The time taken by light to reach the Earth is:
- (A) 4 minutes 30 seconds
- (B) 8 minutes 15 seconds
- (C) 10 minutes 20 seconds
- (D) 12 minutes 30 seconds
- (B) 8 minutes 15 seconds
It takes approximately 8 minutes and 15 seconds—or 500 seconds—for the Sun’s light to reach the Earth. The speed of the light is constant at 300,000 km/s as it covers the 150 million km (93 million miles) in the same period.
An extremely small piece of silicon on which integrated circuits are fabricated are called:
- (A) Chip
- (B) Card Reader
- (C) Feed
- (D) Hollerith Code
- (A) Chip
An integrated circuit (IC), also called a chip or microchip, is a small grouping of electronic circuits designed on a small flat piece of semiconductor material, typically silicon.
- Card Reader: This is a hardware device used to read data from storage media (like credit cards or SD cards); it is not the substrate for an integrated circuit.
- Feed: In computing, this generally refers to a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content (like an RSS feed) or the act of providing power/material to a machine.
- Hollerith Code: This is a specific system of encoding data on punched cards, named after Herman Hollerith; it predates modern silicon-based integrated circuits.
“Law of Heredity” was discovered by:
- (A) Benjamin Franklin
- (B) Charles Darwin
- (C) Gregor Mendel
- (D) Louis Pasteur
- (C) Gregor Mendel
Gregor Mendel, a monk and a scientist specializing in plants, found the basics of heredity through a series of experiments conducted from 1856 to 1863 using pea plants. He proposed three concepts: the Law of Segregation, the Law of Independent Assortment, and the Law of Dominance.
Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Dr. Abdus Salam in:
- (A) 1969
- (B) 1975
- (C) 1979
- (D) 1983
- (C) 1979
Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Dr. Abdus Salam in 1979. He was awarded the prize along with Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg for their important contributions to the unification of the weak nuclear force and electromagnetism through the electroweak theory.
The longest river of the world is located in:
- (A) Asia
- (B) Africa
- (C) Latin America
- (D) North America
- (B) Africa
The Nile River is universally recognized as the longest river in the world, measuring approximately 6,650 kilometers (around 4,130 miles). It flows through northeastern Africa, passing through 11 countries before it reaches the Mediterranean Sea.
Christopher Columbus who discovered America was:
- (A) Spanish
- (B) Dutch
- (C) Italian
- (D) French
- (C) Italian
Christopher Columbus, born in 1451 and dieing in 1506, was an Italian explorer and navigator from Genoa. He made four Atlantic Ocean crossings to Spain between 1492 and 1504, believing he had found a route to Asia. His first voyage in 1492 brought him to the Bahamas, and it was because of him that Europeans colonized the Americas.
Mount Everest has been named after Colonel George Everest who was:
- (A) Commandant of 1st Mountain Infantry Unit
- (B) A Commander of Golscha Brigade
- (C) A political agent of NWFP
- (D) Surveyor General of India
- (D) Surveyor General of India
The name Mount Everest was given to the mountain in 1865 in honor of Sir George Everest, the Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843. He was a British surveyor and geographer, and he was behind the bold initiative to survey the entire Indian subcontinent in a scientific manner, referred to as the Great Trigonometrical Survey.
Turnip is a root describes as:
- (A) Napiform
- (B) Fusiform
- (C) Couical
- (D) Tuberous
- (A) Napiform
Turnip root is a napiform shape because of the top-heavy appearance. It is a modified taproot, which is broad and swollen at the top, but then suddenly tapers to a slim, tail-like point at the bottom. This swelling is for the storage of reserve food materials.
- Fusiform: spindle-shaped, thicker in the middle and tapering at both ends. This is characteristic of radishes.
- Conical: cone-shaped, widest at the base and then tapering to the top. This is characteristic of carrots.
- Tuberous: thick and fleshy but without a definite shape or symmetry. This is characteristic of the sweet potato or the Mirabilis jalapa (four o’clock plant).
The annual average flow of water in the Indus River system is:
- (A) 100 MAF
- (B) 110 MAF
- (C) 140 MAF
- (D) 90 MAF
- (C) 140 MAF
The total flow carried by the Indus River system on an annual basis averages about 140 to 146 million acre-feet (MAF). Of this total flow, the Western rivers, comprising the Indus River, Jhelum River, and Chenab River, carry 142 MAF or about 84% of the total flow. The Eastern rivers, comprising the Ravi River, Beas River, and Sutlej River, carry about 26 MAF or 12 to 14% of the total flow.
The one who won Grand Slam in Tennis twice was:
- (A) Leo Hoad
- (B) Roy Emerson
- (C) Rod Laver
- (D) Jimmy Connors
- (C) Rod Laver
Rod Laver is the only tennis superstar to achieve the Calendar Grand Slam twice, once in 1962 and then again in 1969, winning the four Grand Slam singles titles in a year. Rod Laver, the Australian left-hander, is one of the sport’s all-time greats, winning a total of 11 singles Grand Slam titles and 200 titles in his illustrious career.