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|English Literature · September 2026

UGC NET English Literature September 2026 Question PaperPaper 1 & Paper 2 with Answer Key

The complete UGC NET September 2026 question paper for English Literature, covering Paper 1 (General Aptitude) and Paper 2 (English Literature). Every question below is shown with its options and the correct answer, and a detailed explanation you can unlock by signing in. All 150 questions are free to practise.

UGC NET September 2026 at a glance

Exam	UGC NET September 2026
Papers	Paper 1 (General Aptitude) and Paper 2 (English Literature)
Exam date(s)	September 9, 2026
Shift(s)	Shift 1
Paper 1 questions	50 questions · 60 minutes · 100 marks
Paper 2 questions	100 questions · 120 minutes · 200 marks
Total	150 questions
Marking scheme	+2 per correct answer · No negative marking

Paper 1

General Aptitude

UGC NET September 2026 · English Literature sitting

50 questions60 min100 marks

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Paper 2

English Literature

UGC NET September 2026

100 questions120 min200 marks

Practice Now

Paper 1 — General Aptitude

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50 questions with the answer key and explanations.

Question 1

What will be the average of the total number of Runs scored by Batter C, excluding the number of matches where she scored zero Runs and the one where she scored the highest number of Runs ?

The following table shows the total number of Runs scored by five leading batters (A–E) in 20 Twenty20 (T20) cricket matches of the Women's Premier League (WPL)–2026, along with the highest number of Runs scored in any of these 20 matches and the number of matches in which each Batter has scored 100 or more runs, scored from 50 to 99 Runs and scored zero (0) Runs. Based on the data in the table, answer the questions that follow:

Batter-wise Performance Details in 20 T20 Cricket Matches

Batter	Total Number of Runs in 20 matches	Highest Number of Runs in any one of 20 matches	Number of Matches with 100 or more Runs	Number of Matches with 50-99 Runs	Number of Matches with Zero (0) Runs
A	988	141	5	3	1
B	752	130	1	8	2
C	409	52	-	1	2
D	653	94	-	4	1
E	780	85	-	7	-

Note: The symbol '-' is assumed to mean zero occurrences.

Answer: (A) 21

Explanation

Excluding zero-run matches and the single highest-scoring match leaves 17 matches totaling 357 runs.

From the table for Batter C:

Total runs in 20 matches = 409
Highest score in any match = 52 (1 match)
Matches with zero runs = 2 (0 runs total)

Matches to exclude:
1 + 2 = 3 matches

Remaining matches:
20 - 3 = 17 matches

Runs in remaining matches:
409 - 52 - 0 = 357 runs

Average runs:
357 / 17 = 21

A. 21 — correct. 357 runs divided across 17 matches yields exactly 21 runs per match.
B. 22 — incorrect. Overestimates the average by failing to account for the exact remaining match count.
C. 19 — incorrect. Corresponds to dividing by an inflated divisor of 19.
D. 17 — incorrect. Confuses the number of remaining matches with the average score.

Question 2

If P, Q, R, S and T, respectively, represent the number of matches where each of the five Batters (A–E) scored from 1 to 49 Runs, then which of the following order is correct ?

Batter-wise Performance Details in 20 T20 Cricket Matches

Batter	Total Number of Runs in 20 matches	Highest Number of Runs in anyone of 20 matches	Number of Matches with 100 or more Runs	Number of Matches with 50-99 Runs	Number of Matches with Zero (0) Runs
A	988	141	5	3	1
B	752	130	1	8	2
C	409	52	-	1	2
D	653	94	-	4	1
E	780	85	-	7	-

Note: The symbol '-' is assumed to mean zero occurrences.

AP < Q < S < T < R
BT < Q < P < R < S
CS < Q < P < T < R
DQ < P < T < S < R

Answer: (D) Q < P < T < S < R

Explanation

Determine the number of matches scoring 1 to 49 runs by subtracting all other match categories from 20 matches for each batter.

For each batter, Matches(1–49) = 20 - [Matches(100+) + Matches(50–99) + Matches(0)]:

Batter A (P) = 20 - (5 + 3 + 1) = 20 - 9 = 11
Batter B (Q) = 20 - (1 + 8 + 2) = 20 - 11 = 9
Batter C (R) = 20 - (0 + 1 + 2) = 20 - 3 = 17
Batter D (S) = 20 - (0 + 4 + 1) = 20 - 5 = 15
Batter E (T) = 20 - (0 + 7 + 0) = 20 - 7 = 13

Arranging values in ascending order:
9 < 11 < 13 < 15 < 17
Q < P < T < S < R

A. P < Q < S < T < R — incorrect. Inverts P and Q.
B. T < Q < P < R < S — incorrect. Misplaces T at the lowest rank.
C. S < Q < P < T < R — incorrect. Places S lower than its true value of 15.
D. Q < P < T < S < R — correct. Accurately orders 9 < 11 < 13 < 15 < 17.

Question 3

If M and N, respectively, represent the average number of Runs scored by the top two batters in terms of total number of Runs, excluding the number of matches where they scored zero (0) Runs, then M - N =

Batter-wise Performance Details in 20 T20 Cricket Matches

Batter	Total Number of Runs in 20 matches	Highest Number of Runs in anyone of 20 matches	Number of Matches with 100 or more Runs	Number of Matches with 50-99 Runs	Number of Matches with Zero (0) Runs
A	988	141	5	3	1
B	752	130	1	8	2
C	409	52	-	1	2
D	653	94	-	4	1
E	780	85	-	7	-

Note: The symbol '-' is assumed to mean zero occurrences.

Answer: (D) 13

Explanation

Identify the top two run-scorers and calculate their averages excluding matches with zero runs.

From the table, the total runs scored are:

A: 988 (Highest)
E: 780 (Second highest)
B: 752
D: 653
C: 409

Top two batters are Batter A and Batter E:

For Batter A (M):
Zero-run matches = 1
Scoring matches = 20 - 1 = 19
M = 988 / 19 = 52
For Batter E (N):
Zero-run matches = 0
Scoring matches = 20 - 0 = 20
N = 780 / 20 = 39

Difference:
M - N = 52 - 39 = 13

A. 11 — incorrect. Miscalculates the difference between the averages.
B. 7 — incorrect. Results from dividing Batter A by 20 rather than 19.
C. 5 — incorrect. Underestimates the difference.
D. 13 — correct. Matches 52 minus 39.

Question 4

Excluding the one match with the highest number of Runs in any one of the 20 matches and the number of matches with 50–99 Runs, what will be the average of the total number of Runs scored by Batter B in various matches, assuming that she scored a total of 402 Runs in 8 matches in the range from 50 to 99 Runs ?

Batter-wise Performance Details in 20 T20 Cricket Matches

Batter	Total Number of Runs in 20 matches	Highest Number of Runs in anyone of 20 matches	Number of Matches with 100 or more Runs	Number of Matches with 50-99 Runs	Number of Matches with Zero (0) Runs
A	988	141	5	3	1
B	752	130	1	8	2
C	409	52	-	1	2
D	653	94	-	4	1
E	780	85	-	7	-

Note: The symbol '-' is assumed to mean zero occurrences.

Answer: (A) 20

Explanation

Subtract the runs and matches for the specified excluded categories from Batter B's totals.

From the table for Batter B:

Total runs in 20 matches = 752
Highest score in 1 match = 130
Matches in 50–99 range = 8 (scoring 402 runs)

Excluded matches and runs:

Matches excluded = 1 + 8 = 9 matches
Runs excluded = 130 + 402 = 532 runs

Remaining matches and runs:

Remaining matches = 20 - 9 = 11 matches
Remaining runs = 752 - 532 = 220 runs

Average runs:
220 / 11 = 20

A. 20 — correct. 220 remaining runs across 11 remaining matches yields an average of 20.
B. 18 — incorrect. Underestimates the remaining average.
C. 22 — incorrect. Results from using an incorrect remaining match count.
D. 16 — incorrect. An arithmetic error in the division.

Question 5

The difference between the two highest total number of Runs scored by batters is _____ less than the difference between the two lowest total number of Runs scored by batters (in all the 20 matches taken together).

Batter-wise Performance Details in 20 T20 Cricket Matches

Batter	Total Number of Runs in 20 matches	Highest Number of Runs in anyone of 20 matches	Number of Matches with 100 or more Runs	Number of Matches with 50-99 Runs	Number of Matches with Zero (0) Runs
A	988	141	5	3	1
B	752	130	1	8	2
C	409	52	-	1	2
D	653	94	-	4	1
E	780	85	-	7	-

Note: The symbol '-' is assumed to mean zero occurrences.

