PPSC Past Papers 2025 (Solved MCQs)

1. China's 2025 development strategy is named:

• (A) Made in China ✓
• (B) Digital China
• (C) Belt Road
• (D) Silk Road

Explanation: "Made in China 2025", launched in 2015, is China's plan to upgrade its manufacturing into high-tech industries.

2. Panda diplomacy is associated with which country?

• (A) Japan
• (B) China ✓
• (C) South Korea
• (D) Thailand

Explanation: China lends giant pandas to other countries as a goodwill gesture — known as panda diplomacy.

3. Which country hosted the G20 summit in 2021?

• (A) US
• (B) Italy ✓
• (C) Japan
• (D) Germany

Explanation: Italy held the G20 presidency in 2021 and hosted the summit in Rome.

4. Who was the last Shah of Iran, deposed in the 1979 Iranian Revolution?

• (A) Hassan Rouhani
• (B) Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi ✓
• (C) Ayatullah Khomeini
• (D) None of these

Explanation: Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi ruled Iran from 1941 until the 1979 revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini.

5. On what date did the Soviet Union invade Afghanistan, starting a decade-long conflict?

• (A) December 24, 1979 ✓
• (B) January 1, 1980
• (C) November 4, 1978
• (D) December 15, 1979

Explanation: Soviet forces entered Afghanistan on 24 December 1979.

6. Which British Prime Minister was nicknamed the "Iron Lady"?

• (A) Theresa May
• (B) Margaret Thatcher ✓
• (C) Elizabeth Truss
• (D) Angela Merkel

Explanation: Margaret Thatcher (PM 1979–1990) was given the nickname by a Soviet newspaper in 1976.

7. Which country gave refuge to ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024?

• (A) US
• (B) Turkey
• (C) Russia ✓
• (D) Iran

Explanation: After his government fell in December 2024, Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow, where Russia granted him asylum.

8. Which bridge connects the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen?

• (A) Great Belt Bridge ✓
• (B) Oresund Bridge
• (C) Little Belt Bridge
• (D) Suez Bridge

Explanation: The Great Belt (Storebælt) Bridge links Zealand and Funen; the Oresund Bridge links Denmark with Sweden.

9. In 2025, the Loss and Damage Fund was aimed at providing financial support to developing countries for:

• (A) Poverty elimination
• (B) Research on renewable energy technologies
• (C) Economic and non-economic loss and damage caused by adverse effects of climate change ✓
• (D) Public awareness campaigns on climate change

Explanation: The fund, agreed at COP27, helps vulnerable developing countries cope with losses and damage caused by climate change.

10. When did the Soviet Union officially withdraw its troops from Afghanistan?

• (A) 1979
• (B) 1989 ✓
• (C) 1991
• (D) 1999

Explanation: Under the 1988 Geneva Accords, the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan on 15 February 1989.

11. The 9th Asian Games were held in which year and city?

• (A) 1978 — Bangkok
• (B) 1982 — New Delhi ✓
• (C) 1986 — Seoul
• (D) 1990 — Beijing

Explanation: New Delhi hosted the 9th Asian Games in 1982.

12. In 2025, which Gulf country promised Pakistan $1.2 billion in oil on deferred payment?

• (A) UAE
• (B) Qatar
• (C) Saudi Arabia ✓
• (D) Kuwait

Explanation: Saudi Arabia extended its $1.2 billion deferred-payment oil facility to Pakistan in 2025.

13. What was the official theme of World Environment Day 2025?

• (A) Ecosystem Restoration
• (B) Only One Earth
• (C) Putting an End to Plastic Pollution ✓
• (D) Solutions to Biodiversity Loss

Explanation: World Environment Day 2025, hosted by the Republic of Korea, focused on ending plastic pollution (#BeatPlasticPollution).

14. Capital budgeting is related to:

• (A) Long-term assets ✓
• (B) Short-term assets
• (C) Long-term and short-term assets
• (D) Current liabilities

Explanation: Capital budgeting is planning investment in long-term assets such as plant, machinery and projects.

15. Who is considered the father of SAARC?

• (A) General Ziaur Rahman ✓
• (B) General Zia-ul-Haq
• (C) Birendra Bir Bikram
• (D) Jawaharlal Nehru

Explanation: Bangladesh's President Ziaur Rahman first proposed regional cooperation in 1980; SAARC was founded in Dhaka on 8 December 1985.

16. Who said, "Give me a place to stand, and I will move the Earth"?

• (A) Socrates
• (B) Archimedes ✓
• (C) Aristotle
• (D) Pythagoras

Explanation: Archimedes said it to explain the principle of the lever.

17. Who is the largest arms supplier to Pakistan?

• (A) Russia
• (B) UK
• (C) US
• (D) China ✓

Explanation: According to SIPRI, China supplied about 81% of Pakistan's arms imports in 2020–2024.

18. Which organization appointed a special envoy on Kashmir in 2019?

• (A) United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)
• (B) Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) ✓
• (C) Amnesty International
• (D) None of the above

Explanation: The OIC has a Special Envoy on Jammu and Kashmir, and stepped up its role after India revoked Article 370 in 2019.

19. Who discovered penicillin, the first widely used antibiotic?

• (A) Louis Pasteur
• (B) Alexander Fleming ✓
• (C) Edward Jenner
• (D) Robert Koch

Explanation: Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928.

20. Marie Curie is best known for her work in:

• (A) Electricity
• (B) Radioactivity ✓
• (C) Thermodynamics
• (D) Genetics

Explanation: Marie Curie pioneered research on radioactivity and won Nobel Prizes in Physics (1903) and Chemistry (1911).

21. The national fish of Pakistan is:

• (A) Mahseer ✓
• (B) Blue Marlin
• (C) Hogfish
• (D) Flounder

Explanation: The Mahseer, a freshwater fish of the Indus river system, is Pakistan's national fish.

22. When did Pakistan win its first Olympic gold medal?

• (A) 1948
• (B) 1952
• (C) 1960 ✓
• (D) 1964

Explanation: Pakistan's hockey team beat India in the final at the 1960 Rome Olympics.

23. Who was the first Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force?

• (A) Air Marshal Frank Murphy
• (B) Air Marshal Asghar Khan
• (C) Air Vice Marshal Zafar Khan
• (D) Air Vice Marshal Allan Perry-Keene ✓

Explanation: Air Vice Marshal Allan Perry-Keene led the Royal Pakistan Air Force from 1947 to 1949.

24. When did Ayub Khan pay a state visit to China?

• (A) 1961
• (B) 1963
• (C) 1965 ✓
• (D) 1968

Explanation: President Ayub Khan visited China in March 1965.

25. In which year did the Indian National Congress first recognize the All-India Muslim League as the party representing Muslims?

• (A) 1906
• (B) 1916 ✓
• (C) 1930
• (D) 1940

Explanation: Under the Lucknow Pact of 1916, Congress accepted the Muslim League as the representative of Muslims and agreed to separate electorates.

26. Begum Shaista Ikramullah was a:

• (A) Politician
• (B) Author
• (C) Diplomat
• (D) All of these ✓

Explanation: She was a member of the first Constituent Assembly, an author and Pakistan's ambassador to Morocco.

27. The Lahore Resolution of 1940 was seconded from Punjab by:

• (A) Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan
• (B) Chaudhry Rehmat Ali
• (C) Allama Iqbal
• (D) Maulana Zafar Ali Khan ✓

Explanation: A.K. Fazlul Haq moved the resolution, and Maulana Zafar Ali Khan seconded it on behalf of Punjab.

28. Military courts in Pakistan were established through which constitutional amendment?

• (A) 18th Amendment
• (B) 21st Amendment ✓
• (C) 22nd Amendment
• (D) 25th Amendment

Explanation: The 21st Amendment (January 2015) set up military courts to try terrorism cases after the Army Public School attack.

