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Assam SLET / NE-SLET study materials
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Assam SLET / NE-SLET practice questions

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Question 1Teaching Aptitude

At which level of teaching does the learner primarily engage in problem-solving, hypothesis testing and independent critical inquiry?

  1. Reflective level Correct answer.
  2. Associative level
  3. Understanding level
  4. Memory level

Explanation

In the three-level scheme of teaching, the reflective level is the highest: the teacher poses problematic situations and learners frame hypotheses, gather and weigh evidence, and defend conclusions. The memory level stresses rote recall and the understanding level stresses insight, explanation and application of relationships. Reflective teaching therefore aims at independent, critical thinking rather than reproduction of content.

Question 2Teaching Aptitude

Micro-teaching is best characterised by which of the following features?

  1. A computer-assisted lesson in which content is delivered through microcomputers
  2. A full-length lesson delivered to a normal class and evaluated by the head of the institution
  3. A lesson covering a very small portion of the syllabus without any feedback
  4. A brief, scaled-down lesson taught to a small group and focused on one teaching skill Correct answer.

Explanation

Micro-teaching is a scaled-down training technique: a short lesson of about five to ten minutes is taught to a small group of peers or pupils and concentrates on a single teaching skill such as questioning or reinforcement. Feedback from supervisors and peers is followed by re-teaching in a teach–reteach cycle. Its defining features are smallness of time, class size and skill focus, together with systematic feedback.

Question 3Teaching Aptitude

A teacher frames the objective: "Learners will be able to differentiate between formative and summative evaluation by identifying their distinguishing features." In the revised Bloom's taxonomy, this objective is best classified at which level?

  1. Analyse Correct answer.
  2. Understand
  3. Apply
  4. Remember

Explanation

The verb differentiate requires the learner to break information into parts and detect how those parts relate to one another, which is the defining cognitive process of the Analyse level. Remembering would only require recalling definitions, and understanding would require explaining or classifying them. Applying would require using the distinction in a concrete situation rather than distinguishing the features themselves.

Question 4Teaching Aptitude

After teaching a unit on learning theories, a teacher administers a short ungraded quiz in the next class to find out which concepts are still unclear and to plan remedial work. This assessment is best described as:

  1. Norm-referenced evaluation
  2. Placement evaluation
  3. Summative evaluation
  4. Formative evaluation Correct answer.

Explanation

Formative evaluation is conducted during the course of instruction to monitor learning, identify gaps and provide feedback that shapes subsequent teaching. The quiz described is ungraded and is used to plan remediation, which is precisely the improvement-oriented purpose of formative assessment. Summative evaluation comes at the end to certify achievement, and placement evaluation comes before instruction to decide entry level.

Question 5Teaching Aptitude

In Flanders' system of interaction analysis, which of the following categories belongs to indirect teacher talk?

  1. Praising or encouraging student behaviour Correct answer.
  2. Giving directions
  3. Lecturing
  4. Criticising or justifying authority

Explanation

Flanders groups teacher talk into indirect influence, which expands student freedom and participation, and direct influence, which restricts it. Indirect categories include accepting feelings, praising or encouraging, accepting student ideas and asking questions, whereas lecturing, giving directions and criticising belong to the direct categories. Praise therefore falls on the indirect side of the classification.

Question 6Teaching Aptitude

In Gagné's nine events of instruction, which event should come immediately after the teacher informs learners of the lesson objectives?

  1. Providing learning guidance
  2. Stimulating recall of prior learning Correct answer.
  3. Presenting the stimulus material
  4. Eliciting performance

Explanation

Gagné's sequence runs from gaining attention and informing learners of the objectives to stimulating recall of relevant prior learning, then presenting the stimulus material, providing guidance, eliciting performance, giving feedback, assessing performance and enhancing retention and transfer. Once objectives are communicated, the teacher activates the prerequisite knowledge on which the new learning will be built. Presenting new content comes only after this recall step.

Question 7Teaching Aptitude

A mathematics teacher knows the subject thoroughly and also knows which examples, analogies and representations help learners overcome the common misconceptions in that subject. This professional knowledge is best described as:

  1. Pedagogical content knowledge Correct answer.
  2. General pedagogical knowledge
  3. Curricular knowledge
  4. Content knowledge

Explanation

Pedagogical content knowledge, as described by Shulman, is the blending of subject matter with the knowledge of how to teach it: which representations work, what learners typically misunderstand and how to address those difficulties. It differs from pure content knowledge because it includes the transformation of subject matter for learning. Curricular knowledge concerns materials and syllabi, while general pedagogical knowledge concerns classroom management and generic teaching principles.

