WBCS (Executive) 2016 Prelims Previous Year Paper

Use the suitable auxiliary verb to fill in the blank space:
She ______ sit for hours listening to the wireless.

Fill in the blank with an infinitive:
______ is worth ambition.

Fill in the blank with a relative pronoun.
He is here, ______ is fortunate.

Edmund Burke had a wonderful gift of the gab.
Gift of the gab means:

Fill in the blank with an appropriate participle.
Weather ________, there will be a garden party at Government House tomorrow.

Fill in the blank with a suitable word.
This is the ______ Post Office to my house.

Fill in the blank with a suitable word.
I can't walk any _________.

Select the correct meaning of the idiom underlined below:
There's no love lost between them.

Choose the word opposite in meaning to the word underlined below:
The appearance of the stranger was forbidding.

Select the correct meaning of the idiom underlined below:
The belief in witchcraft is losing ground.

'Surprise' may be expressed by the following interjection:

'Mellifluous' means:

Fill in the blank with an appropriate participle.
The ______ door awakened the dog.

The expression 'to take stock of' means:

Fill in the blank with an appropriate preposition phrase.
The crew were _______ the ship for a month.

Choose the word opposite in meaning to the word underlined below:
People responded to the leader's speech with shouts of ecstasy.

Put in a correct participle in the blank space.
The sea _______, we went for sail.

Choose the correct meaning of the word from the alternatives given below:
Quintessential

Insert correct phrasal verb:
In a moment of hurry, the files have been _______ by Hamilton.

Insert proper preposition in the sentence.
I prevailed _______ him to join our group.

An ophthalmologist is a specialist who deals with the medical and surgical care of the:

The term "memorabilia" precisely refers to:

Choose the expression that is closest in meaning to the word given below:
Imbroglio

Fill in the blank with the correct word or expression:
He talked to his horse _______ the horse could understand his grief.

Choose the expression that accurately explains the meaning of the underlined word:
A misanthrope is a person who:

The decline of the Nanda dynasty at the hands of Chanakya (Kautilya) and Chandragupta Maurya has been vividly portrayed in which classical Sanskrit play?

Who among the following was the most famous Indo-Greek ruler of ancient India?

Which Article of the Constitution of India provides a comprehensive working definition of the term "the State" for the purposes of Part III?

The seminal book Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule was written by Mahatma Gandhi in $1909$ during which of the following journeys?

Find the $4^{\text{th}}$ missing term of the following alphabet series:
$$\text{ZXYW, VTUS, RPQO, \_\_\_\_\_ , JHIG}$$

Which Pala emperor founded the historic Vikramashila University in Magadha?

Which Article of the Constitution of India formally abolishes 'untouchability' and strictly forbids its practice in any form?

Who among the following was not a member of the historic British Cabinet Mission that visited India in $1946$?

Which of the following literary accounts provides an authorized historical description of the period of Delhi Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban?

A man started walking towards the South. After moving $4\text{km}$, he turned towards the East and walked $6\text{km}$. He then turned towards the North and walked $12\text{km}$. How far is he from his original starting point?

Which Article of the Constitution of India guarantees to all citizens the foundational right to freedom of speech and expression?

India's earliest historical contact with the religion of Islam came via:

Who among the following early leaders is widely regarded as a pioneer of Indian Economic Nationalism?

Among six persons A, B, C, D, E, and F, there are three married couples. A, C, and E are the husbands. B, C, and D are cousins, and B is not the wife of A. Who is the husband of B?

Who were the primary competing kingdoms involved in the historic Tripartite Struggle for control over Kannauj in northern India from the $8^{\text{th}}$ to the $10^{\text{th}}$ century?

Which Article of the Constitution of India states that subject to public order, morality and health, every religious denomination or any section thereof shall have the right to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes?

The Swaraj Party took part in the legislative council elections in which of the following years?

The greatest $5$ -digit number which is a perfect square is:

The first Muslim incursions into the Deccan occurred during the reign of which Delhi Sultan?

There are $15$ chairs arranged in a row. The position of $P$ is exactly at the middle, and $Q$ is at the $12\text{th}$ position when counting from the right end. How many chairs are located between $P$ and $Q$?

Which Article of the Constitution of India mandates that no religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institution wholly maintained out of State funds?

The historical ruins and architectural remains of the Vijayanagar Empire can be found today at:

The Moplah (Malabar) Rebellion of $1921$ broke out in which region?

