SSC CHSL Tier 1 2016 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

The liver is the primary organ responsible for detoxification in the human body. It filters the blood coming from the digestive tract, metabolizing and neutralizing harmful toxins, drugs, and metabolic waste products to prepare them for excretion. Additionally, the liver synthesizes and secretes bile, an essential chemical fluid containing bile salts that emulsifies fats, facilitating their digestion and absorption in the small intestine.

Explanation

NaHCO₃ is the chemical formula for sodium bicarbonate, which is commonly known as baking soda. It is a white, crystalline solid compound composed of sodium cations Na⁺ and bicarbonate anions HCO₃⁻, widely used in baking as a leavening agent where it reacts with acidic components to release carbon dioxide gas, causing dough to rise.

Explanation

Oxygen is a non-metallic element that exists as a diatomic gas (O₂) at room temperature. In its solid state, oxygen molecules are held together only by weak intermolecular London dispersion forces. Because these weak van der Waals forces require very little thermal energy to overcome, oxygen has an exceptionally low melting point of -218.79 °C (54.36 K). This makes its melting point far lower than that of metallic elements, which are bound by strong cohesive metallic bonds and thus remain solid at room temperature with much higher melting points.

Explanation

Dennis Ritchie developed the C programming language in 1972 at Bell Labs. It was designed as a successor to the B programming language to write and implement the Unix operating system, combining high-level language capabilities with the efficiency and hardware control of assembly language.

Explanation

Pandit Ravi Shankar was one of the most famous sitar players of the 20th century. He was a legendary Hindustani classical musician who popularized the sitar and Indian classical music worldwide through his performances, collaborations with Western musicians, and compositions. He was awarded India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna, in 1999 for his extraordinary contributions to music.

Explanation

HTML, which stands for HyperText Markup Language, is the standard markup language used to design and create the structure of web pages. It provides the essential building blocks of a website, using various tags and attributes to define elements like headings, paragraphs, links, and images so that web browsers can correctly render and display the content to users.

Explanation

Luigi Palmieri, an Italian physicist and meteorologist, invented the first electromagnetic seismograph in 1855. His device featured U-shaped tubes filled with mercury oriented toward different compass points. Upon ground motion, the displacement of the mercury triggered an electrical contact, which stopped a clock to record the precise onset time of the earthquake while simultaneously starting a recording drum to track the intensity and duration of the seismic activity.

Explanation

Vitamin K is essential for the synthesis of prothrombin and other key blood clotting factors, specifically factors II, VII, IX, and X, in the liver. These proteins play a critical role in the coagulation cascade, which allows blood to clot and prevents excessive bleeding when blood vessels are injured. A deficiency in vitamin K leads to insufficient levels of these active clotting factors, which prolongs clotting time and can result in the non-clotting of blood and hemorrhage.

Explanation

Photosynthesis is the fundamental biological process through which green plants, algae, and certain bacteria convert light energy from the Sun into chemical energy. Utilizing chlorophyll, plants absorb sunlight to convert carbon dioxide from the air and water from the soil into glucose, which serves as their primary source of food and energy, while releasing oxygen as a byproduct. This synthesized glucose is subsequently used for plant growth, development, and cellular respiration, making photosynthesis the primary energy-producing process in plants.

Explanation

Chickenpox is caused by the Varicella-Zoster Virus, which is also commonly referred to as the Herpes Zoster Virus. Variola virus, on the other hand, is the virus that causes smallpox.

Explanation

Sweating, also known as perspiration, is an endothermic process. When the body temperature rises, sweat glands secrete liquid sweat onto the surface of the skin. For this liquid sweat to evaporate and transition into water vapor, it must absorb heat energy. This thermal energy is absorbed directly from the body and skin, which lowers the body's overall temperature and produces a cooling effect. Because the transition from liquid to gas requires the absorption of heat from the surroundings, sweating is classified as endothermic.

Explanation

At market equilibrium, the quantity demanded equals the quantity supplied (D = S).

Setting the demand and supply equations equal to each other: 25000 - 70P = 10000 + 80P

Rearranging the terms to solve for the equilibrium price (P): 25000 - 10000 = 80P + 70P 15000 = 150P P = 100

Substituting the equilibrium price (P = 100) back into the demand equation gives the equilibrium quantity: Q = 25000 - 70 × 100 Q = 25000 - 7000 Q = 18000 units

Explanation

Lactase is an enzyme that acts as a biocatalyst in the conversion of milk into curd. It catalyzes the breakdown of lactose, the sugar found in milk, into simpler sugars like glucose and galactose. Lactic acid bacteria then ferment these sugars to produce lactic acid. The accumulation of lactic acid increases the acidity of the milk, causing the milk protein casein to coagulate and thicken, which completes the transformation of milk into curd.