Question 8Research Aptitude

In a research study on exam-related stress, each participant's oral temperature is recorded in degrees Celsius. The level of measurement of this variable is:

  1. Ratio
  2. Interval Correct answer.
  3. Ordinal
  4. Nominal

Explanation

The interval level has equal distances between units but an arbitrary zero point, so ratios of values are not meaningful. Celsius temperature fits this exactly: the gap from 36°C to 38°C equals the gap from 38°C to 40°C, yet 40°C is not 'twice as hot' as 20°C. Ratio measurement would additionally require a true zero, as in height or reaction time measured in seconds.

Question 9Research Aptitude

A research scholar takes sentences from a published article, replaces several words with synonyms, and inserts the rewritten sentences into a thesis chapter without acknowledging the source. In research ethics, this act is best described as:

  1. Fair use of data
  2. Paraphrasing plagiarism Correct answer.
  3. Self-citation
  4. Common knowledge

Explanation

Paraphrasing plagiarism occurs when the wording is superficially altered but the ideas and structure are borrowed without attribution, so the original author receives no credit. Changing a few synonyms does not make the borrowed text the scholar's own contribution. Ethical paraphrase requires genuine restatement in the writer's own voice plus a proper citation.

Question 10Research Aptitude

A researcher studying educational attainment in Assam first divides the districts into hill and plain categories, then draws a random sample of respondents from within each category. The sampling technique used is:

  1. Systematic sampling
  2. Cluster sampling
  3. Stratified sampling Correct answer.
  4. Purposive sampling

Explanation

Stratified sampling partitions the population into homogeneous subgroups (strata) such as hill and plain districts and then samples randomly within each stratum, which guarantees representation of every subgroup. Cluster sampling differs because entire naturally occurring groups are selected and all or many members within them are studied. The procedure described creates strata first and randomises inside them, so it is stratified sampling.

Question 11Research Aptitude

A researcher expects that students taught through a multimedia package will score higher than students taught through conventional lectures. Which statement is the null hypothesis for this study?

  1. There is no significant difference in mean achievement between the two groups. Correct answer.
  2. Multimedia-taught students will score higher than lecture-taught students.
  3. There will be a difference in achievement between the two teaching methods.
  4. Multimedia teaching is the more effective method for every student in the sample.

Explanation

The null hypothesis is a statement of no difference or no relationship and is framed so that it can be statistically tested and possibly rejected. A directional prediction such as 'multimedia group will score higher' belongs to the alternative hypothesis, not the null. The null form asserts that any observed gap in mean achievement is attributable to sampling fluctuation.

Question 12Research Aptitude

A university entrance test is administered to fresh entrants, and their test scores are later found to correlate strongly with their first-semester examination marks. This evidence chiefly supports the test's:

  1. Face validity
  2. Internal consistency
  3. Content validity
  4. Predictive validity Correct answer.

Explanation

Predictive validity is a form of criterion-related validity established when scores on a measure forecast a future criterion, here first-semester marks. Content validity instead concerns how well test items represent the full syllabus domain, judged by expert review rather than by correlation with later performance. Face validity is only the superficial appearance of relevance to test-takers and examiners.

Question 13Research Aptitude

A researcher records the preferred mode of examination (written, oral or practical) of 150 college students and wants to test whether the three preferences are equally distributed in the population. The most appropriate statistical test is the:

  1. Chi-square test Correct answer.
  2. One-way ANOVA test
  3. Pearson product correlation
  4. Independent-samples t-test

Explanation

The chi-square goodness-of-fit test compares observed frequencies in nominal categories with the frequencies expected under a stated hypothesis, such as equal preference across three modes. The t-test and ANOVA compare means of continuous scores across groups, but here the data are category counts rather than measured scores. Correlation examines the association between two continuous variables and does not apply to a single categorical frequency distribution.