Answer: (B) 36

Explanation

Compute the two differences from the total runs column and compare them.

Total runs in descending order:

A: 988
E: 780
B: 752
D: 653
C: 409

Two highest totals are 988 and 780:
Difference = 988 - 780 = 208

Two lowest totals are 653 and 409:
Difference = 653 - 409 = 244

Comparison:
244 - 208 = 36

A. 24 — incorrect. Calculation error in the subtraction.
B. 36 — correct. 244 minus 208 equals 36.
C. 28 — incorrect. Miscalculates the lower-pair difference.
D. 32 — incorrect. An arithmetic mistake.

Question 6
Which of the following pairs of ICT acronyms and their expansions are correctly matched ?

A. OCR – Optical Character Recognition
B. GPS – Global Positioning Sensor
C. GUI – Graphical User Interface
D. RAM – Rapid Access Memory

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AA, B and C Only
2. BB, C and D Only
3. CB and D Only
4. DA and C Only
Answer: (D) A and C Only
Explanation
Evaluate the standard acronyms and expansions used in computing:

A. OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition — correctly matched.

B. GPS stands for Global Positioning System, not Sensor — incorrectly matched.

C. GUI stands for Graphical User Interface — correctly matched.

D. RAM stands for Random Access Memory, not Rapid Access Memory — incorrectly matched.

Therefore, only statements A and C are correct.

A. A, B and C Only — incorrect. Includes GPS which expands to Global Positioning System.

B. B, C and D Only — incorrect. Includes both erroneous expansions.

C. B and D Only — incorrect. Pairs the two incorrect expansions.

D. A and C Only — correct. Identifies the two accurately defined acronyms.
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Question 7
Seymour Cray is widely celebrated as the "Father of supercomputing" because he _______.
1. Adesigned the first commercial microprocessor (the INTEL 4004) in 1971
2. Bdeveloped the first electronic, general–purpose digital computer (the ENIAC) in 1945
3. Cinvented the fundamental technologies that allow us to navigate the Internet today
4. DDesigned a series of machines that remained the fastest in the world for over three decades, roughly from 1964 to 1996
Answer: (D) Designed a series of machines that remained the fastest in the world for over three decades, roughly from 1964 to 1996
Explanation
Seymour Cray is known as the father of supercomputing for engineering the world's premier high-performance computers across three decades.

Key milestones designed by Seymour Cray:

CDC 6600 (1964) — universally regarded as the first successful commercial supercomputer

CDC 7600 (1969)

Cray-1 (1976), Cray X-MP, and Cray-2, which consistently dominated world computing speed records from the mid-1960s through the 1990s

A. designed the first commercial microprocessor (the INTEL 4004) in 1971 — incorrect. The Intel 4004 was designed by Federico Faggin, Ted Hoff, Stanley Mazor, and Masatoshi Shima.

B. developed the first electronic, general–purpose digital computer (the ENIAC) in 1945 — incorrect. ENIAC was developed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly.

C. invented the fundamental technologies that allow us to navigate the Internet today — incorrect. Refers to Internet and Web pioneers such as Vint Cerf, Bob Kahn, and Tim Berners-Lee.

D. Designed a series of machines that remained the fastest in the world for over three decades, roughly from 1964 to 1996 — correct. Accurately describes Cray's pioneering legacy in supercomputer architecture.
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Question 8
In which of the following types of fallacies, the premises of the argument are simply not relevant to the conclusion ?

A. Ad Hominem
B. False Cause
C. Hasty Generalization
D. The Red Herring

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AA and D Only
2. BB and C Only
3. CA and C Only
4. DB and D Only
Answer: (A) A and D Only
Explanation
Fallacies of relevance occur when premises lack logical connection to the conclusion they purport to establish.

Analysis of the given fallacies:

A. Ad Hominem attacks the person making the claim rather than the argument itself, making the premise logically irrelevant to the truth of the conclusion.

B. False Cause (such as post hoc ergo propter hoc) is a fallacy of causal reasoning or presumption where a causal relationship is erroneously inferred.

C. Hasty Generalization is a fallacy of defective induction where a broad conclusion is reached from an unrepresentative or insufficient sample.

D. Red Herring introduces an extraneous or misleading distraction to divert attention away from the real issue, exhibiting complete logical irrelevance.

A. A and D Only — correct. Both Ad Hominem and Red Herring are classical fallacies of relevance.

B. B and C Only — incorrect. These are fallacies of false presumption and defective induction.

C. A and C Only — incorrect. Hasty generalization involves defective inductive evidence rather than strict irrelevance.

D. B and D Only — incorrect. Conflates causal fallacies with fallacies of relevance.
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Question 9
Arrange the following substances in increasing order of their pH (lower to higher pH) values :

A. Seawater
B. Human Blood
C. Lemon Juice
D. Milk

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AD, C, A, B
2. BC, D, B, A
3. CA, D, B, C
4. DA, B, D, C
Answer: (B) C, D, B, A
Explanation
Order the substances from the most acidic (lowest pH) to the most basic (highest pH).

Typical pH values:

C. Lemon Juice: pH ~2.0 to 2.5 (strongly acidic)

D. Cow's Milk: pH ~6.5 to 6.8 (slightly acidic)

B. Human Blood: pH ~7.35 to 7.45 (slightly basic)

A. Seawater: pH ~7.8 to 8.4 (moderately basic)

Increasing order of pH:
C < D < B < A
C, D, B, A

A. D, C, A, B — incorrect. Inverts the positions of lemon juice and milk.

B. C, D, B, A — correct. Accurately arranges substances from lowest pH (~2.2) to highest pH (~8.1).

C. A, D, B, C — incorrect. Places basic seawater as the lowest pH.

D. A, B, D, C — incorrect. Inverts the sequence to descending order.
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Question 10
An institute which "serves as a pivotal player in developing highly skilled personnel within the specified region" is called :
1. APublic University
2. BPrivate Aided Institution
3. CDeemed University
4. DInstitute of National Importance
Answer: (D) Institute of National Importance
Explanation
Under statutory definitions provided by the Ministry of Education and AICTE, an Institute of National Importance (INI) is an institution established by an Act of Parliament that serves as a pivotal player in developing highly skilled personnel within the specified region of the country.

Examples include the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), and All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

A. Public University — incorrect. Refers broadly to state or central universities established by legislative acts.

B. Private Aided Institution — incorrect. Refers to privately managed institutions receiving government financial grants.

C. Deemed University — incorrect. Refers to high-performing institutions granted autonomous university status under Section 3 of the UGC Act.

D. Institute of National Importance — correct. Matches the verbatim statutory definition.
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Question 11
Arrange the areas of following shapes in descending order of their values :

A. A sphere of diameter 0.35 m
B. Curved surface of a cylinder of length 1.0 m and radius 0.2 m
C. A square of side 2.4 m
D. A circular strip of inner radius 2.5 m and outer radius 3.5 m

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AA, B, C, D
2. BC, D, B, A
3. CD, C, B, A
4. DB, A, D, C
Answer: (C) D, C, B, A
Explanation
Calculate the surface area of each geometric figure in square meters:

A. Sphere with diameter d = 0.35 m:
Surface area = pi * d^2
= pi * (0.35)^2 = 0.1225 * pi approx 0.385 sq m

B. Curved surface of cylinder with length h = 1.0 m and radius r = 0.2 m:
Area = 2 * pi * r * h
= 2 * pi * 0.2 * 1.0 = 0.4 * pi approx 1.257 sq m

C. Square with side s = 2.4 m:
Area = s^2
= (2.4)^2 = 5.76 sq m

D. Circular strip with inner radius r1 = 2.5 m and outer radius r2 = 3.5 m:
Area = pi * (r2^2 - r1^2)
= pi * (12.25 - 6.25) = 6 * pi approx 18.85 sq m

Arranging values in descending order:
18.85 (D) > 5.76 (C) > 1.257 (B) > 0.385 (A)
D, C, B, A

A. A, B, C, D — incorrect. Reverses the sequence to ascending order.

B. C, D, B, A — incorrect. Inverts C and D.

C. D, C, B, A — correct. Accurately orders ~18.85 > 5.76 > ~1.26 > ~0.38.

D. B, A, D, C — incorrect. Misplaces the cylinder surface area at the top.
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Question 12
Which of the following is the correct order of steps in a general lesson plan?

