What order of insects contains the most species?
Question
What order of insects contains the most species?
Answer
Beetles
What order of insects contains the most species? Read More »
General Knowledge, MCQs / Q&AQuestion
What order of insects contains the most species?
Answer
Beetles
What order of insects contains the most species? Read More »
General Knowledge, MCQs / Q&AQuestion
In China if you order white tea – what do you get?
Answer
Boiled Water
In China if you order white tea – what do you get? Read More »
General Knowledge, MCQs / Q&AQuestion
What is the only number in English that has letters in alpha order?
Answer
Forty
What is the only number in English that has letters in alpha order? Read More »
General Knowledge, MCQs / Q&AQuestion
What is unusual about the number 8549176320?
Answer
Digits alpha order
What is unusual about the number 8549176320? Read More »
General Knowledge, MCQs / Q&ASeptember 28 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »
On This Day, Uncategorized1. Hot water will turn into ice faster than cold water.
2. The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows.
3. The sentence, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” uses every letter in the English language (all 26 letters).
4. The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
5. Ant’s take rest for around 8 Minutes in 12 hour period.
6. “I Am” is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
7. Coca-Cola was originally green.
8. The most common name in the world is Mohammed.
9. When the moon is directly overhead, you will weigh slightly less.
10. Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from the blowing desert sand.
11. There are only two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: “abstemious” and “facetious.”
12. The name of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with.
13. There are two credit cards for every person in the United States.
14. TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
15. Minus 40 degrees Celsius is exactly the same as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
16. Chocolate can kill dogs, as it contains theobromine, which affects their heart and nervous system.
17. Women blink nearly twice as much as men!
18. You can’t kill yourself by holding your breath.
19. It is impossible to lick your elbow.
20. The Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries.
21. People say “Bless you” when you sneeze because when you sneeze, your heart stops for a millisecond.
22. It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.
23. The “sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick” is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.
24. “Rhythm” is the longest English word without a vowel.
25. If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.
26. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents great king from history.
Spades – King David
Clubs – Alexander the Great,
Hearts – Charlemagne
Diamonds – Julius Caesar.
27. It is impossible to lick your elbow.
28. 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
29. If a statue of a person in the park on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle.
If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle.
If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
30. What do bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers all have in common?
Ans. – All invented by women.
31. Question – This is the only food that doesn’t spoil. What is this?
Ans. – Honey
32. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
33. A snail can sleep for three years.
34. All polar bears are left handed.
35. American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class.
36. Butterflies taste with their feet.
37. Elephants are the only animals that can’t jump.
38. In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
39. On average, people fear spiders more than they do death.
40. Stewardesses is the longest word typed with only the left hand.
41. The ant always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.
42. The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
43. The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.
44. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.
45. Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.
46. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
47. Most lipstick contains fish scales.
48. Like fingerprints, everyone’s tongue print is different.
Some Interesting Facts Read More »
English, General Knowledge, History, WorldGirolamo Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar, Scholastic, religious and political reformer and an influential contributor to the politics of Florence from 1494 until his execution in 1498
1. When was Girolamo Savonarola born?
a) 4 February 1444
b) 15 April 1442
c) 21 September 1452
d) 30 November 1455
2. Where was Girolamo Savonarola born?
a) Ferrara
b) Pisa
c) Lepanto
d) Genoa
3. Which order did Girolamo Savonarola join?
a) Augustinian
b) Capuchin
c) Dominican
d) Benedictine
4. Who invaded Florence and overthrew Medici rule in 1494 as predicted by Girolamo Savonarola?
a) Charles VIII
b) Philip IV
c) Henry VI
d) Edward VI
5. Which party opposed Girolamo Savonarola?
a) Jacobin
b) Conservative
c) Labour
d) Arrabbiati
6. Who ordered Girolamo Savonarola to go to Bologna under pain of excommunication?
a) Julius II
b) Leo X
c) Alexander VI
d) Urban VIII
7. Which coalition against France Girolamo Savonarola did not want Florence to join?
a) Triple Alliance
b) Holy League
c) Grand Alliance
d) Catholic League
8. Who accepted the challenge of a Franciscan to ordeal by fire on the invalidity of Girolamo Savonarola’s excommunication?