Question 14Research Aptitude

A researcher reports a statistically significant difference between two methods at p < 0.01, but the effect size is very small. The most defensible interpretation is that:

  1. The result must be discarded because the effect size is small.
  2. The treatment is proved to be practically important for all learners.
  3. A larger effect size would have made the result non-significant.
  4. The difference is likely real but of little practical importance. Correct answer.

Explanation

Statistical significance indicates that an observed difference is unlikely to have arisen by chance alone under the null hypothesis, but it says nothing about the magnitude of the difference. A small effect size that is significant, often with a large sample, may be genuine yet too trivial to justify changing classroom practice. Researchers should therefore report and interpret effect size alongside p-values.

Question 15Comprehension

Read the passage and answer the question. "For years the reading room worked like a storehouse: books were guarded, not lent. Last winter the committee unlocked the shelves and let members carry any volume home for a month. Borrowing rose fourfold and subscription renewals doubled." The passage is chiefly concerned with:

  1. the rising cost of running a locked reading room
  2. a shift in lending policy and the results that followed Correct answer.
  3. the reasons why members let their subscriptions lapse
  4. the committee's decision to guard its books more strictly

Explanation

The main idea is the point that the whole passage supports, not a detail buried inside it. Here the writer reports a change of lending policy and then supplies its consequences, namely a fourfold rise in borrowing and a doubling of renewals, so the central concern is that shift and its effects. Cost, book quality and the reasons for lapsing are never mentioned.

Question 16Comprehension

Read the passage and answer the question. "The inspector's report was terse: three pages of figures, no commentary, and a single recommendation. Reviewers accustomed to verbose submissions found it refreshing." As used in the passage, "terse" most nearly means:

  1. heavily illustrated with charts
  2. brief and to the point Correct answer.
  3. deliberately dishonest in content
  4. harshly critical in tone

Explanation

Vocabulary-in-context questions are settled by the surrounding words, not by a dictionary gloss taken in isolation. "Terse" is set against "verbose submissions" and is explained by the description that follows, three pages of figures with no commentary, so the sense is economical expression. Nothing in the passage marks the report as hostile or unreliable.

Question 17Comprehension

Read the passage and answer the question. "The village school has no science laboratory, yet its students won the district quiz for the third year running. Their teacher attributes the run to a weekly session in which pupils frame their own questions about everyday phenomena and defend their answers before classmates." It can reasonably be inferred that the school's success is chiefly owed to:

  1. the weak competition offered by other district schools
  2. the very small size of the village school
  3. a classroom habit of independent questioning Correct answer.
  4. the recent purchase of new laboratory equipment

Explanation

A valid inference is supported by textual clues without being stated outright. The only explanation the passage offers is the teacher's attribution to weekly sessions where pupils frame and defend their own questions, so the success is linked to that cultivated habit. Equipment, school size and rival schools are either denied or simply absent.

Question 18Comprehension

Read the passage and answer the question. "The new footbridge is handsome enough, and the engineers deserve credit for finishing early. But it lands a full two hundred metres from the bus stop it was meant to serve, and the council's own survey predicted as much." The writer's attitude toward the footbridge project is best described as:

  1. unqualified admiration for the finished structure
  2. indifference to whether the project succeeded
  3. approval qualified by a practical objection Correct answer.
  4. open contempt for the engineers who built it

Explanation

Attitude questions turn on concessive markers and on the balance of praise and blame. "Handsome enough" and "deserve credit" concede real merit, while "But it lands ... two hundred metres from the bus stop" adds a concrete, documented objection, so the stance is qualified approval rather than admiration or contempt.

Question 19Comprehension

Read the passage and answer the question. "Critics dismissed the first edition as a curiosity. That judgement did not survive the second, which reproduced the original text but added the letters on which it was based; readers could now check every claim for themselves." In "the second, which reproduced the original text", the word "which" refers to:

  1. the second edition Correct answer.
  2. the first edition
  3. the critics' judgement
  4. the letters that were added

Explanation

A relative pronoun such as "which" normally takes as its antecedent the nearest preceding noun phrase that fits the sense. Here that phrase is "the second", understood from the context as the second edition, and it is that edition which reproduced the original text and added the supporting letters.

Question 20Comprehension

Read the passage and answer the question. "The survey found that commuters valued frequency of service above fare, cleanliness and journey time. Operators, by contrast, assumed fare was decisive and spent their budgets accordingly, a mismatch the report calls costly." According to the passage, the operators' spending priorities rested on:

  1. a careful reading of the completed survey findings
  2. a plan to reduce the frequency of bus services
  3. the commuters' ranking of cleanliness as decisive
  4. an assumption about fares that the survey contradicts Correct answer.

Explanation

Detail questions are answered strictly from what the passage states. The operators "assumed fare was decisive", while the survey found frequency ranked above fare, so their budgeting rested on an assumption the evidence contradicts, which is exactly the mismatch the report criticises.

Question 21Comprehension

Read the passage and answer the question. "Every proposal to widen the highway cites the same 2019 congestion figures. Those figures were collected during a bridge closure that diverted traffic onto the road. Until new counts are published, the debate is being conducted with a photograph of a flood and called a map." The final sentence functions mainly to:

  1. expose an atypical snapshot being passed off as a reliable guide Correct answer.
  2. argue that the bridge closure itself created the congestion
  3. describe the weather and road conditions during the survey
  4. show that the 2019 congestion figures were deliberately falsified

Explanation

Figurative language in an argumentative passage usually does argumentative work rather than decorative work. A photograph of a flood called a map pictures one dramatic moment being offered as a general chart of conditions, which is precisely the writer's charge against the 2019 counts: they record an exceptional situation and are being misused as ordinary evidence.

Question 22Communication

The formula 'Who says what in which channel to whom with what effect' is associated with which model of communication?

  1. Shannon and Weaver's model
  2. Osgood and Schramm's model
  3. Lasswell's model Correct answer.
  4. Berlo's SMCR model

Explanation

Harold Lasswell's 1948 formula identifies five components of communication: who (communicator), says what (message), in which channel (medium), to whom (audience), and with what effect (outcome). It is widely used to analyse mass communication and propaganda because it foregrounds the effect of a message on an audience.

Question 23Communication

The study of how people use space and distance to communicate is known as:

  1. Chronemics
  2. Kinesics
  3. Proxemics Correct answer.
  4. Haptics

Explanation

Proxemics, developed by Edward T. Hall, studies how people use interpersonal distance and spatial arrangement to communicate. Hall distinguished intimate, personal, social, and public distance zones, each carrying different social meanings.

Question 24Communication

A lecturer's microphone picks up a buzzing fan, making parts of the lecture inaudible to students. In the Shannon–Weaver model, the buzzing fan is best described as:

  1. channel capacity
  2. noise Correct answer.
  3. feedback
  4. redundancy

Explanation

In Shannon and Weaver's linear model, noise is any interference that distorts or corrupts the signal as it travels from transmitter to receiver. A buzzing fan that masks part of a lecture is a clear example of physical channel noise.

Question 25Communication

A technical report is filled with unexplained jargon that its non-specialist readers cannot follow. Which of the 7 Cs of communication is most directly violated?

  1. Conciseness
  2. Courtesy
  3. Clarity Correct answer.
  4. Concreteness

Explanation

Clarity requires the sender to use language that the intended receiver can decode easily; unexplained technical jargon makes decoding difficult. Concreteness concerns specific facts, conciseness concerns brevity, and courtesy concerns respectful tone.

Question 26Communication

A counsellor listens to a student's account of a family problem, setting aside personal judgments and trying to feel what the student feels. This listening behaviour is best termed:

  1. Critical listening
  2. Appreciative listening
  3. Empathic listening Correct answer.
  4. Comprehensive listening

Explanation

Empathic listening means listening to understand the speaker's feelings and perspective without immediately judging or advising. The counsellor's attempt to feel what the student feels fits this category.

Question 27Communication

The claim that the mass media may not succeed in telling audiences what to think, but do succeed in telling them what to think about, is central to:

  1. Uses and gratifications theory
  2. Cultivation theory
  3. The spiral of silence
  4. Agenda-setting theory Correct answer.

Explanation

Agenda-setting theory, associated with McCombs and Shaw, argues that media coverage raises the salience of certain issues in the public mind. It does not claim that media dictate opinions directly; it claims they influence which issues people consider important.

Question 28Communication

Which statement best captures the key difference between the transactional model and the interactional model of communication?