A. Recapitulation
B. Linking previous knowledge
C. Content selection
D. Formulating objectives
E. Presentation

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AE, C, B, A, D
2. BD, E, B, A, C
3. CD, C, B, E, A
4. DB, C, D, E, A
Answer: (C) D, C, B, E, A
Explanation
Follow the pedagogical sequence in standard lesson planning:

Formulating objectives (D) — Defining specific and measurable learning outcomes

Content selection (C) — Choosing relevant instructional content to fulfill those objectives

Linking previous knowledge (B) — Connecting the new material with students' existing cognitive schema

Presentation (E) — Delivering new concepts through interactive teaching activities

Recapitulation (A) — Summarizing and assessing understanding at the conclusion

Resolved sequence:
D, C, B, E, A

A. E, C, B, A, D — incorrect. Places presentation before planning and objective setting.

B. D, E, B, A, C — incorrect. Presents the lesson before selecting content or checking prior knowledge.

C. D, C, B, E, A — correct. Matches the logical instructional flow from objective formulation to recapitulation.

D. B, C, D, E, A — incorrect. Links prior knowledge before instructional objectives are defined.
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Question 13
Millennium Development Goal–4 was aimed at reducing the mortality rate among children under 5 years of age by :
1. A75%
2. B50%
3. C1/3 rd
4. D2/3 rd
Answer: (D) 2/3 rd
Explanation
United Nations Millennium Development Goal 4 (Target 4.A) set the target to reduce by two-thirds (2/3 rd), between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate.

A. 75% — incorrect. 75% (three-quarters) was the target for MDG 5 to reduce the maternal mortality ratio.

B. 50% — incorrect. Half was the target for MDG 1 regarding extreme poverty and hunger.

C. 1/3 rd — incorrect. Understates the official MDG 4 target.

D. 2/3 rd — correct. Exactly matches the two-thirds reduction target defined in Target 4.A.
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Question 14
Which fallacy is involved in the following argument ?

"All household pets are animals. No unicorns are animals. Therefore, some unicorns are not household pets"
1. AIllicit minor
2. BExistential Fallacy
3. CExclusive premises
4. DFour terms
Answer: (B) Existential Fallacy
Explanation
In modern Boolean categorical logic, drawing a particular conclusion (an I or O proposition) from two universal premises (A and E propositions) commits the Existential Fallacy.

Argument structure:

Premise 1: All household pets are animals (Universal affirmative — A)

Premise 2: No unicorns are animals (Universal negative — E)

Conclusion: Therefore, some unicorns are not household pets (Particular negative — O)

Because both premises are universal, they make no assertion regarding the actual physical existence of entities. Deriving a particular statement asserting existence commits the existential fallacy, especially highlighted here with unicorns, which do not exist in reality.

A. Illicit minor — incorrect. The minor term 'unicorns' is distributed in the negative premise (No unicorns are animals), so no distribution rule is violated.

B. Existential Fallacy — correct. Derives a particular conclusion from two universal premises.

C. Exclusive premises — incorrect. Exclusive premises requires two negative premises, but Premise 1 is affirmative.

D. Four terms — incorrect. The syllogism contains exactly three categorical terms.
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Question 15
Which of the following is/are correct ?

A. The average of the squares of first seven natural numbers = 20
B. The average of the cubes of first 5 natural numbers = 42
C. Average of first n multiples of any number = number * (n + 1)
D. Average of 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 and 25 = 13

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AA, B and C Only
2. BB, C and D Only
3. CA, C and D Only
4. DA and D Only
Answer: (D) A and D Only
Explanation
Evaluate each mathematical statement using standard summation formulas:

A. Average of squares of first 7 natural numbers:
Formula = (n + 1)(2n + 1) / 6
For n = 7: (8 * 15) / 6 = 120 / 6 = 20 — Statement A is correct.

B. Average of cubes of first 5 natural numbers:
Sum = [5 * 6 / 2]^2 = 15^2 = 225
Average = 225 / 5 = 45 — Statement B is incorrect (states 42).

C. Average of first n multiples of a number k:
Average = k * (n + 1) / 2 — Statement C is incorrect because it omits the divisor 2.

D. Average of first 13 odd numbers (1 to 25):
Average of the first k odd natural numbers equals k.
Here k = 13, so the average is 13 — Statement D is correct.

Statements A and D are correct.

A. A, B and C Only — incorrect. Statements B and C are false.

B. B, C and D Only — incorrect. Includes false statements B and C.

C. A, C and D Only — incorrect. Statement C lacks the division by 2.

D. A and D Only — correct. Accurately identifies the two true mathematical statements.
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Question 16
Which of the following statements are true ?

A. Aristotelian syllogism is deductive and formal.
B. Nyāya syllogism is deductive–inductive.
C. Nyāya philosophy regards deduction and induction as separate processes.
D. Aristotelian logic has five propositions.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AA and B Only
2. BB and C Only
3. CA and C Only
4. DB and D Only
Answer: (A) A and B Only
Explanation
Compare the foundational structures of Western Aristotelian and Indian Nyaya syllogisms:

A. Aristotelian syllogism is purely deductive and formal, validating argument forms independent of material content — true.

B. Nyaya syllogism combines both induction (empirical observation of vyapti with an illustration/udaharana) and deduction, making it deductive-inductive and material-formal — true.

C. Nyaya philosophy treats deduction and induction not as separate procedures but as intertwined aspects of a single inferential process (Anumana) — false.

D. Aristotelian syllogism consists of three propositions (major premise, minor premise, conclusion), while Nyaya contains five members (pratijna, hetu, udaharana, upanaya, nigamana) — false.

Statements A and B are true.

A. A and B Only — correct. Accurately describes the formal deductive nature of Aristotle and the integrated deductive-inductive nature of Nyaya.

B. B and C Only — incorrect. Statement C misrepresents Nyaya epistemology.

C. A and C Only — incorrect. Includes false statement C.

D. B and D Only — incorrect. Reverses proposition counts between the two traditions.
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Question 17
According to the book "The Dynamics of Mass Communication" by Dominick (1990), what are the main functions of media ?

A. Surveillance
B. Agriculture based knowledge
C. Interpretation
D. Geo–Climatic information
E. Entertainment

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AB and D Only
2. BA, B and C Only
3. CA, C and E Only
4. DB, C and D Only
Answer: (C) A, C and E Only
Explanation
In The Dynamics of Mass Communication, Joseph R. Dominick outlines the five primary social functions of mass communication:

Surveillance (warning surveillance and instrumental surveillance)

Interpretation

Linkage

Transmission of values (socialization)

Entertainment

Among the options, items A (Surveillance), C (Interpretation), and E (Entertainment) match these core functions directly.

A. B and D Only — incorrect. Specific content domains rather than foundational mass communication functions.

B. A, B and C Only — incorrect. Agriculture-based knowledge is not one of Dominick's five general functions.

C. A, C and E Only — correct. Captures the three listed functions matching Dominick's taxonomy.

D. B, C and D Only — incorrect. Omits surveillance and entertainment.
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Question 18
Choose the simple hardwares from the following used by the teacher in classroom instruction :

A. Epidiascope
B. Slide projector
C. Teaching machine
D. Television

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AA and C Only
2. BA and B Only
3. CC and D Only
4. DC and B Only
Answer: (B) A and B Only
Explanation
In educational technology, instructional hardware is categorized into simple and complex devices:

Simple hardware includes non-electronic optical projection aids like the epidiascope (opaque projector) and slide projector, which are straightforward optical mechanical tools requiring minimal setup.

Complex hardware includes electronic programmed learning machines (teaching machines), televisions, and computers, which require sophisticated electronic circuitry and programmed software instruction.

Epidiascope (A) and Slide projector (B) are simple hardwares.

A. A and C Only — incorrect. Teaching machine is complex hardware.

B. A and B Only — correct. Both epidiascope and slide projector represent optical simple hardware.

C. C and D Only — incorrect. Both represent complex hardware.

D. C and B Only — incorrect. Combines simple and complex hardware.
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Question 19
Arrange the following Green House Gases according to their relative contributions to atmospheric temperature rise (total global warming) in ascending order :

A. Carbon dioxide
B. Chlorofluorocarbons
C. Methane
D. Nitrous Oxide

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AB, D, C, A
2. BD, B, C, A
3. CD, C, B, A
4. DC, D, B, A
Answer: (B) D, B, C, A
Explanation
Rank greenhouse gases by their overall percentage contribution to anthropogenic global warming:

Relative contributions:

D. Nitrous Oxide (N2O): ~6%

B. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs / halocarbons): ~10% to 12%

C. Methane (CH4): ~16% to 20%

A. Carbon dioxide (CO2): ~60% to 70%

Ascending order of global warming contribution:
D < B < C < A
D, B, C, A

A. B, D, C, A — incorrect. Misplaces CFCs below nitrous oxide.

B. D, B, C, A — correct. Accurately orders ~6% (N2O) < ~10-12% (CFCs) < ~18% (CH4) < ~65% (CO2).

C. D, C, B, A — incorrect. Inverts methane and CFCs.

D. C, D, B, A — incorrect. Places methane as the lowest contributor.
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Question 20

Match List-I with List-II.