a) Domenico da Pescia
b) Giordano Bruno
c) Lorenzo de Medici
d) Cesare Borgia
9. When did Girolamo Savonarola die?
a) 26 January 1499
b) 23 May 1498
c) 11 July 1503
d) 12 December 1515
10. Where did Girolamo Savonarola die?
a) Turin
b) Berne
c) Pavia
d) Florence
1. When was Girolamo Savonarola born?
c) 21 September 1452
2. Where was Girolamo Savonarola born?
a) Ferrara
3. Which order did Girolamo Savonarola join?
c) Dominican
4. Who invaded Florence and overthrew Medici rule in 1494 as predicted by Girolamo Savonarola?
a) Charles VIII
5. Which party opposed Girolamo Savonarola?
d) Arrabbiati
6. Who ordered Girolamo Savonarola to go to Bologna under pain of excommunication?
c) Alexander VI
7. Which coalition against France Girolamo Savonarola did not want Florence to join?
b) Holy League
8. Who accepted the challenge of a Franciscan to ordeal by fire on the invalidity of Girolamo Savonarola’s excommunication?
a) Domenico da Pescia
9. When did Girolamo Savonarola die?
b) 23 May 1498
10. Where did Girolamo Savonarola die?
d) Florence
Girolamo Savonarola Quiz Read More »
UncategorizedMany cultures find that English might possibly be one of the most difficult languages to learn. Not, in fact, for its words, but for the fact that it has so many unusual and contradictory rules. Just looking over an English study book will tell you that so many odd ifs and buts apply to so many words that it is enough to drive one crazy. Here are 25 examples of the oddities in the English language.
25. “Rhythms” is the longest English word without the normal vowels, a, e, i, o, or u.24. Excluding derivatives, there are only two words in English that end -shion and (though many words end in this sound). These are cushion and fashion.23. “THEREIN” is a seven-letter word that contains thirteen words spelled using consecutive letters: the, he, her, er, here, I, there, ere, rein, re, in, therein, and herein.22. There is only one common word in English that has five vowels in a row: queueing.21. Soupspoons is the longest word that consists entirely of letters from the second half of alphabet.
20. “Almost” is the longest commonly used word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.19. The longest uncommon word whose letters are in alphabetical order is the eight-letter Aegilops (a grass genus).18. The longest common single-word palindromes are deified, racecar, repaper, reviver, and rotator.17. “One thousand” contains the letter A, but none of the words from one to nine hundred ninety-nine has an A.16. “The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick” is said to be the toughest tongue twister in English.
15. Cwm (pronounced “koom”, defined as a steep-walled hollow on a hillside) is a rare case of a word used in English in which w is the nucleus vowel, as is crwth (pronounced “krooth”, a type of stringed instrument). Despite their origins in Welsh, they are accepted English words.14. “Asthma” and “isthmi” are the only six-letter words that begin and end with a vowel and have no other vowels between.13. The nine-word sequence I, in, sin, sing, sting, string, staring, starting (or starling), startling can be formed by successively adding one letter to the previous word.12. “Underground” and “underfund” are the only words in the English language that begin and end with the letters “und.”11. “Stewardesses” is the longest word that can be typed with only the left hand.
10. Antidisestablishmentarianism listed in the Oxford English Dictionary, was considered the longest English word for quite a long time, but today the medical term pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is usually considered to have the title, despite the fact that it was coined to provide an answer to the question ‘What is the longest English word?’.9. “Dreamt” is the only English word that ends in the letters “mt”.8. There are many words that feature all five regular vowels in alphabetical order, the commonest being abstemious, adventitious, facetious.7. The superlatively long word honorificabilitudinitatibus (27 letters) alternates consonants and vowels.6. “Fickleheaded” and “fiddledeedee” are the longest words consisting only of letters in the first half of the alphabet.
5. The two longest words with only one of the six vowels including y are the 15-letter defenselessness and respectlessness.4. “Forty” is the only number which has its letters in alphabetical order. “One” is the only number with its letters in reverse alphabetical order.3. Bookkeeper is the only word that has three consecutive doubled letters.2. Despite the assertions of a well-known puzzle, modern English does not have three common words ending in -gry. Angry and hungry are the only ones.1. “Ough” can be pronounced in eight different ways. The following sentence contains them all: “A rough-coated, dough-faced ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough, coughing and hiccoughing thoughtfully.
25 English Language Oddities Read More »
English1) What is the point of origin of an earthquake?
(a) Epicenter
(b) Focus
(c) Foreshock
(d) Scarp
(e) Seismograph
Answer: (b)
The exact point where the earthquake actually starts deep inside the earth’s crust (the point of origin) is called the focus, or hypocenter.