29. When did former Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali pass away?

• (A) December 2, 2020 ✓
• (B) November 15, 2019
• (C) January 10, 2021
• (D) March 5, 2018

Explanation: Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, PM from 2002 to 2004, died on 2 December 2020.

30. Who presented the Delhi Proposals?

• (A) Liaquat Ali Khan
• (B) Allama Iqbal
• (C) Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar
• (D) Muhammad Ali Jinnah ✓

Explanation: Jinnah presented the Delhi Muslim Proposals in March 1927, offering to give up separate electorates in return for safeguards.

31. Who founded the newspaper Dawn?

• (A) Muhammad Ali Jinnah ✓
• (B) Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman
• (C) Hameed Haroon
• (D) Zia Shahid

Explanation: Quaid-e-Azam founded Dawn in Delhi in 1941 as the Muslim League's mouthpiece.

32. In which year was the word "States" in the Lahore Resolution changed to "State"?

• (A) 1940
• (B) 1941
• (C) 1946 ✓
• (D) 1948

Explanation: The Delhi Convention of Muslim League legislators (April 1946) changed "States" to a single "State".

33. Which province was divided into two parts at independence in 1947?

• (A) Punjab ✓
• (B) Sindh
• (C) Baluchistan
• (D) NWFP

Explanation: Punjab was partitioned between Pakistan (West Punjab) and India (East Punjab); Bengal was divided too.

34. In 1895 the Siege of Chitral lasted a month, after which Chitral remained a princely state. In which year was it merged into Pakistan?

• (A) 1956
• (B) 1962
• (C) 1969 ✓
• (D) 1973

Explanation: Chitral, Dir and Swat were merged into Pakistan in 1969.

35. What was the period of Pakistan's first Five-Year Plan?

• (A) 1950–55
• (B) 1955–60 ✓
• (C) 1960–65
• (D) 1965–70

Explanation: Pakistan's first Five-Year Plan covered 1955–60.

36. Which Pakistani poet was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature?

• (A) Faiz Ahmad Faiz ✓
• (B) Habib Jalib
• (C) Allama Iqbal
• (D) Parveen Shakir

Explanation: Faiz Ahmad Faiz was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1984; he had won the Lenin Peace Prize in 1962.

37. Which Article of the 1973 Constitution guarantees the right to a fair trial and due process?

• (A) Article 10
• (B) Article 10-A ✓
• (C) Article 19
• (D) Article 25

Explanation: Article 10-A, added by the 18th Amendment in 2010, guarantees the right to a fair trial.

38. Ustad Amanat Ali Khan belonged to which musical gharana?

• (A) Gwalior Gharana
• (B) Patiala Gharana ✓
• (C) Kirana Gharana
• (D) None of these

Explanation: Amanat Ali Khan and his brother Fateh Ali Khan were classical singers of the Patiala Gharana.

39. When did the State Bank of Pakistan begin operating?

• (A) 1947
• (B) 1948 ✓
• (C) 1949
• (D) 1950

Explanation: Quaid-e-Azam inaugurated the State Bank of Pakistan on 1 July 1948.

40. In 2018, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) were merged into:

• (A) Punjab
• (B) Sindh
• (C) KPK ✓
• (D) Baluchistan

Explanation: The 25th Amendment (May 2018) merged FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

41. Justice Qazi Faez Isa served as Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court during:

• (A) 2006–14
• (B) 2009–14 ✓
• (C) 2014–17
• (D) None of these

Explanation: He was Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court from 2009 to 2014, before joining the Supreme Court.

42. Apart from poetry, Allama Iqbal's first book was on which subject?

• (A) Philosophy
• (B) Politics
• (C) Economics ✓
• (D) History

Explanation: Iqbal's first book was "Ilm-ul-Iqtisad" (1903), on economics.

43. Who is Pakistan's first transgender lawyer?

• (A) Nisha Rao ✓
• (B) Christine Jorgensen
• (C) Joyita Mondal
• (D) Baber Masih

Explanation: Nisha Rao of Karachi became Pakistan's first transgender lawyer in 2020.

44. When did Pakistan establish diplomatic relations with the European Economic Community (EEC)?

• (A) 1951
• (B) 1962 ✓
• (C) 1965
• (D) 1982

Explanation: Pakistan established diplomatic relations with the EEC in 1962.

45. Captain Karnal Sher Khan was awarded the Nishan-e-Haider for which war?

• (A) Kargil War ✓
• (B) 1965 War
• (C) 1971 War
• (D) None of these

Explanation: Captain Karnal Sher Khan was martyred in the 1999 Kargil conflict and awarded the Nishan-e-Haider.

46. When was the 1962 Constitution of Pakistan enforced?

• (A) 14th August
• (B) 8th June ✓
• (C) 23rd March
• (D) None of these

Explanation: Ayub Khan's 1962 Constitution came into force on 8 June 1962.

47. When was the first International Islamic (Muslim) Economic Conference held in Karachi, during Liaquat Ali Khan's tenure?

• (A) 1950
• (B) 1949 ✓
• (C) 1948
• (D) None of these

Explanation: Pakistan hosted the first International Islamic Economic Conference in Karachi in November 1949.

48. Who was the President of Pakistan when the 18th Amendment was passed in 2010?

• (A) Mamnoon Hussain
• (B) Pervez Musharraf
• (C) Asif Ali Zardari ✓
• (D) Arif Alvi

Explanation: President Asif Ali Zardari signed the 18th Amendment in April 2010 and gave up many presidential powers.

49. Who refused to follow Quaid-e-Azam's order to send troops into Kashmir in 1947?

• (A) General Douglas Gracey ✓
• (B) Sardar Patel
• (C) Frank Messervy
• (D) Mountbatten

Explanation: Acting C-in-C General Douglas Gracey declined the Quaid's order to move troops into Kashmir in October 1947.

50. The Poona Pact of 1932 concerned:

• (A) Muslims
• (B) Sikhs
• (C) Achhoots / Untouchables ✓
• (D) Brahmans

Explanation: The Poona Pact between Gandhi and Dr B.R. Ambedkar gave the depressed classes (untouchables) reserved seats instead of separate electorates.

51. Who was the first Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Navy?

• (A) Rear Admiral James Wilfred Jefford ✓
• (B) Haji Mohammad Siddiq Choudri
• (C) Afzal Rahman Khan
• (D) Syed Mohammad Ahsan

Explanation: Rear Admiral James Wilfred Jefford led the Royal Pakistan Navy from 1947 to 1953; H.M.S. Choudri was the first Pakistani chief.

52. How many amendments did Jinnah propose to the Nehru Report?

• (A) Two
• (B) Three ✓
• (C) Four
• (D) Seven

Explanation: At the All-Parties Convention in Calcutta (December 1928) Jinnah proposed three amendments; their rejection led to his Fourteen Points.

53. The Wardha Scheme was related to:

• (A) Education ✓
• (B) Agriculture
• (C) Child welfare
• (D) Development

Explanation: The Wardha Scheme of 1937 was Gandhi's plan for basic education, which Muslims opposed.

54. On which date did Pakistan conduct its five nuclear tests?

• (A) May 11, 1998
• (B) May 28, 1998 ✓
• (C) June 1, 1998
• (D) May 14, 1998

Explanation: Pakistan carried out five nuclear tests at Chagai on 28 May 1998 (Youm-e-Takbeer), and a sixth on 30 May.

55. The Ganda Singh Wala border crossing connects:

• (A) Lahore & Amritsar
• (B) Kasur & Ferozepur ✓
• (C) Sialkot & Gurdaspur
• (D) None of these

Explanation: Ganda Singh Wala links Kasur in Pakistan with Ferozepur in India.

56. Bab-ul-Islam (Gateway of Islam) refers to which province?

• (A) Punjab
• (B) Sindh ✓
• (C) KPK
• (D) Baluchistan

Explanation: Sindh is called Bab-ul-Islam because Islam entered the subcontinent through Muhammad bin Qasim's conquest in 712 AD.