Explanation

Bibi Ka Maqbara is a famous Mughal-era mausoleum located in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. It was commissioned in 1668 by Prince Azam Shah, the son of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, to honor the memory of his mother, Dilras Banu Begum, who was posthumously titled Rabia-ud-Daurani. Azam Shah served as the chief patron and oversaw the construction of this grand structure, which was designed to closely replicate the architectural style and layout of the Taj Mahal. The Archaeological Survey of India officially credits Prince Azam Shah with the building of this monument, which is also commonly referred to as the Taj of the Deccan.

Explanation

Bodo is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken primarily by the Bodo people of Northeast India, concentrated heavily in the state of Assam. It serves as one of the official languages of Assam and is particularly dominant in the Bodoland Territorial Region. Additionally, Bodo is recognized as one of the twenty-two scheduled languages of India, listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India.

Explanation

The price elasticity of demand is calculated using the formula:

Price Elasticity of Demand = Percentage Change in Quantity Demanded / Percentage Change in Price

Substituting the given values into the formula:

-2.5 = 6% / Percentage Change in Price

Percentage Change in Price = 6% / -2.5 = -2.4%

The negative sign indicates a decrease in price. Therefore, the company must lower its price by 2.40% to achieve a 6% increase in the quantity sold.

Explanation

Devaluation is the deliberate downward adjustment of the official value of a country's currency relative to a foreign reference currency or monetary standard. Typically enacted by a nation's government or central bank within a fixed or pegged exchange rate regime, this policy is used to make domestic goods cheaper and more competitive in international markets, thereby boosting exports and reducing trade deficits.

Explanation

Biochemical Oxygen Demand in 5 days (BOD₅) is a standard analytical procedure used to determine the relative oxygen-depleting effect of waste contaminants in water. It measures the quantity of dissolved oxygen consumed by microorganisms, such as bacteria, during the biological decomposition of organic matter in a water sample incubated at 20°C over a standardized period of exactly five days.

Explanation

The swamp deer is widely known as the Barasingha in India. Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh is famous for its landmark conservation efforts that saved the highly endangered hard-ground swamp deer from the brink of extinction. This particular subspecies, which is adapted to the hard grasslands of Central India, has since seen a successful population revival and is designated as the state animal of Madhya Pradesh.

Explanation

Avatar, released in 2009 and directed by James Cameron, became the highest-grossing film of all time worldwide, surpassing Titanic. By 2016, its global box office revenue reached approximately 2.78 billion, securing its position at the top of the all-time box office charts.

Explanation

According to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2015, Madhya Pradesh holds the largest forest cover by area in India, encompassing approximately 77,462 km². The state's extensive forest cover accounts for about 25.13% of its overall geographical area and includes a diverse range of forest types, comprising reserved, protected, and unclassed forest regions.

Explanation

The summer solstice, which occurs on 21st June, marks the longest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere. During this celestial event, the North Pole of the Earth is tilted at its maximum angle toward the Sun, causing the solar declination to reach its northernmost limit at the Tropic of Cancer (23.5° N). As a result of this orientation, areas in the Northern hemisphere experience the longest duration of daylight and the shortest night of the year.

Explanation

In a pure monopoly, the seller is a price maker facing a downward-sloping demand curve, which means marginal revenue is always less than price (Price > MR). Since the monopolist maximizes profit where marginal revenue equals marginal cost (MR = MC), it always charges a price greater than marginal cost (Price > MC) in both the short run and the long run.

In monopolistic competition, numerous firms sell differentiated products that are close substitutes for one another. Because consumers can easily switch to competing brands if a firm changes its price, each firm faces a highly elastic demand curve.

Explanation

World War I began on July 28, 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist, in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. This event triggered the July Crisis, leading to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia, which subsequently activated a network of mutual defense alliances among the major European powers and escalated into a global conflict.

Explanation

Chand Bardai was a celebrated Indian court poet who composed Prithviraj Raso, an epic poem written in Brajbhasha. The poem chronicles the life, courtly adventures, and heroic deeds of the Chahamana king, Prithviraj Chauhan, who ruled over Ajmer and Delhi. Chand Bardai is traditionally regarded as a close friend and the court poet of Prithviraj Chauhan, and his work remains one of the most prominent literary sources on the king's life and his battles.