In a family, there are six members: $A,B,C,D,E,$ and $F$. $A$ and $B$ are a married couple. $D$ is the only son of $C$. $A$ is the father of $E$, who is the granddaughter of $F$. $F$ 's husband has passed away. $C$ is the brother of $A$. How many male members are there in total within this family?

Which Article of the Constitution of India guarantees that no citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them?

Who among the following historical figures formally became a member of Akbar's religious syncretism order, the 'Din-i-Ilahi'?

The ratio of the radii of two circles is $5:4$. What is the ratio of their respective areas?

Which Article of the Constitution of India directs the State to take steps to organize village panchayats?

In medieval Indian history, the term 'Taccavi' referred to:

Who was the President of the Indian National Congress when India achieved independence in August 1947?

A profit of $25\%$ is made by selling an article for $\text{Rs. }30$. If the article were sold for $\text{Rs. }33.60$, what would be the profit percentage?

Which Article of the Constitution of India states that the State shall endeavor to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India?

The official court language of the Mughal Empire was:

The incomes of $A$ and $B$ are in the ratio $3:2$ and their expenditures are in the ratio $5:3$. If each individual manages to save $\text{Rs. }1,000$, then $B$ 's income is:

Which of the following was not listed as a short-term priority of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the Annual Report of RBI, 2014-2015?

Who introduced the 'Duh-Aspah Sih-Aspah' system within the framework of the Mansabdari modification?

'The Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Defence Association' was started by:

There are $100$ questions in a question paper, each carrying $2$ marks. There is a negative marking of $1$ mark deducted for each question answered incorrectly. A student answering all the questions got $80$ marks. Find the number of questions correctly answered by him.

Raja Todarmal is primarily associated with which of the following revenue management systems under Akbar's rule?

Which country stood second with respect to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflow into India during the fiscal year 2013–2014?

Sir Stafford Cripps, who led the political mission to India in 1942, was a prominent member of which political party in Great Britain?

What is the least number that must be added to $1500$ to turn it into a perfect square?

The English East India Company established their first permanent, formal factory on Indian soil in 1613 at:

Which sector recorded the highest share of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into India during the fiscal year 2014–2015?

In a certain code language, KOLKATA is coded as $11151211012001$. How will BENGAL be coded in that same language?

Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the illustrious leader of which Sikh sovereign clan (misl)?

Who assassinated the British political aide Sir Curzon Wyllie in London in 1909?

If $17^{200}$ is divided by $18$, the remainder is:

Find the next term in the sequence: $4,10,22,46,\dots$

Who was the Viceroy of India when the Quit India Movement was launched in August 1942?

Tipu Sultan's final defeat and death came at the hands of:

X-rays are characterized as:

Who among the following figures was a primary organizer of the 'Anushilan Samiti' in Bengal?

In which of the following provinces was a Congress Ministry NOT formed following the provincial elections held under the Government of India Act of 1935?

If CABLE is coded as XZYOV, then which of the following choices represents a possible reverse decoding for the pattern YZXP?

The speeds of three cars are in the ratio $2:3:4$. The ratio between the time taken by these cars to travel the same distance is:

Astronomy means study of the?

Water rises up a capillary tube because of:

Who laid the foundation of the 'Theosophical Society'?

The image formed by a plane mirror is:

What was the gross fiscal deficit in 2014-15 as a percentage of the G.D.P. of India?

Who started the newspaper Shom Prakash?

The energy radiated by the Sun is because of:

What was the number of the Princely States in India at the time of Partition?

How many 9's are sandwiched between 6 and 7 in the following sequence:
6 9 6 9 9 6 6 7 6 9 7 9 6 6 9 7 7 9 6 6 7?

With an increase in temperature, the resistance of a pure semiconductor:

The Planning Commission of India had introduced decentralized planning in the country for the first time during the ________ Five Year Plan.

Who organised the 'Council of Barabhais'?

Which of the following is not a conservative force?

In collaboration with David Hare and Alexander Duff, who of the following established Hindu College at Calcutta?

A sum of money kept in a bank amounts to $\text{Rs. }1,240$ in $4$ years and $\text{Rs. }1,600$ in $10$ years at the same rate of simple interest. Find the sum.

Which among the following is called 'Laughing Gas' popularly?