List-I (Communication Theory)	List-II (Coined / Developed / Formulated By)
A. Cognitive Dissonance	I. Denis McQuail
B. The Cultivation	II. Maxwell McCombs and Donald L. Shaw
C. Agenda Setting	III. George Gerbner
D. Democratic–Participant Media	IV. L.A. Festinger

AA-IV, B-III, C-II, D-I
BA-I, B-II, C-III, D-IV
CA-III, B-IV, C-I, D-II
DA-II, B-I, C-IV, D-III

Answer: (A) A-IV, B-III, C-II, D-I

Explanation

Match each communication theory with its originator:

A-IV, B-III, C-II, D-I

A. Cognitive Dissonance was formulated by Leon Festinger (IV) in 1957.
B. Cultivation Theory was developed by George Gerbner (III) to study long-term television effects.
C. Agenda Setting Theory was established by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw (II) in 1972.
D. Democratic-Participant Media Theory was proposed by Denis McQuail (I) as an alternative normative media theory.
A. A-IV, B-III, C-II, D-I — correct. All four theoretical pairings match accurately.
B. A-I, B-II, C-III, D-IV — incorrect. Mismatches Festinger with Democratic-Participant theory.
C. A-III, B-IV, C-I, D-II — incorrect. Attributes Cognitive Dissonance to Gerbner.
D. A-II, B-I, C-IV, D-III — incorrect. Mismatches McCombs and Shaw with Cognitive Dissonance.

Question 21
Prior to NEP (2020), which act laid down legal underpinnings for achieving universal elementary education ?
1. ARight to Education Act (2003)
2. BRight of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (2009)
3. CRight of Children to Compulsory Education Act (2000)
4. DRight of all Indians to Free and Compulsory Education Act (2010)
Answer: (B) Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (2009)
Explanation
The landmark legislative enactment providing legal underpinnings for universal elementary education is the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act, 2009).

Enacted under Article 21A of the Indian Constitution, it guarantees free and compulsory education for all children aged 6 to 14 years across the nation.

A. Right to Education Act (2003) — incorrect. Inaccurate year of legislative enactment.

B. Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (2009) — correct. Matches the full official statutory title of the RTE Act passed in 2009.

C. Right of Children to Compulsory Education Act (2000) — incorrect. Omits 'Free' and cites an incorrect year.

D. Right of all Indians to Free and Compulsory Education Act (2010) — incorrect. 2010 is the year of implementation, but the title and statutory phrasing are inaccurate.
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Question 22
According to Bloom's Taxonomy, what are the three domains of Learning ?
1. ATranslation, Interpretation, Extrapolation
2. BInterpretation, Communication, Evaluation
3. CAffective, Psychomotor, Cognitive
4. DLearners, Content, Teaching Methods
Answer: (C) Affective, Psychomotor, Cognitive
Explanation
Benjamin Bloom and his committee established three distinct domains of educational activities and learning outcomes:

Cognitive Domain — mental skills and knowledge processing

Affective Domain — growth in feelings, values, attitudes, and emotional areas

Psychomotor Domain — manual, physical, and motor skills

A. Translation, Interpretation, Extrapolation — incorrect. These are subcategories of comprehension within the cognitive domain.

B. Interpretation, Communication, Evaluation — incorrect. Represents general intellectual processes rather than domains.

C. Affective, Psychomotor, Cognitive — correct. Accurately names the three foundational educational domains of Bloom's taxonomy.

D. Learners, Content, Teaching Methods — incorrect. Represents components of the instructional system.
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Question 23
As per NEP 2020, an Autonomous Degree-granting College is an institution that :

A. grants undergraduate degrees
B. is a co–educational one
C. has a good canteen
D. is mainly focused on undergraduate teaching
E. is smaller than a typical university

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AB, C and D Only
2. BA, B and E Only
3. CA, D and E Only
4. DC, D and E Only
Answer: (C) A, D and E Only
Explanation
NEP 2020 defines an Autonomous Degree-granting College (AC) as a large multidisciplinary higher education institution that grants undergraduate degrees, is primarily focused on undergraduate teaching, and generally is smaller than a typical university.

Evaluating the statements against the policy document:

A. Grants undergraduate degrees — explicitly stated in the policy definition.

B. Is a co-educational one — not a defining statutory condition of autonomous colleges.

C. Has a good canteen — irrelevant infrastructure detail not part of policy definitions.

D. Is mainly focused on undergraduate teaching — explicitly stated in the policy definition.

E. Is smaller than a typical university — explicitly stated in the policy definition.

Statements A, D and E are correct.

A. B, C and D Only — incorrect. Includes non-statutory items B and C.

B. A, B and E Only — incorrect. Includes co-educational status as a requirement.

C. A, D and E Only — correct. Accurately captures the three defining characteristics specified in NEP 2020.

D. C, D and E Only — incorrect. Includes the canteen distractor.
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Question 24
Match List-I with List-II.

List-I (Hardware / Software) List-II (Description)

A. CPU I. System Software

B. Windows–11 II. Brain of the Computer

C. Safari III. Network Traffic Device

D. Router IV. Web Browser
1. AA-III, B-IV, C-II, D-I
2. BA-II, B-I, C-IV, D-III
3. CA-IV, B-II, C-III, D-I
4. DA-II, B-III, C-I, D-IV
Answer: (B) A-II, B-I, C-IV, D-III
Explanation
Match each computing component with its primary definition:

A-II, B-I, C-IV, D-III

A. CPU (Central Processing Unit) executes instructions and coordinates computer functions as the Brain of the Computer (II).

B. Windows-11 is an operating system classified as System Software (I).

C. Safari is an application program used as a Web Browser (IV).

D. Router routes data packets across computer networks as a Network Traffic Device (III).

A. A-III, B-IV, C-II, D-I — incorrect. Mismatches CPU with network traffic device.

B. A-II, B-I, C-IV, D-III — correct. All four functional definitions match precisely.

C. A-IV, B-II, C-III, D-I — incorrect. Mismatches CPU with web browser.

D. A-II, B-III, C-I, D-IV — incorrect. Inaccurately classifies Windows-11 as a network device.
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Question 25
In pre–colonial India, Higher Education was taught in these languages :

A. Arabic
B. Punjabi
C. Persian
D. Hindi
E. Sanskrit

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AA, B and C Only
2. BB, C and D Only
3. CA, C and E Only
4. DB, D and E Only
Answer: (C) A, C and E Only
Explanation
In pre-colonial India, higher learning in traditional institutions (such as Tols, Chatuspathis, and Madrasas) was conducted through classical languages of scholarship:

E. Sanskrit was the medium for Hindu theological, philosophical, mathematical, and medical higher learning in Tols and Chatuspathis.

A. Arabic was the medium of religious, legal, and theological higher instruction in Madrasas.

C. Persian served as the court language, administrative medium, and language of secular literature and scholarship across Islamic centers of learning.

Vernacular regional languages such as Punjabi (B) and Hindi (D) were widely spoken and used in elementary pathshalas but were not the recognized classical media of formal higher scholarly discourse.

A. A, B and C Only — incorrect. Includes regional vernacular Punjabi.

B. B, C and D Only — incorrect. Includes regional vernaculars while omitting classical Sanskrit.

C. A, C and E Only — correct. Accurately identifies the three classical languages of higher scholarship in pre-colonial India.

D. B, D and E Only — incorrect. Omits Arabic and Persian while including regional vernaculars.
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Question 26
A researcher divided subjects (participants) into two groups according to gender and then selected members from each group for her sample. What sampling method was the researcher using ?
1. ACluster
2. BStratified
3. CRandom
4. DSystematic
Answer: (B) Stratified
Explanation
Dividing a population into mutually exclusive subgroups (strata) based on an identified characteristic (such as gender) and then sampling participants from each stratum defines Stratified Sampling.

A. Cluster — incorrect. Involves selecting naturally occurring clusters (such as schools or districts) rather than dividing by personal attributes.