Explanation

Alicia Vikander won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 88th Academy Awards, which took place on February 28, 2016, for her acclaimed performance as Gerda Wegener in the biographical drama film The Danish Girl.

Explanation

Newton's Third Law of Motion states that forces always occur in matched pairs. If one object exerts a force on another object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the first. This fundamental principle of classical mechanics explains that forces are interactions between different bodies, meaning that an isolated force cannot exist. This is commonly expressed as for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, where the action and reaction are simultaneous forces acting on two different bodies.

Explanation

Displacement is a vector quantity, which means it has both magnitude and direction. It represents the shortest distance between the initial position and the final position of an object. Because it is a vector and depends on the direction of motion relative to a reference frame, displacement can be positive, negative, or zero. For instance, if an object moves in a direction opposite to the established positive reference direction, its displacement is negative. If an object returns to its starting point, its overall displacement is zero. Consequently, displacement is not restricted to being positive.

Explanation

Under Article 159 of the Constitution of India, every Governor, before entering upon their office, must make and subscribe to an oath or affirmation. This oath is administered in the presence of the Chief Justice of the High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to that State, or, in their absence, the senior-most Judge of that Court available.

Explanation

Athletics has been India's most successful sport at the Asian Games since the inaugural edition in 1951 in New Delhi. Indian track and field athletes have consistently won the maximum number of gold medals compared to any other discipline. Legendary athletes such as Milkha Singh, who won multiple golds in 1958 and 1962, and P.T. Usha, who secured four gold medals in the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, contributed significantly to this dominant tally, establishing athletics as the premier gold medal-yielding sport for the country.

Explanation

An Extraordinary Life, An Indian Destiny is a biography of Sonia Gandhi, written by Rani Singh and published in 2011. The book chronicles her life journey starting from her early years in Italy, her meeting and marriage to Rajiv Gandhi, and her entry into India's premier political dynasty. It further explores how she navigated personal tragedies, including the assassinations of her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi and husband Rajiv Gandhi, to eventually lead the Indian National Congress and play a central role in Indian politics.

Explanation

Anamalai Tiger Reserve, formerly known as Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park, is located in the Anaimalai Hills range within Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts of Tamil Nadu. It was declared a tiger reserve in 2007 and is managed by the state's forest department to conserve its unique tropical rainforest ecosystem and rich wildlife, which includes the Bengal tiger, Asian elephant, and Nilgiri tahr.

Explanation

Sedimentation is a physical water treatment process that utilizes gravity to remove suspended solid particles from water. Because it relies entirely on natural gravitational force, it does not require external energy inputs or chemical additives to facilitate the settling of solids. Water is simply held in a quiet basin or tank under calm conditions, allowing suspended matter that is heavier than water to settle slowly to the bottom over time. This simplicity in operation and the absence of complex equipment or ongoing power consumption make sedimentation highly cost-effective with minimal operational and maintenance expenses, representing the most economical method for initial large-scale solid-liquid separation.

Explanation

Hyderabad is the capital of the state of Telangana. Following the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act of 2014, Telangana was officially formed on June 2, 2014, with Hyderabad designated as its capital city.

Explanation

Birbal, born as Mahesh Das, was a close advisor and military commander in the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. Renowned for his sharp wit, humor, and intelligence, he was one of the most prominent members of the Navaratnas, or the nine jewels, who formed Akbar's inner council. Akbar bestowed upon him the title Raja Birbal, and he was also among the very few individuals who adopted Din-i-Ilahi, the syncretic religion founded by Akbar.

Explanation

Humayun's Tomb is located in Delhi, specifically in Nizamuddin East. Commissioned in 1569-1570 by Humayun's chief consort, Empress Bega Begum, it stands as the first monumental garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent. The structure was designed by the Persian architect Mirak Mirza Ghiyas and represents an outstanding early example of Mughal architecture, which eventually inspired the design of the Taj Mahal. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.

Explanation

Ransom Eli Olds invented and patented the modern stationary assembly line in 1901. He utilized this revolutionary manufacturing method to build the Curved Dash Oldsmobile, making it the first high-volume, mass-produced gasoline-powered automobile. Although Henry Ford later improved on this system by developing the moving conveyor belt assembly line in 1913, the foundational assembly line concept is credited to Ransom Eli Olds.

Explanation

A cyanometer is an instrument designed to measure the intensity of the blue color in the sky or ocean. Developed by Albert-Bénédict de Saussure in 1789, it traditionally consists of a color chart featuring various shades of blue, ranging from white to deep blue-black, which allows observers to determine the level of blueness by direct visual comparison.