  1. The transactional model excludes context and noise, whereas the interactional model explicitly includes both of them.
  2. The transactional model treats both parties as simultaneous communicators, whereas the interactional model treats them as alternating. Correct answer.
  3. The transactional model is essentially one-way, whereas the interactional model adds feedback from the receiver.
  4. The transactional model is suitable only for mass communication, whereas the interactional model is suitable only for dyads.

Explanation

The interactional model, such as Schramm's, added feedback but still depicted communication as alternating turns between sender and receiver. The transactional model goes further: both parties send and receive simultaneously, and meaning is jointly constructed through the exchange.

Question 29Mathematical Reasoning and Aptitude

In a number series question of the Mathematical Reasoning and Aptitude section, the sequence is 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, ?. Which number should replace the question mark?

  1. 126
  2. 128
  3. 127 Correct answer.
  4. 121

Explanation

Each term is obtained by doubling the previous term and then adding 1: 3×2+1=7, 7×2+1=15, 15×2+1=31 and 31×2+1=63. Applying the same rule to 63 gives 63×2+1=127. The series therefore grows by roughly a factor of two at every step, not by a fixed difference.

Question 30Mathematical Reasoning and Aptitude

A candidate in the Aptitude section is asked for the arithmetic mean of the first ten natural numbers, that is, 1, 2, 3, ..., 10. What is the average?

  1. 5
  2. 5.5 Correct answer.
  3. 4.5
  4. 6

Explanation

The sum of the first ten natural numbers is 1+2+...+10 = 55, obtained from n(n+1)/2 with n = 10. Dividing this sum by the number of terms, 55 ÷ 10, gives an average of 5.5. Because the count of terms is even, the mean falls midway between the two central values 5 and 6.

Question 31Mathematical Reasoning and Aptitude

A number is first increased by 25% and the result is then decreased by 20%. What is the net effect on the original number?

  1. No net change Correct answer.
  2. A net increase of 5%
  3. A net increase of 25%
  4. A net decrease of 5%

Explanation

Successive percentage changes are combined by multiplying the factors, not by adding the percentages. An increase of 25% gives the factor 1.25, and a decrease of 20% gives the factor 0.80; their product is 1.25 × 0.80 = 1.00. The final value equals the original value, so there is no net change.

Question 32Mathematical Reasoning and Aptitude

A can complete a piece of work alone in 12 days and B can complete the same work alone in 18 days. Working together at their respective constant rates, in how many days will they finish the work?

  1. 7 1/2 days
  2. 7 days
  3. 7 1/5 days Correct answer.
  4. 6 days

Explanation

A's one-day work is 1/12 and B's one-day work is 1/18, so together they finish 1/12 + 1/18 = 3/36 + 2/36 = 5/36 of the work per day. The time required is the reciprocal, 36/5 days, which equals 7 1/5 days. This value lies between A's 12 days and half of B's rate, as expected for two workers combined.

Question 33Mathematical Reasoning and Aptitude

A vessel contains 60 litres of a mixture in which milk and water are in the ratio 7 : 3. How many litres of water must be added so that the milk and water are then in the ratio 3 : 2?

  1. 12 litres
  2. 10 litres Correct answer.
  3. 15 litres
  4. 8 litres

Explanation

In the original 60 litres, milk is 7/10 × 60 = 42 litres and water is 18 litres. Adding x litres of water leaves the milk unchanged, so 42/(18 + x) = 3/2, which gives 84 = 54 + 3x and hence x = 10. Checking: 42 : 28 reduces to 3 : 2, confirming the answer.

Question 34Mathematical Reasoning and Aptitude

How many distinct arrangements of the letters of the word REASON are possible if all three vowels must occupy the even positions?

  1. 72 Correct answer.
  2. 36
  3. 18
  4. 144

Explanation

The word REASON has six distinct letters, with vowels E, A, O and consonants R, S, N. The three even positions (2, 4 and 6) can be filled by the vowels in 3! = 6 ways, and the three odd positions by the consonants in 3! = 6 ways. Multiplying the independent choices gives 6 × 6 = 36 arrangements; the option 72 would apply if the vowels were not restricted to even places.

Question 35Mathematical Reasoning and Aptitude

A sum of money invested at simple interest doubles itself in 5 years. In how many years will the same sum become four times itself at the same rate of interest?

  1. 20 years
  2. 15 years Correct answer.
  3. 10 years
  4. 12 years

Explanation

Doubling in 5 years means the interest earned equals the principal in 5 years, so the annual simple interest is one-fifth of the principal, that is, 20% per year. To become four times the principal, the interest must equal three times the principal. Since each multiple of the principal takes 5 years, 3 × 5 = 15 years are needed.

Question 36Logical Reasoning

Find the number that should replace the question mark in the series: 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, ?

  1. 127 Correct answer.
  2. 121
  3. 125
  4. 129

Explanation

Each term is obtained by doubling the previous term and adding one: 3 × 2 + 1 = 7, 7 × 2 + 1 = 15, and so on. Applying the same rule to the last given term, 63 × 2 + 1 = 127. The successive differences 4, 8, 16, 32 also double each time, which confirms the pattern.

Question 37Logical Reasoning

Pointing to a photograph, a man says, "She is the daughter of the only son of my mother." How is the woman in the photograph related to the man?

  1. Daughter Correct answer.
  2. Cousin
  3. Sister
  4. Niece

Explanation

The phrase "the only son of my mother" refers to the speaker himself, because he is male and has no brothers. The woman is therefore the daughter of the speaker. The word "only" is decisive: it excludes the possibility of an uncle, so a niece or cousin relationship cannot be intended.

Question 38Logical Reasoning

In a certain code language, TEACHER is written as VGCEJGT. Using the same rule, how would CHILD be written?

  1. EJKMF
  2. FJKNF
  3. EJKNF Correct answer.
  4. EIKNF

Explanation

Each letter of the original word is replaced by the letter two places ahead of it in the English alphabet: T becomes V, E becomes G, A becomes C, and so on throughout the word. Applying the same shift to CHILD gives C→E, H→J, I→K, L→N and D→F, producing EJKNF.

Question 39Logical Reasoning

A man walks 5 km towards the north, then turns right and walks 3 km, then turns right again and walks 5 km. Where is he now with respect to his starting point?

  1. 5 km east
  2. 3 km west
  3. 8 km north
  4. 3 km east Correct answer.

Explanation

Starting from his house he moves 5 km north, then turning right takes him east for 3 km, and the second right turn takes him south for 5 km. The two 5 km movements lie in opposite directions and cancel each other out, leaving only the 3 km displacement towards the east. He is therefore 3 km east of the starting point.

Question 40Logical Reasoning

Five friends A, B, C, D and E sit in a row facing north. C sits at the extreme left end. E sits second to the right of C. B sits immediately to the right of E. D does not sit at either extreme end. Who sits at the extreme right end?

  1. B
  2. D
  3. A Correct answer.
  4. E

Explanation

Numbering the seats 1 to 5 from the left, C occupies seat 1 and E, being second to the right of C, occupies seat 3. B then takes seat 4, immediately right of E. Since D is not at an extreme end, D must be in seat 2, leaving seat 5 for A, who therefore sits at the extreme right end.

Question 41Logical Reasoning

In a class of 60 students, 35 play cricket, 30 play football and 10 play both games. How many students play neither cricket nor football?

  1. 15
  2. 10
  3. 20
  4. 5 Correct answer.

Explanation

By the inclusion–exclusion rule, the number of students playing at least one game is 35 + 30 − 10 = 55, because those playing both were counted twice. Subtracting this from the class strength of 60 leaves 5 students who play neither game. The overlap of 10 must be subtracted once, not twice, for the count to be correct.

Question 42Logical Reasoning

Statements: All chairs are tables. No table is a stool. Some stools are benches. Conclusions: I. Some benches are not tables. II. No chair is a stool. Which conclusion necessarily follows?

  1. Both I and II follow Correct answer.
  2. Only conclusion I follows
  3. Only conclusion II follows
  4. Neither I nor II follows

Explanation

Since some stools are benches and no table is a stool, the benches that are also stools fall outside the table set, so some benches are certainly not tables and conclusion I holds. Since all chairs are tables and no table is a stool, no chair can be a stool, so conclusion II also holds. Both conclusions follow necessarily, which makes the combined option the only defensible answer.

Question 43Data Interpretation

A household survey in a district covered 1,800 families. Of these, 42 per cent use LPG as their primary cooking fuel and 33 per cent use firewood, while the remaining families use other fuels. How many families use fuels other than LPG and firewood?

  1. 450 Correct answer.
  2. 594
  3. 1,350
  4. 756

Explanation

The two named fuels account for 42 + 33 = 75 per cent of the surveyed families, so the residual share is 100 − 75 = 25 per cent. One quarter of 1,800 is 450, which is the number of families depending on other fuels.

Question 44Data Interpretation

The daily ridership of a city bus route during a five-day survey week was recorded as 1,240, 1,180, 1,320, 1,260 and 1,000 passengers. What was the average daily ridership for the week?

  1. 1,220
  2. 1,240
  3. 1,180
  4. 1,200 Correct answer.

Explanation

The arithmetic mean is the sum of all five daily readings divided by the number of days. The readings add up to 6,000, and 6,000 divided by 5 gives 1,200 passengers per day.

Question 45Data Interpretation

The number of candidates appearing for the SLET from a university was 24,000 in 2019. It rose by 25 per cent in 2020 and then fell by 20 per cent in 2021. What was the net change in the number of candidates from 2019 to 2021?

  1. a net decrease of 5 per cent
  2. no net change Correct answer.
  3. a net increase of 5 per cent
  4. a net decrease of 10 per cent

Explanation

Successive percentage changes must be applied one after another, each on the new base. Here 24,000 × 1.25 = 30,000 and 30,000 × 0.80 = 24,000, so the 2021 figure equals the 2019 figure and the net change is nil; the 25 per cent rise and 20 per cent fall do not cancel by simple subtraction.

Question 46Data Interpretation

A college allocates its annual budget of ₹48,00,000 as follows: salaries 45 per cent, infrastructure 25 per cent, library 12 per cent, sports 8 per cent and the balance to miscellaneous expenses. How much more is spent on infrastructure than on the library and sports taken together?

  1. ₹8,16,000
  2. ₹2,40,000 Correct answer.
  3. ₹6,24,000
  4. ₹4,80,000

Explanation

On a total of ₹48,00,000, infrastructure takes 25 per cent, that is ₹12,00,000, while the library and sports together take 12 + 8 = 20 per cent, that is ₹9,60,000. The required excess is therefore ₹12,00,000 − ₹9,60,000 = ₹2,40,000.

Question 47Data Interpretation

The populations of two districts A and B are in the ratio 5 : 7. If district B has 84,000 more people than district A, what is the combined population of the two districts?

  1. 2,94,000
  2. 4,20,000
  3. 2,10,000
  4. 5,04,000 Correct answer.

Explanation

The excess of 84,000 corresponds to 7 − 5 = 2 parts of the ratio, so one part equals 42,000. The combined population is 5 + 7 = 12 parts, that is 12 × 42,000 = 5,04,000.

Question 48Data Interpretation

In a state-level eligibility test, boys and girls appeared in the ratio 3 : 2. The average score of the boys was 62 marks and that of the girls was 72 marks. What was the average score of all the candidates taken together?

  1. 66 Correct answer.
  2. 67
  3. 64
  4. 68

Explanation

The combined average is a weighted mean in which the group averages are weighted by the 3 : 2 strength ratio. Thus (3 × 62 + 2 × 72) ÷ 5 = (186 + 144) ÷ 5 = 330 ÷ 5 = 66 marks.

Question 49Data Interpretation

In 2011 the ratio of literates to illiterates in a district was 5 : 3. Between 2011 and 2021 the district's total population grew by 20 per cent while the number of illiterates fell by 20 per cent. By what percentage did the number of literates increase over the decade?

  1. 44% Correct answer.
  2. 32%
  3. 30.6%
  4. 20%

Explanation

Only the ratio matters, so take 500 literates and 300 illiterates (total 800). The 2021 total is 960, illiterates fall to 240, and literates therefore become 720. The rise from 500 to 720 is 220, which is 44 per cent of the 2011 base of 500.

Question 50Information and Communication Technology

In a computer system, which of the following is a volatile primary memory whose contents are erased as soon as the power supply is switched off?

  1. USB flash drive
  2. RAM Correct answer.
  3. Hard disk drive
  4. ROM

Explanation

RAM is the main memory that the CPU reads from and writes to during processing, and its contents are lost the moment power is removed, which is exactly what 'volatile' means. ROM, hard disks and USB flash drives are all non-volatile storage that retain their contents without power.