2) What is the point on the surface nearest the earthquake?
(a) Epicenter
(b) Focus
(c) Foreshock
(d) Scarp
(e) Seismograph
Answer: (a)
The epicenter is the point on the earth’s surface vertically above the hypocenter (or focus), point in the crust where a seismic rupture begins
3) Places experiencing equal impact of an earthquake are called (CSS-2012)
(a) Snowlines
(b) seismic belts
(c) Seismic lines
(d) None of these
Answer: (c)
4) Where do most earthquakes occur?
(a) Along dikes
(b) Along faults
(c) Along folds
(d) Along joints
(e) Along unconformities
Answer: (b)
Earthquakes can also occur far from the edges of plates, along faults. Faults are cracks in the earth where sections of a plate (or two plates) are moving in different directions. Faults are caused by all that bumping and sliding the plates do. They are more common near the edges of the plates.
5) What is the standardized distance from an earthquake epicenter for measuring Richter magnitudes?
(a) 0 km
(b) 10 km
(c) 100 km
(d) 500 km
(e) 1000 km
Answer: (c)
Richter established 100 km as the standard distance from an earthquake epicenter to measure Richter magnitude with a Wood-Anderson seismograph.
6) What was the magnitude of the Earthquake that shook Northern Pakistan and Azad Kashmir on October, 8, 2005? (CSS-2006)
(a) 5.7
(b) 7.5
(c) 7.6
(d) None of these.
Answer: (d)
A major earthquake shook Pakistan on Saturday, October 8, 2005, at 8:50 a.m. The epicenter of this magnitude 7.6 quake was about 65 miles north-northeast of Islamabad, the country’s capital. At least 86,000 people were killed, more than 69,000 were injured, and extensive damage resulted in northern Pakistan. The heaviest damage occurred in the Muzaffarabad area of Kashmir.
7) In what country did the highest magnitude earthquake ever measured take place?
(a) Chile
(b) Pakistan
(c) Japan
(d) Afghanistan
(e) United States
Answer: (a)
The Chilean earthquake of 1960 is the most powerful ever recorded at 8.6 on the Richter scale or 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale.
8) What is the immediate energy source for earthquakes?
(a) Stored elastic energy in bent rock
(b) Stored elastic energy in compressed rock
(c) Stored heat energy from the earth’s interior
(d) Stored heat energy from the sun
Answer: (a)
Sudden elastic rebound of bent rock that has reached the breaking point is what causes nearly all earthquakes
9) What is the strongest magnitude earthquake ever measured on the Richter scale?
(a) 5.5
(b) 6.3
(c) 6.8
(d) 7.5
(e) 8.6
Answer: (e)
Several earthquakes have been measured with a magnitude close to 8.6 on the Richter scale, but none higher.
10) Which region of the earth has the most frequent earthquakes?
(a) Antarctic region
(b) Arctic region
(c) Atlantic region
(d) Indian region
(e) Pacific region
Answer: (e)
The Pacific region has the greatest number of earthquakes because this is where most of the earth’s convergent plate boundaries lie.
11) Japan is called: (CSS-2008)
(a) Land of earthquakes
(b) Land of rising sun
(c) Land of rivers
(d) None of these
Answer: (b)
12) How does shaking ground cause soft sediment to liquify?
(a) It breaks the sediment particles into smaller pieces
(b) It evaporates water in the pores of the sediment
(c) It makes sediment particles fit more tightly together
(d) It melts the sediment
(e) It melts water in the pores of the sediment
Answer: (c)
Shaking ground helps particles to settle more tightly together, thus reducing interstitial space and releasing pore water.
13) Which of the following is not associated with earthquake destruction?
(a) Fires
(b) High winds
(c) Mass wasting
(d) Trembling earth
(e) Tsunamis
Answer: (b)
Earthquakes do not generate high winds.
14) Pakistan/Kashmir earthquake of October, 2005 was result of: (CSS-2006)
(a) Volcanic activity
(b) Tectonic dislocation
(c) Severe flooding
(d) None of these
Answer: (b)
15) Which waves are called shear waves because of the shear forces that they subject the rock to?
(a) P-waves
(b) S-waves
(c) Surface waves
(d) All of the above
Answer: (b)
S-waves are also called shear waves because they subject the medium to shear forces, and they only pass through solids because only solids have elastic rebound to shear forces.