Explanation

The farad (symbol: F) is the SI derived unit of electrical capacitance, which represents the ability of a body or system to store an electrical charge. Named after the English physicist Michael Faraday, one farad is defined as the capacitance of a capacitor that stores a charge of one coulomb when a potential difference of one volt is applied across its plates. This relationship is expressed by the formula C = Q/V, where C is the capacitance in farads, Q is the electric charge in coulombs, and V is the potential difference in volts.

Explanation

Nalanda Mahavihara in Bihar comprises the archaeological remains of a monastic and scholastic institution that flourished from the 5th century to the 12th century CE. It was a premier ancient center of learning in India, housing a massive library and attracting students and scholars from across Asia. The remains at the site include several stupas, chaityas, viharas, and residential quarters, showcasing a highly developed system of education and Buddhist monasticism.

Explanation

Satyajit Ray was a legendary Indian filmmaker, screenwriter, author, and music composer, celebrated globally for his contributions to cinema. Among his many prestigious achievements are the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor, and an Honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement, both presented to him in 1992. He did not receive a Nobel Prize.

Explanation

The genus Naja belongs to the family Elapidae and consists of venomous snakes known as cobras. Members of this genus, such as the Indian cobra (Naja naja), are widely distributed across Africa and Asia and are characterized by their ability to expand their neck ribs to form a distinctive hood when threatened.

Explanation

Aluminium is a group 13 element with three valence electrons, which it loses to form a cation with a charge of +3 (Al³⁺). Nitrogen is a group 15 element with five valence electrons, requiring three more to achieve a stable octet, thus forming an anion with a charge of -3 (N³⁻). To form an electrically neutral ionic compound, one aluminium ion combines with one nitride ion in a 1:1 ratio. This gives the chemical formula of aluminium nitride as AlN.

Explanation

Chlorine has an atomic number of 17, which signifies that it has 17 protons in its nucleus. Potassium is a chemical element represented by the symbol K, possessing an atomic number of 19. Since 19 is greater than 17, the atomic number of potassium is greater than that of chlorine.

Explanation

In computer science and networking, ISP stands for Internet Service Provider. It refers to a company or organization that provides infrastructure and services to enable users to access, use, or participate in the Internet. ISPs establish the physical routing and connectivity needed to link a user's home or office network to the global Internet routing system.

Explanation

Article 315 of the Constitution of India provides for the establishment of a Public Service Commission for the Union and a Public Service Commission for each State. Under the provisions of this Article, the Union Public Service Commission is constituted as an independent constitutional body responsible for conducting examinations for appointments to the services of the Union.

Explanation

Ghoomar is a traditional folk dance originating from Rajasthan. Developed by the Bhil tribe and later adopted by other Rajasthani communities, it is performed by women wearing long, flowing skirts called ghaghras. The dance involves graceful pirouetting movements in a circular formation, with the name itself derived from the word ghoomna, meaning to spin or twirl. It is an integral part of major festivals, weddings, and auspicious occasions in Rajasthan.

Explanation

The Marginal Revenue Product (MRP) of labor is the change in total revenue resulting from the employment of one additional unit of labor. It is calculated using the formula:

MRP = TR₂ - TR₁

where TR₁ is the initial total revenue and TR₂ is the new total revenue after hiring the additional baker.

First, calculate the initial total revenue (TR₁): TR₁ = 1250 units × Rs 15 = Rs 18,750

Next, calculate the new total revenue (TR₂) after hiring the additional baker: TR₂ = 1400 units × Rs 14 = Rs 19,600

Now, calculate the change in total revenue to find the marginal revenue product: MRP = Rs 19,600 - Rs 18,750 = Rs 850

Explanation

For a perfectly competitive firm, the price of the product is equal to its marginal revenue (P = MR). A firm maximizes its profit at the level of output where marginal revenue equals marginal cost (MR = MC), which for a perfectly competitive firm simplifies to P = MC. If the firm is currently at a level of output where it can increase its profits by increasing production, the revenue gained from producing and selling one additional unit (the price) must be greater than the additional cost incurred to produce that unit (the marginal cost). Therefore, the firm's product price exceeds its marginal cost (P > MC).

Explanation

Uraninite, historically also known as pitchblende, is a radioactive, uranium-rich mineral and the primary ore of uranium. Its chemical composition is primarily uranium dioxide (UO₂), but it also contains uranium trioxide (UO₃) and oxides of lead, thorium, and rare earth elements due to radioactive decay. It is the principal source of uranium used in nuclear reactors and nuclear energy production.