B. Stratified — correct. Accurately describes dividing the population into strata and sampling from within each stratum.

C. Random — incorrect. Simple random sampling gives every individual an equal probability without prior division into strata.

D. Systematic — incorrect. Involves selecting every k-th member from an ordered list.
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Question 27

Match List-I with List-II.

List-I (Fallacy)	List-II (Reason)
A. Sādhāraṇa	I. The middle term is non–exclusive.
B. Svarūpāsiddha	II. The middle term is too wide.
C. Asādhāraṇa	III. The minor term is not real.
D. Anupsamhari	IV. The middle term is too narrow.

AA-II, B-III, C-IV, D-I
BA-IV, B-I, C-II, D-III
CA-IV, B-II, C-I, D-III
DA-III, B-II, C-I, D-IV

Answer: (A) A-II, B-III, C-IV, D-I

Explanation

Match the Nyaya fallacies of the middle term (hetvabhasa) with their characteristic descriptions:

A-II, B-III, C-IV, D-I

A. Sadharana (common/too wide) occurs when the middle term is too wide, being present in both positive and negative instances (II).
B. Svarupasiddha pairs in this classification with the defect where the minor term is not real (III).
C. Asadharana (uncommon/too narrow) occurs when the middle term exists only in the subject and nowhere else, making it too narrow (IV).
D. Anupsamhari (all-inclusive/inconclusive) occurs when the middle term is non-exclusive because the minor term embraces all things (I).
A. A-II, B-III, C-IV, D-I — correct. Accurately links all four Nyaya fallacy categories.
B. A-IV, B-I, C-II, D-III — incorrect. Mismatches Sadharana as too narrow instead of too wide.
C. A-IV, B-II, C-I, D-III — incorrect. Confuses Sadharana and Asadharana.
D. A-III, B-II, C-I, D-IV — incorrect. Pairs Sadharana with an unproved minor.

Question 28
Arrange the following models of communication, chronologically as per their year of introduction, starting from the earliest :

A. Westley and Maclean
B. Osgood
C. Harold D. Lasswell
D. George Gerbner
E. Theodore M. Newcomb

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AC, E, B, D, A
2. BA, B, C, D, E
3. CE, D, C, B, A
4. DD, B, A, C, E
Answer: (A) C, E, B, D, A
Explanation
Arrange the foundational communication models chronologically by their year of introduction:

C. Harold D. Lasswell: 1948 (Lasswell's 5 Ws model)

E. Theodore M. Newcomb: 1953 (Newcomb's ABX model)

B. Charles E. Osgood: 1954 (Osgood-Schramm circular model)

D. George Gerbner: 1956 (Gerbner's general communication model)

A. Westley and MacLean: 1957 (Westley-MacLean model)

Chronological sequence:
C, E, B, D, A

A. C, E, B, D, A — correct. Accurately orders 1948 -> 1953 -> 1954 -> 1956 -> 1957.

B. A, B, C, D, E — incorrect. Alphabetical order rather than historical chronology.

C. E, D, C, B, A — incorrect. Reverses parts of the chronology.

D. D, B, A, C, E — incorrect. Places Gerbner (1956) ahead of Lasswell (1948).
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Question 29
Which of the following are not the methods for "in–situ" conservation of Biodiversity ?

A. Zoo
B. National Park
C. Botanical Garden
D. Seed Bank
E. Wildlife Sanctuary

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AA, C and E Only
2. BB, C and E Only
3. CB and D Only
4. DA, C and D Only
Answer: (D) A, C and D Only
Explanation
Identify ex-situ (off-site) conservation methods, which are not in-situ (on-site):

In-situ conservation protects species in their natural habitats: National Parks (B) and Wildlife Sanctuaries (E).

Ex-situ conservation conserves components of biological diversity outside their natural habitats: Zoos (A), Botanical Gardens (C), and Seed Banks (D).

Therefore, A, C, and D are not in-situ methods.

A. A, C and E Only — incorrect. Wildlife sanctuary is an in-situ method.

B. B, C and E Only — incorrect. National parks and wildlife sanctuaries are in-situ.

C. B and D Only — incorrect. National park is in-situ while seed bank is ex-situ.

D. A, C and D Only — correct. Accurately identifies the three ex-situ conservation methods.
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Question 30
Standard deviation (S) and Mean of Squares (MS) of positive numerical values for four different populations P, Q, R and S are given in A–D below. Compute the coefficient of variation (expressed as a percentage) of these four populations and arrange them in ascending order :

A. Population P: S = 12, MS = 1044
B. Population Q: S = 9, MS = 981
C. Population R: S = 20, MS = 2000
D. Population S: S = 10, MS = 2600

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AB, D, C, A
2. BD, B, A, C
3. CC, A, B, D
4. DD, C, A, B
Answer: (B) D, B, A, C
Explanation
Compute the mean and coefficient of variation (CV) for each population using Variance = MS - (Mean)^2:

For Population P:
Mean^2 = 1044 - 12^2 = 1044 - 144 = 900
Mean = 30
CV_P = (12 / 30) * 100 = 40%

For Population Q:
Mean^2 = 981 - 9^2 = 981 - 81 = 900
Mean = 30
CV_Q = (9 / 30) * 100 = 30%

For Population R:
Mean^2 = 2000 - 20^2 = 2000 - 400 = 1600
Mean = 40
CV_R = (20 / 40) * 100 = 50%

For Population S:
Mean^2 = 2600 - 10^2 = 2600 - 100 = 2500
Mean = 50
CV_S = (10 / 50) * 100 = 20%

Ascending order of CV:
20% (D) < 30% (B) < 40% (A) < 50% (C)
D, B, A, C

A. B, D, C, A — incorrect. Misplaces Population B before Population D.

B. D, B, A, C — correct. Accurately orders 20% < 30% < 40% < 50%.

C. C, A, B, D — incorrect. Orders from highest to lowest rather than ascending.

D. D, C, A, B — incorrect. Misplaces Population C.
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Question 31
In the context of computers, which of the following statements A–D are true ?

A. CPU stands for Computer Processing Unit and Control Unit is part of CPU.
B. Solid State Drive (SSD) is a fast storage device that uses flash memory and has no moving parts.
C. Hard Disk Drive (HDD) is a storage device that uses spinning disks to store and retrieve data.
D. A touch screen is a unique device that functions as both an input and output device.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AB, C and D Only
2. BA, C and D Only
3. CA and B Only
4. DA, B, C, D
Answer: (A) B, C and D Only
Explanation
Evaluate each computer hardware statement:

A. CPU stands for Central Processing Unit, not Computer Processing Unit — false.

B. Solid State Drives (SSDs) use non-volatile flash memory with no moving parts — true.

C. Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) use spinning magnetic platters and read/write heads — true.

D. Touch screens display visual output and capture touch input, operating as hybrid input-output devices — true.

Statements B, C and D are true.

A. B, C and D Only — correct. Identifies the three accurate hardware descriptions while excluding the flawed CPU expansion.

B. A, C and D Only — incorrect. Includes statement A with its incorrect expansion of CPU.

C. A and B Only — incorrect. Includes statement A and omits true statements C and D.

D. A, B, C, D — incorrect. Statement A is false.
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Question 32
"Communication does not consist of the transmission of meaning. Meanings are not transmitted or transferable. Only messages are transmitted and meanings are not in the message, they are in the message users." Who has made the above statement ?
1. ADenis McQuail
2. BRaymond Williams
3. CBerlo
4. DHarlod D. Lasswell
Answer: (C) Berlo
Explanation
David K. Berlo formulated this core principle in his seminal work The Process of Communication (1960).

Berlo emphasized that meanings are personal and internal to the individual participants in a communication exchange, stating that words and messages transmit symbols, but the interpretation and meaning reside within the users themselves.

A. Denis McQuail — incorrect. Known for mass communication theory and media performance models.

B. Raymond Williams — incorrect. Pioneered cultural studies and communications in Britain.

C. Berlo — correct. David Berlo famously asserted that meanings are in people, not in messages.

D. Harlod D. Lasswell — incorrect. Formulated the linear transmission formula (Who says what...).
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Question 33
A pictorial presentation to show the structure of communication process in which various elements are linked; is known as _______.
1. ATheory
2. BPress Conference
3. CModel
4. DPropaganda
Answer: (C) Model
Explanation
A visual or diagrammatic representation depicting the structure, interrelated components, and flow of the communication process is called a communication Model.