57. Who founded the Tughlaq dynasty?

• (A) Ghiyasuddin Balban
• (B) Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq ✓
• (C) Muhammad bin Tughlaq
• (D) Firoz Shah Tughlaq

Explanation: Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq founded the Tughlaq dynasty in 1320 and ruled until 1325.

58. Sir Aga Khan III is buried in which city?

• (A) Cairo
• (B) Karachi
• (C) Aswan ✓
• (D) Istanbul

Explanation: Aga Khan III, first president of the All-India Muslim League, is buried in a mausoleum at Aswan, Egypt.

59. What was the military operation launched in Malakand in 2009?

• (A) Operation Zarb-e-Azb
• (B) Operation Sherdil
• (C) Operation Rah-e-Haq
• (D) Operation Rah-e-Rast ✓

Explanation: Operation Rah-e-Rast (2009) cleared Swat and Malakand of militants.

60. The majority of Pakistan's population is associated with which sector?

• (A) Industry
• (B) Services
• (C) Agriculture ✓
• (D) IT

Explanation: Agriculture employs the largest share of Pakistan's workforce, and most rural families depend on it.

61. The Warsak Dam is built on which river?

• (A) Indus River
• (B) Jhelum River
• (C) Kabul River ✓
• (D) Swat River

Explanation: Warsak Dam, near Peshawar, is on the Kabul River.

62. Which region has the greatest biological diversity?

• (A) Desert
• (B) Tundra
• (C) Tropical Rainforest ✓
• (D) Grassland

Explanation: Tropical rainforests hold more than half of the world's plant and animal species.

63. Pakistan is located in which region of the world?

• (A) Middle East
• (B) South Asia ✓
• (C) Central Asia
• (D) East Asia

Explanation: Pakistan is in South Asia, bordering Central Asia, China and the Middle East.

64. Where is the natural rock formation known as the Princess of Hope?

• (A) Thar Desert, Sindh
• (B) Margalla Hills, Islamabad
• (C) Hingol National Park, Balochistan ✓
• (D) Murree Hills, Punjab

Explanation: The Princess of Hope stands in Hingol National Park beside the Makran Coastal Highway.

65. Which dam is being built on the Hingol River in Balochistan?

• (A) Mirani Dam
• (B) Akhori Dam
• (C) Hingol Dam ✓
• (D) Hub Dam

Explanation: Hingol Dam is under construction on the Hingol River in Lasbela/Awaran; Mirani Dam is on the Dasht River.

66. What are the main tribes of North Waziristan?

• (A) Afridi and Shinwari
• (B) Mehsud and Orakzai
• (C) Wazir and Dawar ✓
• (D) Khattak and Mohmand

Explanation: North Waziristan is home mainly to the Utmanzai Wazir and Dawar tribes.

67. The Sindh Sagar Doab lies between which two rivers?

• (A) Chenab & Jhelum
• (B) Indus (Sindh) & Jhelum ✓
• (C) Indus (Sindh) & Chenab
• (D) Indus (Sindh) & Ravi

Explanation: The Sindh Sagar Doab, the largest doab of Punjab, lies between the Indus and the Jhelum.

68. What is the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan?

• (A) Tajik
• (B) Hazara
• (C) Pashtun ✓
• (D) Uzbek

Explanation: Pashtuns make up roughly 40–45% of Afghanistan's population; Tajiks are second.

69. What is the traditional code of conduct of the Pashtun people called?

• (A) Sharia
• (B) Pashtunwali ✓
• (C) Deobandi
• (D) Sufism

Explanation: Pashtunwali is built on honour, hospitality (melmastia), refuge (nanawatai) and justice.

70. Which city in Punjab has a major CPEC special economic zone?

• (A) Lahore
• (B) Faisalabad ✓
• (C) Rawalpindi
• (D) Multan

Explanation: The Allama Iqbal Industrial City special economic zone under CPEC is in Faisalabad.

