General Knowledge and Current Affairs
What this section tests
A broad sweep: national constitution and governance, geography, history, economy, basic science, sports, awards, international organisations, and current affairs from roughly the past twelve months.
How to prepare
Build a dated fact sheet organised by category rather than a random list. For each item record the fact, the date and the source. For current affairs use a rolling twelve-month window and refresh it weekly; facts learned for an earlier attempt may already be superseded. Revise by self-testing - cover the answer column and recall - rather than by re-reading, which produces familiarity without recall.
Traps
- Similar names: two people sharing a surname, or two schemes with near-identical titles.
- “First” versus “latest” versus “longest-serving” - the qualifier decides the answer.
- Outdated officeholders and superseded statistics.
- Multi-stage facts: a scheme launched in one year and renamed in another.
- Absolute options (“always”, “only”) in factual statements.
Worked example
A question asks who currently holds a named office. You recall the previous holder but are unsure whether the office has changed hands. Treat that recollection as a likely trap, since distractors are often built from former holders. Eliminate by category and recency; if still uncertain, mark the question and return rather than spending two minutes on one mark.
Rule of thumb
Attach a date to every fact you memorise, and prefer elimination from a known category over pure guessing.