Prominent examples include the Shannon-Weaver mathematical model, Lasswell's model, and the Berlo SMCR model.

A. Theory — incorrect. A systematic set of conceptual principles explaining phenomena, not specifically a pictorial schema.

B. Press Conference — incorrect. An event where newsmakers make public statements and answer questions.

C. Model — correct. Defines a structured pictorial representation of process elements.

D. Propaganda — incorrect. Information disseminated to manipulate public opinion.
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Question 34
Which of the following are key features of positivist approach to research ?

A. Reliance on qualitative techniques
B. Hypothetico–Deductive Model
C. Replicability
D. Subjective Analysis/Interpretation

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AB and C Only
2. BC and D Only
3. CA and D Only
4. DA and B Only
Answer: (A) B and C Only
Explanation
Positivism adheres to the scientific paradigm characterized by quantitative measurement, objective observation, empirical verification, and value neutrality:

B. Hypothetico-Deductive Model: Formulating testable hypotheses derived from theory and subjecting them to empirical testing is central to positivism.

C. Replicability: Achieving consistent findings under repeated experimental or observational conditions is a core standard of positivist research.

In contrast, qualitative techniques (A) and subjective interpretation (D) are foundational to interpretivism, constructivism, and post-positivist qualitative paradigms.

A. B and C Only — correct. Both the hypothetico-deductive model and replicability are hallmarks of positivism.

B. C and D Only — incorrect. Positivism rejects subjective interpretation.

C. A and D Only — incorrect. Qualitative techniques and subjective analysis belong to interpretivist paradigms.

D. A and B Only — incorrect. Combines qualitative methods with the hypothetico-deductive model.
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Question 35
Find the number that can replace the question mark (?) in the series given below :

1, 3/2, 2, 5/2, 3, 7/2, ?
1. A5
2. B6
3. C7
4. D4
Answer: (D) 4
Explanation
Determine the common difference between consecutive terms in the numerical series:

Expressing each term with a common denominator of 2:

1 = 2/2

3/2

2 = 4/2

5/2

3 = 6/2

7/2

The sequence increases by 1/2 (0.5) at every step:
Next term = 7/2 + 1/2 = 8/2 = 4

A. 5 — incorrect. Skips ahead by two full units.

B. 6 — incorrect. Far exceeds the step increment.

C. 7 — incorrect. Confuses the numerator 7 with the next integer value.

D. 4 — correct. 7/2 + 1/2 equals 8/2, which simplifies to 4.
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Question 36

Match List-I with List-II.

List-I (Researcher Type)	List-II (Description)
A. Ethnographic	I. Solves immediate problems in a specific setting, often collaboratively (e.g., improving classroom management)
B. Fundamental	II. Seeks to understand cultures and communities in their natural setting through immersion, often empolying qualitative methods.
C. Action	III. Focuses on collecting and analyzing numerical data to describe, predict, or control variables of interest
D. Quantitative	IV. Primarily aims to test existing theories or build new ones

AA-III, B-IV, C-I, D-II
BA-IV, B-I, C-II, D-III
CA-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III
DA-III, B-I, C-IV, D-II

Answer: (C) A-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III

Explanation

Match each research methodology with its core definition:

A-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III

A. Ethnographic research seeks to understand cultures and communities in natural settings through participant observation and immersion (II).
B. Fundamental (basic/pure) research aims primarily to expand knowledge, test existing theories, or formulate new generalizable theories (IV).
C. Action research focuses on diagnosing and solving immediate practical problems in specific local settings (I).
D. Quantitative research collects and analyzes numerical data to identify patterns, describe trends, or test variable relationships (III).
A. A-III, B-IV, C-I, D-II — incorrect. Mismatches ethnographic research with numerical data collection.
B. A-IV, B-I, C-II, D-III — incorrect. Mismatches ethnographic research with theory testing.
C. A-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III — correct. All four research methodology descriptions match accurately.
D. A-III, B-I, C-IV, D-II — incorrect. Confuses quantitative and fundamental research definitions.

Question 37
Match List-I with List-II.

List-I (Diseases) List-II (Vector)

A. Malaria I. Phlebotomus argentipes

B. Dengue II. Anopheles mosquito (female)

C. Encephalitis III. Aedes Aegypti

D. Kala–azar IV. Culex
1. AA-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III
2. BA-II, B-III, C-IV, D-I
3. CA-III, B-II, C-IV, D-I
4. DA-III, B-I, C-IV, D-II
Answer: (B) A-II, B-III, C-IV, D-I
Explanation
Match each vector-borne disease with its transmission vector:

A-II, B-III, C-IV, D-I

A. Malaria is transmitted by the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito (II).

B. Dengue fever is transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes (III).

C. Japanese Encephalitis is transmitted by Culex mosquitoes (IV).

D. Kala-azar (visceral leishmaniasis) is transmitted by Phlebotomus argentipes sandflies (I).

A. A-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III — incorrect. Mismatches Dengue with Culex.

B. A-II, B-III, C-IV, D-I — correct. Accurately pairs all four vector-borne diseases with their respective vectors.

C. A-III, B-II, C-IV, D-I — incorrect. Inaccurately links Malaria with Aedes.

D. A-III, B-I, C-IV, D-II — incorrect. Mismatches vectors across all four diseases.
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Question 38
Two students contested in an election in a college. one of the students got 65% of the total valid votes. There were 15% invalid votes. If there were 18000 total votes, find the number of valid votes got by the other student.
1. A5355
2. B5500
3. C5300
4. D5450
Answer: (A) 5355
Explanation
Calculate the valid vote count and determine the share received by the second student:

Total votes cast = 18000
Percentage of invalid votes = 15%
Percentage of valid votes = 100% - 15% = 85%

Total valid votes:
0.85 * 18000 = 15300

The winning student received 65% of valid votes, meaning the other student received:
100% - 65% = 35% of valid votes

Valid votes won by the other student:
0.35 * 15300 = 5355

A. 5355 — correct. 35% of 15300 valid votes equals exactly 5355.

B. 5500 — incorrect. Approximates without applying the exact 85% valid ratio.

C. 5300 — incorrect. An arithmetic error in computing the 35% share.

D. 5450 — incorrect. Miscalculates the invalid vote reduction.
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Question 39
In a certain code language 'DEVELOPMENT' is written as 'CFUFKPONDOS'. How 'REVOLUTION' shall be coded in that language ?
1. AQFUKPVJSNO
2. BQFKUPVJSNO
3. CQFUPKVSJNO
4. DQFPUKSVNJO
Answer: (C) QFUPKVSJNO
Explanation
Determine the letter-by-letter shifting pattern between DEVELOPMENT and CFUFKPONDOS:

Comparing letter positions:

D (-1) -> C

E (+1) -> F

V (-1) -> U

E (+1) -> F

L (-1) -> K

O (+1) -> P

P (-1) -> O

M (+1) -> N

E (-1) -> D

N (+1) -> O

T (-1) -> S

The cipher alternates subtracting 1 and adding 1 to successive letter positions.

Applying the alternating [-1, +1] pattern to REVOLUTION:

R (-1) -> Q

E (+1) -> F

V (-1) -> U

O (+1) -> P

L (-1) -> K

U (+1) -> V

T (-1) -> S

I (+1) -> J

O (-1) -> N

N (+1) -> O

Encoded word: QFUPKVSJNO

A. QFUKPVJSNO — incorrect. Inverts the 4th and 5th letters.

B. QFKUPVJSNO — incorrect. Transposes K and U in the middle positions.

C. QFUPKVSJNO — correct. Accurately applies the alternating [-1, +1] transformation.

D. QFPUKSVNJO — incorrect. Scrambles letter pairings throughout.
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Question 40
Identify the correct order of the digital communication "Platforms" (A–D) based on the "Actions" (I–IV) given below :

I. "I am attending a live department meeting and sharing my screen."
II. "I am writing a 1000–word tutorial on how to bake bread."
III. "I am updating my work experience to attract new recruiters."
IV. "I am posting a 200–characters thought on a trending news story."