India took Annual Plans from:

Who declared the Communal Award in 1932?

If $3$ mangoes are sold for the cost price of $4$ mangoes, then the profit is:

Which among the following gases was leaked during the Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984?

What is the digit in the unit place of $(232{)}^{33}$?

How many ways can a captain and a vice-captain be selected from a team of $11$ players?

A clock strikes once at 1 o'clock, twice at 2 o'clock, ..., twelve times at 12 o'clock. How many times will the bell strike in the course of $2$ days?

The heat of the sun reaches us by:

Which one of the following is the junction point of the Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats?

Which one of the following movements began with the Dandi March?

Which metal is present in chlorophyll?

A number $X$ lies between $0$ and $1$. Which of the following is true?

The greatest potential for the generation of tidal power in India is available on the:

In the manufacture of Vanaspati ghee from vegetable oils, which among the following gases is used?

During the First Five-Year Plan, the national income increased by:

Who characterized the partition of India as "a surrender of nationalism in favor of communalism"?

The largest area under wasteland in India is located in:

Which among the following is primarily responsible for the depletion of the Ozone layer?

The salary of Anup is $30\%$ more than that of Barun. By what percentage is the salary of Barun less than that of Anup?

Nagaland mountains are becoming increasingly barren, mainly due to which of the following reasons?

Which religious reform movements among the following influenced nationalism in India?

The term PVC used in the plastic industry stands for:

The Union Government introduced the Atomic Energy (Amendment) Bill, 2015, to facilitate the fast-track setting up of new nuclear projects in the country. This Bill seeks to amend the:

For his classic model of industrial location, German economist Alfred Weber makes use of which of the following terms to denote lines of equal total transport cost?

A pure red flower-bearing plant is crossed with a pure white flower-bearing plant, and the resulting $F_1$ generation plant bears pink flowers. In traditional competitive examinations following standard keys, this phenomenon is categorized under:

In which of its historic sessions did the Indian National Congress pass the Social Democratic Resolution?

Which one of the following states in India has a significantly higher percentage of area irrigated by tanks?

A short-day plant ($\text{SDP}$) has a critical day length of $14$ hours. It will successfully initiate flowering when the ambient day length is:

During whose Governor-Generalship was the structured Indian Civil Service ($\text{I.C.S.}$) formally introduced and consolidated?

What was the precise decadal population growth rate recorded in West Bengal during the demographic crisis decade of $1911\text{–}1921$?

Who formulated the economic critique of British rule and popularised it through the concept of the 'Drain of Wealth'?

Which of the following is a classic example of an endobiotic fungus (a fungus living entirely within the tissues of its host)?

Which district is the largest producer of tobacco in the state of West Bengal?

The tropopause is defined as:

A gynobasic style (a style that arises directly from the base of the ovary rather than from its apex) is a characteristic diagnostic feature of which plant family?

Who among the following diplomats replaced Sujatha Singh to take charge as India's Foreign Secretary in January $2015$?

The Tropic of Cancer ($23.5^{\circ }\text{ N}$) passes through which of the following districts of West Bengal?

Specialized multicellular male and female reproductive structures known as 'Globule' and 'Nucule' are found in:

The Union Cabinet in $2015$ approved a landmark Memorandum of Understanding ($\text{MoU}$) on cooperation between India and the United Kingdom in which of the following sectors?

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which were liberated in $1943\text{–}1944$ and handed over to the Provisional Government of Azad Hind, were renamed by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as:

Which of the following principal climate types characterizes the macroclimate experienced by West Bengal?

Spindle fibers, which are responsible for separating chromosomes during eukaryotic cell division, are composed of structural protofilaments made of the protein:

World Consumer Rights Day is globally observed every year on which of the following dates?

When and under whose leadership was the Indian National Army (I.N.A.) officially organized for the first time?

GAIL (India) Limited, in the last week of November 2015, launched which portal for monitoring its pipeline Right of Use (RoU) through Space Technology?

A carcinoma is a specific form of cancer originating from:

Who was appointed as the first-ever Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog when it was formed?

In July 2015, India and Tajikistan exchanged a Note Verbale specifically focusing on cooperation in which area?

In which year did the famous 'Great Escape' of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose from house arrest in Calcutta to Germany take place?