71. Acid rain causes damage to:

• (A) Flora and fauna
• (B) Growth of trees
• (C) Big sculptures and marble buildings
• (D) All of these ✓

Explanation: Acid rain harms plants and animals, stunts forests and corrodes marble and limestone buildings such as the Taj Mahal.

72. During hibernation, a frog breathes through:

• (A) Skin only ✓
• (B) Lungs only
• (C) Both skin and lungs
• (D) Partly lungs and partly skin

Explanation: A hibernating frog's lungs are inactive; it takes in oxygen through its moist skin (cutaneous respiration).

73. Pasteurization is the process of heating:

• (A) Water
• (B) Milk ✓
• (C) Juice
• (D) Oil

Explanation: Louis Pasteur's method heats milk to about 72 °C for 15 seconds to kill harmful microbes.

74. Which is the largest gland in the human body?

• (A) Pancreas
• (B) Liver ✓
• (C) Thyroid
• (D) Pituitary

Explanation: The liver, weighing about 1.5 kg, is the body's largest gland.

75. A drug used to relieve pain is called:

• (A) Antibiotic
• (B) Analgesic ✓
• (C) Sedative
• (D) Hormone

Explanation: Analgesics such as paracetamol and aspirin relieve pain; antibiotics kill bacteria.

76. Plastids are present in which type of cells?

• (A) Animal cells
• (B) Bacterial cells
• (C) Plant cells ✓
• (D) Fungal cells

Explanation: Plastids such as chloroplasts are found in plant cells (and algae), not in animal cells.

77. What is the main purpose of the REDD+ initiative?

• (A) Reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation ✓
• (B) Promote renewable energy development
• (C) Regulate international carbon trading
• (D) Clean up ocean plastic pollution

Explanation: REDD+ is the UN framework for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation in developing countries.

78. What is the default file extension of Notepad?

• (A) .docx
• (B) .html
• (C) .txt ✓
• (D) .xlsx

Explanation: Notepad saves plain-text files with the .txt extension by default.

79. Microsoft Outlook is used for:

• (A) Editing images
• (B) Managing emails ✓
• (C) Creating spreadsheets
• (D) Writing code

Explanation: Outlook is Microsoft's email client, with a calendar, contacts and tasks.

80. Which technology is used in fifth-generation computers?

• (A) Vacuum tubes
• (B) Transistors
• (C) Integrated circuits
• (D) Artificial intelligence ✓

Explanation: First generation used vacuum tubes, second transistors, third ICs, fourth microprocessors; the fifth is built around artificial intelligence.

81. Which cloud service provider offers EC2, S3 and Lambda?

• (A) Microsoft Azure
• (B) Google Cloud Platform
• (C) Amazon Web Services ✓
• (D) IBM Cloud

Explanation: EC2 (servers), S3 (storage) and Lambda (serverless computing) are Amazon Web Services products.

82. What is the main function of a firewall in a computer network?

• (A) To increase internet speed
• (B) To manage hardware performance
• (C) To block unauthorized access to or from a private network ✓
• (D) To create backups of user data

Explanation: A firewall filters traffic to block unauthorized access to or from a private network.

83. Which app is commonly used to listen to music on computers and phones?

• (A) Zoom
• (B) Adobe Photoshop
• (C) Spotify ✓
• (D) All of these

Explanation: Spotify is a music-streaming app; Zoom is for video calls and Photoshop for image editing.

84. What is the main purpose of the e-Pay Punjab app?

• (A) Online shopping
• (B) Paying government taxes and fees ✓
• (C) Social media networking
• (D) Playing online games

Explanation: e-Pay Punjab lets citizens pay Punjab government taxes, fees and challans online.

85. Find the curved surface area of a hemisphere with radius 7 cm.

• (A) 154 cm²
• (B) 308 cm² ✓
• (C) 616 cm²
• (D) 77 cm²

Explanation: Curved surface area = 2πr² = 2 × 22/7 × 7 × 7 = 308 cm².

86. The sum of three consecutive integers is 33. Find the smallest.

• (A) 10 ✓
• (B) 11
• (C) 12
• (D) 13

Explanation: x + (x+1) + (x+2) = 33 gives 3x = 30, so x = 10 (10 + 11 + 12 = 33).

87. Find the nth term of the sequence 5, 25, 125, 625, …

• (A) T(n) = 5^n ✓
• (B) T(n) = 25^n
• (C) T(n) = n^5
• (D) T(n) = 5n

Explanation: Each term is 5 times the previous one: 5¹, 5², 5³, 5⁴ … so T(n) = 5^n.

88. Three candidates in an election received 1136, 7636 and 11628 votes. What percentage of the total votes did the winner get?

• (A) 11.6%
• (B) 57% ✓
• (C) 60%
• (D) 76.4%

Explanation: Total = 1136 + 7636 + 11628 = 20400; 11628 ÷ 20400 × 100 = 57%.

89. If 20% of a = b, then b% of 20 is the same as:

• (A) 4% of a ✓
• (B) 20
• (C) a
• (D) 20% of b

Explanation: b = 0.2a, so b% of 20 = (b/100) × 20 = 0.2b = 0.04a, i.e. 4% of a.

90. What is the distance between two parallel tangents of a circle of radius 10 cm?

• (A) 5 cm
• (B) 10 cm
• (C) 20 cm ✓
• (D) 40 cm

Explanation: Two parallel tangents touch opposite ends of a diameter, so the distance between them is 2 × 10 = 20 cm.

91. A car travels 50 km in 1 hour. How far will it go in 12 minutes?

• (A) 5 km
• (B) 10 km ✓
• (C) 12 km
• (D) 15 km

Explanation: 12 minutes = 1/5 hour, so distance = 50 × 1/5 = 10 km.

92. If x + 1 is a factor of 2x² + kx, find k.

• (A) 1
• (B) -1
• (C) 2 ✓
• (D) -2

Explanation: By the factor theorem, putting x = -1 gives 2(1) - k = 0, so k = 2.

93. We discussed the issue ______ an hour.

• (A) Since
• (B) For ✓
• (C) From
• (D) During

Explanation: "For" is used with a length of time: for an hour.

94. The lion sprang ______ the cow.

• (A) on
• (B) upon ✓
• (C) over
• (D) into

Explanation: "Spring upon" means to leap on suddenly: The lion sprang upon the cow.

95. We came ______ the room and jumped ______ the swimming pool.

• (A) out, in
• (B) out, into
• (C) out of, into ✓
• (D) out of, in

Explanation: "Out of" shows movement from inside a place, and "into" movement to the inside of something.

96. Choose the correct indirect narration: Diana said, "Hurrah! We have won the match."

• (A) Diana said with joy that they have won the match.
• (B) Diana exclaimed with sorrow that they had won the match.
• (C) Diana said that they had won the match.
• (D) Diana exclaimed with joy that they had won the match. ✓

Explanation: "Hurrah" becomes "exclaimed with joy", "we" becomes "they", and the present perfect becomes the past perfect ("had won").

97. Umbrella is to rain as ______.

• (A) Torch : Night
• (B) Vaccination : Disease ✓
• (C) Book : Library
• (D) None of these

Explanation: An umbrella protects against rain just as a vaccination protects against disease.

98. ______ you have a good holiday last year?

• (A) Do
• (B) Did ✓
• (C) Does
• (D) Doing

Explanation: "Last year" is past time, so the past auxiliary "Did" is used.

99. What is the antonym of "pragmatic"?

• (A) Realistic
• (B) Unrealistic ✓
• (C) Sensible
• (D) Practical

Explanation: Pragmatic means practical and realistic; its opposite is unrealistic (idealistic).

100. What does the phrase "put up with" mean?

• (A) To tolerate ✓
• (B) To build
• (C) To put something away
• (D) To give up on something

Explanation: To put up with something is to tolerate or bear it, e.g. "I can't put up with the noise."