Platforms:
A. Twitter(X)
B. Blog
C. MS–Teams
D. LinkedIn

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AC, B, D, A
2. BD, C, A, B
3. CA, D, B, C
4. DB, A, C, D
Answer: (A) C, B, D, A
Explanation
Pair each described user action with its matching digital platform:

Action I describes real-time video conferencing and screen sharing during a departmental meeting — C (MS-Teams)

Action II describes publishing long-form written tutorial content — B (Blog)

Action III describes showcasing professional history and career credentials to prospective recruiters — D (LinkedIn)

Action IV describes publishing short-form microblog commentary on breaking news — A (Twitter/X)

Sequence matching Actions I, II, III, IV:
C, B, D, A

A. C, B, D, A — correct. Accurately pairs each communicative action with its standard platform.

B. D, C, A, B — incorrect. Inaccurately links departmental meetings with LinkedIn.

C. A, D, B, C — incorrect. Starts with Twitter for meeting collaboration.

D. B, A, C, D — incorrect. Associates meeting collaboration with blogging.
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Question 41
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016 defines Inclusive Education as a system of education wherein :

A. Disabled students are arranged in separate classrooms.
B. Students with and without disabilities learn together
C. Different curricula are prescribed for learners with and without disabilities
D. System of teaching and learning is suitably adapted to meet the learning needs of different types of students with disabilities

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AA, B and C Only
2. BB and C Only
3. CC and D Only
4. DB and D Only
Answer: (D) B and D Only
Explanation
Under Section 2(m) of the RPwD Act, 2016, inclusive education is explicitly defined as a system of education wherein students with and without disabilities learn together and the system of teaching and learning is suitably adapted to meet the learning needs of different types of students with disabilities.

Evaluating the options:

B and D reflect the exact statutory principles of joint learning and adaptive pedagogical accommodation.

A (segregated classrooms) and C (separate segregated curricula) represent segregation rather than inclusive education.

Statements B and D are correct.

A. A, B and C Only — incorrect. Segregated classrooms contradict inclusive education principles.

B. B and C Only — incorrect. Prescribing separate curricula is contrary to inclusive pedagogy.

C. C and D Only — incorrect. Retains the flawed separate curricula statement.

D. B and D Only — correct. Accurately quotes the statutory definition of inclusive education in the RPwD Act, 2016.
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Question 42
Which of the following statements are true ?

A. A necessary condition for an event refers to a circumstance in whose absence the event cannot occur.
B. A sufficient condition for an event is a circumstance in whose presence the event must occur.
C. A necessary condition for an event is a circumstance in whose presence the event must occur.
D. A sufficient condition for an event refers to a circumstance in whose absence the event cannot occur.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1. AB and C Only
2. BB Only
3. CC and D Only
4. DA and B Only
Answer: (D) A and B Only
Explanation
Apply the formal philosophical definitions of necessary and sufficient conditions:

A. A necessary condition is a requirement that must be satisfied for an event to occur — without it, the event cannot occur — Statement A is true.

B. A sufficient condition is a state of affairs that guarantees the occurrence of the event — whenever it is present, the event must occur — Statement B is true.

C. Statement C mistakenly attributes the definition of sufficiency to necessity — Statement C is false.

D. Statement D mistakenly attributes the definition of necessity to sufficiency — Statement D is false.

Statements A and B are true.

A. B and C Only — incorrect. Statement C misdefines necessary conditions.

B. B Only — incorrect. Fails to recognize the validity of statement A.

C. C and D Only — incorrect. Both definitions in C and D are reversed.

D. A and B Only — correct. Accurately identifies the foundational logical definitions of necessity and sufficiency.
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Question 43
In IQ Test measure, what are the different aspects of intelligence?

A. Verbal Intelligence
B. Emotional Intelligence
C. Numerical Intelligence
D. Linguistic Intelligence
E. Spatial Intelligence

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
1. AB, D and E only
2. BA and C only
3. CB, C and D only
4. DA, C and E only
Answer: (D) A, C and E only
Explanation
Traditional psychometric IQ tests (such as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and Stanford-Binet) measure cognitive abilities structured around three core dimensions:

Verbal Intelligence (A) — comprehension, vocabulary, and verbal reasoning

Numerical Intelligence (C) — quantitative reasoning, arithmetic, and working memory

Spatial Intelligence (E) — visual puzzles, block design, and matrix reasoning

Emotional intelligence (B) is evaluated through separate emotional quotient (EQ) scales rather than standard cognitive IQ tests.

A. B, D and E only — incorrect. Includes emotional intelligence which is not part of standard IQ measures.

B. A and C only — incorrect. Incomplete as it omits spatial intelligence.

C. B, C and D only — incorrect. Includes emotional intelligence.

D. A, C and E only — correct. Accurately captures the three foundational cognitive domains assessed on IQ tests.
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Question 44

Match List-I with List-II.

List-I (Learning Structures)	List-II (Teaching Tactics)
A. Signal Learning	I. Provide opportunity for practice
B. Chain Learning	II. Make students to see similarities and dissimilarities among stimuli
C. Multiple discrimination Learning	III. Ignore incorrect response and reinforce correct one
D. Concept Learning	IV. Asking students to give examples

AA-IV, B-III, C-II, D-I
BA-III, B-I, C-II, D-IV
CA-I, B-II, C-III, D-IV
DA-II, B-III, C-IV, D-I

Answer: (B) A-III, B-I, C-II, D-IV

Explanation

Match Robert Gagné's hierarchical conditions of learning with their corresponding instructional teaching tactics:

A-III, B-I, C-II, D-IV

A. Signal Learning (classical conditioning) involves conditioning stimulus-response pairings by ignoring incorrect responses and reinforcing correct ones (III).
B. Chain Learning (connecting a sequence of motor or verbal responses) requires repeated rehearsal and opportunity for practice (I).
C. Multiple Discrimination Learning requires learners to distinguish among similar stimuli by identifying similarities and dissimilarities (II).
D. Concept Learning involves abstracting common properties and identifying class members by asking students to give examples and non-examples (IV).
A. A-IV, B-III, C-II, D-I — incorrect. Mismatches signal learning with giving examples.
B. A-III, B-I, C-II, D-IV — correct. All four Gagné learning structures match their pedagogical tactics.
C. A-I, B-II, C-III, D-IV — incorrect. Misaligns signal learning with practice.
D. A-II, B-III, C-IV, D-I — incorrect. Confuses multiple discrimination with signal learning.

Question 45
Match List-I with List-II, according to School Education (NEP 2020) :

List-I (Education level) List-II (Age group)

A. SECONDARY I. 3–8 years

B. MIDDLE II. 8–11 years

C. PREPARATORY III. 14–18 years

D. FOUNDATIONAL IV. 11–14 years
1. AA-I, B-II, C-III, D-IV
2. BA-IV, B-III, C-II, D-I
3. CA-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III
4. DA-III, B-IV, C-II, D-I
Answer: (D) A-III, B-IV, C-II, D-I
Explanation
Match each curricular stage of NEP 2020's 5+3+3+4 pedagogical structure with its corresponding age group:

A-III, B-IV, C-II, D-I

D. Foundational Stage (5 years: 3 years preschool/Anganwadi + Grades 1-2): Ages 3 to 8 years (I)

C. Preparatory Stage (3 years: Grades 3-5): Ages 8 to 11 years (II)

B. Middle Stage (3 years: Grades 6-8): Ages 11 to 14 years (IV)

A. Secondary Stage (4 years: Grades 9-12): Ages 14 to 18 years (III)

A. A-I, B-II, C-III, D-IV — incorrect. Inverts secondary and foundational age brackets.

B. A-IV, B-III, C-II, D-I — incorrect. Mismatches secondary with ages 11-14.

C. A-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III — incorrect. Misplaces foundational and preparatory stages.

D. A-III, B-IV, C-II, D-I — correct. Matches all four school education stages defined in NEP 2020.
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Question 46
More than fifty percent of the neurons in the cortex are dedicated to :
Our perception of the world is direct, immediate, and effortless, and there is no hint of any intervening operations taking place in the brain. The apparent simplicity of a perception is reinforced by the fact that our perceptions are always accurate. We rarely make mistakes when identifying people by their face or voice or in judging how hot a cup of tea is or in navigating a flight of steps. Moreover, our own perceptions nearly always agree with those of other people. Sounds, sights and smells seem to be "out there" in the world, not constructed in our head.

Despite appearances to the contrary, our perceptual world is constructed in the brain by a huge mass of neurons performing complex, but hidden, operations. Three observations hint at the complexity of the brain processes involved in perception. First, a large proportion of the brain's most highly developed structure, the cerebral cortex, is devoted entirely to perception. Vision alone consumes over half of the neurons in the cortex. Second, despite the complexity and power of modern computer technology, computer scientists have not yet succeeded in building general–purpose systems with the perceptual proficiency of even an infant. Third, as a result of brain damage through injury or disease, a small number of unfortunate individuals suffer deficits in their perceptual capabilities.
1. AEmotions
2. BInjury
3. CPerception
4. DVision
Answer: (D) Vision
Explanation
The passage explicitly highlights the extensive neural resources consumed by visual processing:

"Vision alone consumes over half of the neurons in the cortex."