A type of muscle whose movement can be consciously controlled by an organism is known as:

A traveler flying over India observed the natural vegetation landscape change below in the sequential order of: tropical evergreen forest, savanna, dry deciduous forest, and desert/scrub. His flight path was most likely from:

Which of the following statements is not correct concerning the landmark ruling passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court on December 16, 2015, to curb rising air pollution in Delhi?

According to official RBI data, India's total exports of IT, ITES, and BPO services grew by what percentage during the financial year 2014-15?

Which one of the following mountain ranges exhibits two distinctly dissimilar types of vegetation on its two opposing slopes?

The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) was established by:

The Amarkantak Hill is the geographical origin of two major rivers flowing in two completely different directions (West and East). These rivers are:

Which of the following rivers of India is geologically older than the Himalayan mountain system (antecedent river)?

Zaina Erhaim, a prominent figure in international news circles, achieved recognition for which of the following?

The National Development Council (NDC) was established in India in which year?

The Shillong Plateau is widely known as 'Meghalaya'. Who among the following geographers coined this specific term?

The organizational and structural planning of the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) was modeled after which foreign development project?

What was the primary direct trigger for the rapid rise of Extremism within the Indian National Movement during the early 20th century?

The Union Cabinet granted formal approval to which consumer-centric regulatory bill on December 9, 2015?

The highest peak of West Bengal belongs to which of the following mountain ranges?

What is the total number of members elected specifically from the Lok Sabha to serve on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)?

Which of the following is NOT a true statement regarding the historic Paris Agreement on climate change adopted in December 2015?

What is the approximate length of the international boundary shared by West Bengal with Bangladesh?

According to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) published by the Forest Survey of India, which of the following states recorded a net increase in their overall forest cover area over the evaluation period?

Which of the following statements is INCORRECT concerning the legendary Indian film actor Dilip Kumar?

Which of the following is the longest river running through the western plateau and plains of West Bengal?

At the time this state examination question was originally compiled following the 2015-16 cycles, how many Finance Commissions had formally submitted their recommendations or reports to the Government of India?

NIIT entered into a strategic global educational partnership with which IT company in December 2015 to train youth on digital technologies?

Which of the following points is NOT true regarding the New Suez Canal Project?

In which of the following districts of West Bengal is the Singalila National Park situated?

What was the official global theme for Human Rights Day observed on December 10, 2015?

What was the original number of subjects enumerated in the Concurrent List (List III) of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India for legislative purposes?

Which Article of the Constitution of India defines the name and the territory of the Union?

Which of the following states was provisionally selected and confirmed as one of the major host venues for the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017?

"The Constitution of India is neither purely federal nor purely unitary but is a combination of both." Who among the following scholars or jurists summarized its nature this way?

A 'Grub' is the characteristic scientific name given to the larval stage of which animal group?

Xerophytic vegetation (drought-resistant flora like cacti and thorny shrubs) is a primary characteristic feature of which geographic region?

Which Part of the Constitution of India contains provisions related to Citizenship?

According to Gause's Competitive Exclusion Principle, two distinct species competing for the exact same limiting resources cannot continue to occupy the same:

Any money bill cannot be introduced in the Parliament without the consent of the:

The biggest ship-building yard of India is:

Darwin and Wallace were both strongly influenced by the book "An Essay on the Principle of Population" written by:

The 2015 Mailer Prize for Lifetime Achievement recognizing freedom of creativity has been conferred upon which of the following authors?

Pakistan has successfully test-fired the medium-range Shaheen-III ballistic missile. What is the launch mode of Shaheen-III?

Target tissue of insulin is:

Which of the following taxes is within the Jurisdiction of the Central Government?

Which of the following states has the least population density, as per Census 2011?

Who is considered as the father of Indian Archaeology?

An MOU has been recently signed between the Ministry of Textiles and the Ministry of MSME for establishing a Technology Centre at which place?

Which IT company won the 2015 Aegis Graham Bell Award for innovation in the Internet of Things (IoT)?

The highest urbanized state in India, as per Census 2011, is:

Rice cultivation is associated with the Harappan site of:

Servants of India Society was founded by:

Who won the 2015 The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Award in the engineering category?

The Upanishads were compiled around:

Which two Indian Cities for the first time have been designated as members of UNESCO's Creative Cities Network (UCCN)?

Which of the following states has recorded negative population growth during 2001-11?

According to Buddhism, the cause of all sorrow is:

Hind Mazdoor Sabha was founded by: