of literacy in 1961?
(a) 5
(b) 19

CDS General English Solved Paper (I) : 2006
(SYNONYMS)

Directions: (For the 16 items which follows): Each of the following 16 items consists of a word in capital letters, followed by four words or groups of words. Select the word or group of words that is most similar in meaning to the word in capital letters.

1. CONTRAPTION
(a) Window
(b) Forest
(c) Device
(d) Valley

Civil servant aspirants from the state and the north-east will soon have a coaching school to fulfill their dreams. The higher education department is all set to inaugurate an IAS coaching centre at the Bidhan Nagar College. Worried about the dwindling number of candidates qualifying for IAS and other allied services, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to initiate the new venture.

Over the past few years, students from Jharkhand and Bihar have bagged high ranks in the civil service examination while West Bengal has lagged behind. There are in fact very few IAS officers from the state cadre currently serving in the state government and even at the Centre.

"This year, there was only one student who secured a rank in the top 100 in the UPSC exams. He had taken tuitions from a private IAS training institute. In previous years, there have been none from the state among the toppers. The new coaching centre will be run in association with Bidhan Nagar College. The idea is to change the scenario by handholding the aspirants," said a higher education department official.

Time Table For
Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2011

General English Solved Paper I: 2006

(ORDERING OF SENTENCES)

Directions: (For the 10 items which follows): In the following items, each passage consists of six sentences. The first sentence (S1) and the final sentence (S6) are given in the, beginning. The middle four sentences in each have been removed and jumbled up. These are labelled P, Q, R and S. You are required to find out the proper sequence of the four sentences and mark accordingly on the Answer Sheet. Example ‘X’ has been solved for you.

X. S1 : There was a boy named Jack.
S6 : At last she turned him out of the house.
P : So the mother asked him to find work.
Q : They were very poor.
R : He lived with his mother.
S : But Jack refused to work.

Which one of the following is the correct sequence ?
(a) R - Q - P - S (b) P - Q - R - S
(c) Q - P - R - S (d) R - P - S - Q

Explanation: The correct sequence in this example is R - Q - P - S which is marked by
(a) . Therefore,
(a) is the correct answer.

1. S1 : I have been teaching in this college for last ten years.

S6 : My hard work and honest ef for ts ultimately won the favour of the teachers and the students.
P : But I worked hard.
Q : I was thought to be a third-rate teacher.
R : Now I am a popular teacher and everyone likes me but there was a time no one liked me.
S : I knew that hard work always pays.

Which one of the following is the correct sequence ?
(a) R - Q - P - S (b) P - S - R - Q
(c) R - S - P - Q (d) P - Q - R - S

2. S1 : For a long time, I could not decide whether I should speak to her or not.

S6: At last I moved my lips and told her that her father had passed away.
P : She was anxious to know about her father.
Q : I knew she would start weeping.
R : She looked towards me with anxious eyes.
S : I could not tell her that her father had died before the doctor arrived.

Which one of the following is the correctsequence ?
(a) P - R - Q - S (b) S - Q - R - P
(c) P - Q - R - S (d) S - R - Q - P

Detailed Application For Geologist Examination-2010:

• Candidates are advised to read carefully the Rules of the Examination, which include conditions of eligibility etc. as published in the Gazette of India dated 19th June, 2010.

• Candidates should ensure that all columns of the Application Form are filled in correctly in their own hand in ink or with Ball Point Pen. No correspondence will be entertained by the Commission from candidates to change any of the entries made in the Detailed Application Form.

• All relevant enclosures relating to educational qualifications, age, community etc. should be enclosed with the Form.

• The completed Detailed Application Form must reach the Under Secretary (Geologists), Union Public Service Commission, Dholpur House, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi-110069 on or before the date specified in the forwarding letter.
  The envelope containing the application should be superscribed “Application for Geologists' Examination, 2010.” Application can also be delivered at the Union Public Service Commission counter by hand. The Commission will not be responsible for the delivery of applications to any other functionary of the Commission

• In case of any guidance/information/clarification regarding their applications, candidature etc. candidates can contact UPSC's Facilitation Counter near Gate ‘C’ of its campus in person or over Telephone No. 011- 23385271/011-23381125/011-23098543 on working days between 10.00 hrs. and 17.00 hrs. Candidates can also obtain information about their application, interview programme and results etc. On the commission’s Website at the address : http://www.upsc.gov.in

• The mobile phones are banned in the Campus of UPSC Examination Halls.

Elementary Mathematics Solved Paper: 2005

1. What is the value of (1 + x^2a – b)^–1 +
(1 + xb – a)^–1?
(a) – 1 (b) 1
(c) a – b (d) 0

2. The sum of the digits in a two-digit number is 10. If 18 is subtracted from the number, the result is the number with the digits reserved. What is the number?
(a) 46
(b) 64
(c) 73
(d) 37

3. If the roots of the equation ax2 + bx + c = 0 are equal in magnitude but opposite in sign, then which one of the following is correct?
(a) a = 0
(b) b = 0
(c) c = 0
(d) b = 0, c ¹ 0, a ¹ 0

4. If 5 = 1/logx³ what is the value of x?
(a) 1
(b) 3
(c) 5
(d) 15

5. If the roots of the equation x² + x + 1 = 0 are in the ratio of m : n, then which one of the following relations holds?
(a) m + n + 1 = 0
(b) m/n n/m 1 0
(c) √m √n 1 0
(d)√m/n √n/m 1 0

7. If b/y z/c 1 and c/z x/z 1, the which one of the following corresponds to the value of the expression a/x y/b?
(a) 0
(b) 1
(c) – 1
(d) 2

8. If x² + xy = 40 and y² + xy = 60, what are the values of x + y?
(a) ± 15
(b) ± 5
(c) ± 10
(d) √10

9. If √16 6√7 a b√7,  what can be the value of b?
(a) – 2
(b) 3/2
(c) – 1
(d)1/2

10. If √a √b √c, what is the simplified value of a b c²/a b c?
(a) 1
(b) b/c
(c) c/a
(d) a/b

12. If x³ + px + q and x³ + qx + p have a common factor, which one of the following is correct?
(a) p + q = 0
(b) p + q – 1 = 0
(c) p + q + 1 = 0
(d) p – q + 1 = 0

13. For what value of m will the expression 3x² + mx² + 4x – 4x – 4m be divisible (x + 2)?
(a) – 4
(b) 0
(c) For any value of m
(d) No such value of m exits

14. If a + b + c = 0, then what is the value of  a⁴ + b⁴ + c⁴ – 2a²b² – 2a²b² – 2b²c² – 2c²a²?
(a) 0
(b) 1
(c) – 0
(d) 1/2

15. For what values of p and q, were p, q are real numbers and p ¹ 0, does the equation 3x – 5 + q = px + 1 have solution?
(a) For all p and q
(b) p = 3, q ¹ 6
(c) p ¹ 3 for any q
(d) q ¹ 6 for any p

16. If √3x² 4x 34 √3x² 4x 11 9  what is the value of expression √3x² 4x 34 √3x² 4x 11?
(a) 0
(b) 3
(c) 5
(d) 9

17. If the angle inlcuded between the sides of lengths 3 cm and 4 cm of a triangle is 60°, then what is the area of the triangle?
(a) 3√3cm²
(b) 4√3cm²
(c) 3√3/2cm²
(d) 2√3cm²

18. If O is the circumference of a triangle ABC such that Ð BAC = 58°, what is ÐOBC?
(a) 29°
(b) 32°
(c) 48°
(d) 58°

19. ABC is a cyclic qudrilateral whose diagonals intersect at O. If ÐCAB = 25°