16) Which waves are called compression waves because they compress and extend the material they pass through?
(a) P-waves
(b) S-waves
(c) Surface waves
(d) All of the above
Answer: (a)
P-waves are also called compression waves because they compress and extend the medium.
17) In what order do earthquake waves arrive at seismic stations?
(a) P-waves, then S-waves, then surface waves
(a) S-waves, then P-waves, then surface waves
(b) S-waves, then surface waves, then P-waves
(c) Surface waves, then P-waves, then S-waves
(d) Surface waves, then S-waves, then P-waves
Answer: (a)
Primary and secondary waves are named after their arrival sequence.
18) Which of the following earthquake waves is first recorded on the Seismograph?
(a) P-waves
(b) Rayleigh waves
(c) S-waves
(d) Love waves
Answer: (a)
19) The Intensity scale of the earthquake is called?
(a) Mercalli scale
(b) Ritcher scale
(c) Number scale
(d) None of the above
Answer: (a)
20) The point where the energy is released during the earthquake is called?
(a) Epicentre
(b) Hypocentre
(c) Circumcentre
(d) None of the above
Answer: (b)
21) The type of plate- boundary interaction along the Himalayas is known as?
(a) Continent-continent convergence
(b) Divergent boundary
(c) Transform boundary
(d) Ocean-continent convergence
Answer: (a)
22) Which of the following describes the build up and release of stress during an earthquake?
(a) the Modified Mercalli Scale
(b) the elastic rebound theory
(c) the principle of superposition
(d) the travel time difference
Answer: (b)
23) Approximately what percentage of earthquakes occur at plate boundaries?
(a) 25%
(b) 50%
(c) 75%
(d) 90%
Answer: (d)
24) Where is the focus with respect to the epicenter?
(a) directly below the epicenter
(b) directly above the epicenter
(c) in the P wave shadow zone
(d) in the S wave shadow zone
Answer: (b)
25) Point A, where slip initiated during the earthquake, is called the ________.
(a) dip
(b) epicenter
(c) focus
(d) scarp
Answer: (c)
26) Point B is called the earthquake ________.
(a) dip
(b) epicenter
(c) focus
(d) scarp
Answer: (b)
27) Point C is called the _________
(a) epicenter
(b) fault scarp
(c) Seismic wave
(d) Dip of the earthquake
Answer: (b)
A fault scarp is a small step or offset on the ground surface where one side of a fault has moved vertically with respect to the other. It is the topographic expression of faulting attributed to the displacement of the land surface by movement along faults.
28) What type of faulting is illustrated in this diagram?
(a) normal (b) Reverse
(c) Thrust (d) Abnormal
Answer: (a)
29) Which one of the following earthquake waves is more destructive?
(a) P-waves
(b) Surface waves
(c) S-waves
(d) Body waves
Answer: (b)
Earthquake waves can be divided into two types – body waves and surface waves. There are two types of body waves – P-wave and S-wave. The surface waves are more destructive as they displace rocks, and hence results in collapse of structures.
30) When a volcano ejects acid lava, eruption is usually
(a) Light and less violent
(b) Soft and less violent
(c) Loud but less violent
(d) Loud and more violent
Answer: (d)
31) In some eruptions, mudflows are forced over the
(a) Earth’s mantle
(b) Ocean bed
(c) Earth’s surface
(d) Earth’s core
Answer: (c)
32) Magma which is forced onto Earth’s surface is known as
(a) Vent
(b) Cone
(c) Lava
(d) Magma Chamber
Answer: (c)
33) An example of composite volcanoes is
(a) Mount Everest
(b) Puy de Dôme
(c) Mauna Loa
(d) Mount Merapi
Answer: (d)
34) ‘Flash-floods’ are associated with
(a) Thunderstorms
(b) Cyclonic storms
(c) Tsunami
(d) Tornado
Answer: (a)
A flash flood is a sudden flood event caused by a hydrologic response of the drainage basin. Flash floods are normally strongly localized and associated with extreme showers or thunderstorm activity, when high rates of precipitation occur in a short period of time.
35) During eruption, volcanic material is
(a) Blown to some meters
(b) Blown to many kilometers
(c) Blown to some inches
(d) Blown to some feet
Answer: (b)
36) When volcanos ejects basic lava, eruption is mainly
(a) Loud
(b) Violent
(c) Quite
(d) Hard
Answer: (c)
37) A reference to process by which materials such as magma and gases from inside Earth are forced onto Earth’s surface is
(a) Eruption
(b) Lava
(c) Volcanism
(d) Earthquake
Answer: (c)
38) Movement of crustal plates result in formation of
(a) a huge island
(b) Small volcanic islands
(c) a small island
(d) Huge volcanic islands
Answer: (b)
39) Ice can be changed to water by: (CSS-2011)
(a) Adding more water molecules
(b) Changing the motion of the water molecules
(c) Rearranging the atoms in water molecules
(d) Destroying the atoms in water molecules
(e) None of these
Answer: (b)
40) Composite volcanoes are made up of alternate layers of
(a) Ash and cinder only
(b) Dense lava and ash
(c) Viscous lava, ash and cinder
(d) pyroclastic lava, ash and cinder
Answer: (c)
41) Lava that contains high amounts of iron and magnesium, but low amount of silica is known as
(a) Acid Lava
(b) Basic Lava
(c) Composite Lava
(d) Component Lava
Answer: (b)
42) Number of classifications of volcanoes is
(a) three
(b) Six
(c) nine
(d) twelve
Answer: (a)
43) Acid lava is sticky or ‘viscous’ because it contains high amounts of
(a) Copper
(b) Iron
(c) nickel
(d) Silica
Answer: (d)
44) Eruptions from composite volcanoes are usually
(a) Light and less violent
(b) Soft and less violent
(c) Loud but less violent
(d) Loud and more violent
Answer: (d)
45) As volcano is carried along by plate, a new volcano is formed over the
(a) Ocean bed
(b) River bed
(c) Original hot spot
(d) Virtual hot spot
Answer: (c)
46) Cavity in Earth’s crust below vent that holds magma is known as
(a) Vent
(b) Cone
(c) Lava
(d) Magma Chamber
Answer: (d)
47) Most common type of volcano is the
(a) Acid Lava Volcano
(b) Basic Lava Volcano
(c) Composite Lava Volcano
(d) Component Volcano
Answer: (c)
48) Composite Lava Volcano is also known as
(a) Cinder volcano
(b) Ash volcano
(c) Pyroclastic volcano
(d) Stratovolcanoes
Answer: (d)
Composite volcanoes (also called stratovolcanoes) are much more explosive than shield volcanoes, the other important type of volcano.
49) Mid-Atlantic ridge is so tall that it actually rises above sea in many places forming
(a) Icy islands
(b) Ice lands
(c) Volcanic islands
(d) Rocky islands
Answer: (c)
50) Basic lava erupts out of volcano, throwing out mainly
(a) Ash
(b) Dust
(c) CO
(d) CO2
Answer: (a)
General Science & Ability MCQs (Natural Hazards and Disasters, Set-I) Read More »
General Knowledge, MCQs / Q&AFollowing are the rules of precis writing.
1) Read the given passage carefully at least three times in order to be able to grasp what the writer has said.
2) Underline the important points to be included in your precis. A point is important if it is intimately connected with the main subject and if it is essential for a clear exposition of the theme.
3) Use your own language in the precis. While words and phrases from the original may be used in the precis. Whole sentences should never be lifted out of the original to be included in it.
4) The precis should be roughly one-third of the original passage. Always prepare a rough draft first and count the words. If you find that it is too long, shorten it by removing what seems essential and by condensing phraseology. If it turns out to be too short, read the original to see what more can be added to the precis.
5) Examples, illustrations, and comparisons should be left out of the precis. Figures of speech should be removed and the ideas expressed in clear, direct language.
6) Your own comments on the ideas of the precis are absolutely forbidden. Do not express any opinion, favorable or unfavorable, about the ideas in the original passage.
7) Be very careful about the language you write. Mistakes of Grammar and spelling are penalized as much in the precis as in other forms of composition.
8) See that your precis is a readable piece of English and that its ideas can be understood even by a person who has not gone through the original. This is very important.
9) Your precis should be connected whole. As such it should not be divided into paragraphs. ( THIS RULE DOES NOT APPLY TO VERY LONG ORIGINAL PIECES OF WRITING SUCH AS THOSE SET IN COMPETITIVE EXAMINATIONS).
10) Don’t use the direct form of speech in precis. If the author has written in the first person pronoun using “I” and “my”, you should write in thethird person pronoun: “he” and “his”.
Rules of Precis Writing Read More »
English, Guidelines