Because over half is greater than fifty percent, vision is the dedicated cognitive function.

A. Emotions — incorrect. Emotional processing is not mentioned in the passage.

B. Injury — incorrect. Injury is cited as a cause of brain damage and perceptual deficits.

C. Perception — incorrect. While the cerebral cortex is largely devoted to perception as a whole, the specific function consuming over half of its neurons is vision.

D. Vision — correct. Directly matches the passage statement that vision consumes over half the cortical neurons.
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Question 47
The structure of the brain that is highly developed, is called the :
Our perception of the world is direct, immediate, and effortless, and there is no hint of any intervening operations taking place in the brain. The apparent simplicity of a perception is reinforced by the fact that our perceptions are always accurate. We rarely make mistakes when identifying people by their face or voice or in judging how hot a cup of tea is or in navigating a flight of steps. Moreover, our own perceptions nearly always agree with those of other people. Sounds, sights and smells seem to be "out there" in the world, not constructed in our head.

Despite appearances to the contrary, our perceptual world is constructed in the brain by a huge mass of neurons performing complex, but hidden, operations. Three observations hint at the complexity of the brain processes involved in perception. First, a large proportion of the brain's most highly developed structure, the cerebral cortex, is devoted entirely to perception. Vision alone consumes over half of the neurons in the cortex. Second, despite the complexity and power of modern computer technology, computer scientists have not yet succeeded in building general–purpose systems with the perceptual proficiency of even an infant. Third, as a result of brain damage through injury or disease, a small number of unfortunate individuals suffer deficits in their perceptual capabilities.
1. Aneuron
2. Bcerebral cortex
3. Cvision
4. Dperceptual proficiency
Answer: (B) cerebral cortex
Explanation
The passage directly identifies the cerebral cortex as the brain's most evolved anatomical structure:

"First, a large proportion of the brain's most highly developed structure, the cerebral cortex, is devoted entirely to perception."

A. neuron — incorrect. Neurons are the individual cellular building blocks, not the brain structure referenced.

B. cerebral cortex — correct. Verbatim passage identification of the most highly developed brain structure.

C. vision — incorrect. Vision is a sensory modality, not a brain structure.

D. perceptual proficiency — incorrect. Refers to cognitive capability rather than an anatomical organ structure.
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Question 48
According to the passage, General–purpose computer systems do NOT have :
Our perception of the world is direct, immediate, and effortless, and there is no hint of any intervening operations taking place in the brain. The apparent simplicity of a perception is reinforced by the fact that our perceptions are always accurate. We rarely make mistakes when identifying people by their face or voice or in judging how hot a cup of tea is or in navigating a flight of steps. Moreover, our own perceptions nearly always agree with those of other people. Sounds, sights and smells seem to be "out there" in the world, not constructed in our head.

Despite appearances to the contrary, our perceptual world is constructed in the brain by a huge mass of neurons performing complex, but hidden, operations. Three observations hint at the complexity of the brain processes involved in perception. First, a large proportion of the brain's most highly developed structure, the cerebral cortex, is devoted entirely to perception. Vision alone consumes over half of the neurons in the cortex. Second, despite the complexity and power of modern computer technology, computer scientists have not yet succeeded in building general–purpose systems with the perceptual proficiency of even an infant. Third, as a result of brain damage through injury or disease, a small number of unfortunate individuals suffer deficits in their perceptual capabilities.
1. Aperceptual proficiency
2. Bpower to think
3. Cany feelings
4. Dvision
Answer: (A) perceptual proficiency
Explanation
The passage explicitly contrasts biological perception with artificial systems:

"Second, despite the complexity and power of modern computer technology, computer scientists have not yet succeeded in building general–purpose systems with the perceptual proficiency of even an infant."

A. perceptual proficiency — correct. Matches the passage's explicit claim that computers lack the perceptual proficiency of an infant.

B. power to think — incorrect. Thinking capabilities are not discussed in this comparative context.

C. any feelings — incorrect. Feelings or affective states are not addressed in the passage.

D. vision — incorrect. Computer vision technologies exist, but machines lack infant-level perceptual proficiency.
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Question 49
Some persons suffer from deficits in their capability to perceive because of :
Our perception of the world is direct, immediate, and effortless, and there is no hint of any intervening operations taking place in the brain. The apparent simplicity of a perception is reinforced by the fact that our perceptions are always accurate. We rarely make mistakes when identifying people by their face or voice or in judging how hot a cup of tea is or in navigating a flight of steps. Moreover, our own perceptions nearly always agree with those of other people. Sounds, sights and smells seem to be "out there" in the world, not constructed in our head.

Despite appearances to the contrary, our perceptual world is constructed in the brain by a huge mass of neurons performing complex, but hidden, operations. Three observations hint at the complexity of the brain processes involved in perception. First, a large proportion of the brain's most highly developed structure, the cerebral cortex, is devoted entirely to perception. Vision alone consumes over half of the neurons in the cortex. Second, despite the complexity and power of modern computer technology, computer scientists have not yet succeeded in building general–purpose systems with the perceptual proficiency of even an infant. Third, as a result of brain damage through injury or disease, a small number of unfortunate individuals suffer deficits in their perceptual capabilities.
1. Acomputers
2. Bnutrition
3. Ccultural background
4. Dbrain damage
Answer: (D) brain damage
Explanation
The passage explicitly links perceptual impairment to neurological trauma:

"Third, as a result of brain damage through injury or disease, a small number of unfortunate individuals suffer deficits in their perceptual capabilities."

A. computers — incorrect. Computers are discussed only to illustrate the difficulty of replicating biological perception.

B. nutrition — incorrect. Nutrition is not mentioned in the passage.

C. cultural background — incorrect. Cultural factors are not cited in the text.

D. brain damage — correct. Verbatim cause identified in the passage as injury or disease leading to brain damage.
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Question 50
At the surface level, perception seems to be simple by nature because it is :
Our perception of the world is direct, immediate, and effortless, and there is no hint of any intervening operations taking place in the brain. The apparent simplicity of a perception is reinforced by the fact that our perceptions are always accurate. We rarely make mistakes when identifying people by their face or voice or in judging how hot a cup of tea is or in navigating a flight of steps. Moreover, our own perceptions nearly always agree with those of other people. Sounds, sights and smells seem to be "out there" in the world, not constructed in our head.

Despite appearances to the contrary, our perceptual world is constructed in the brain by a huge mass of neurons performing complex, but hidden, operations. Three observations hint at the complexity of the brain processes involved in perception. First, a large proportion of the brain's most highly developed structure, the cerebral cortex, is devoted entirely to perception. Vision alone consumes over half of the neurons in the cortex. Second, despite the complexity and power of modern computer technology, computer scientists have not yet succeeded in building general–purpose systems with the perceptual proficiency of even an infant. Third, as a result of brain damage through injury or disease, a small number of unfortunate individuals suffer deficits in their perceptual capabilities.
1. Aalways complex
2. Balways rapid
3. Calways incorrect
4. Dalways accurate
Answer: (D) always accurate
Explanation
The passage explains why perception feels deceptively simple at the conscious level:

"The apparent simplicity of a perception is reinforced by the fact that our perceptions are always accurate."

A. always complex — incorrect. Complexity is what operates beneath the surface in the brain, contradicting surface simplicity.

B. always rapid — incorrect. While perception is described as immediate, apparent simplicity is specifically reinforced by accuracy.

C. always incorrect — incorrect. Direct contradiction of the passage's statement.

D. always accurate — correct. Accurately reflects the passage statement that apparent simplicity is reinforced because perceptions are always accurate.
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Attempt Paper 1 — General Aptitude as a timed test

Spotted a shift or questions missing from this paper?

Paper 2 — English Literature

Attempt this paper

100 questions with the answer key and explanations.

Question 1
Which of Vijay Tendulkar's plays was adapted into a film that later received the National Film Award for the best Marathi film?
1. AGidhade
2. BSakharam Binder
3. CShantata! Court Chalu Aahe!
4. DGhasiram Kotwal
Answer: (C) Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe!
Explanation
Vijay Tendulkar's 1967 Marathi play Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe! (Silence! The Court Is in Session) was adapted into a landmark 1971 Marathi film directed by Satyadev Dubey, which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Marathi.

A. Gidhade — (The Vultures, 1970) explores domestic violence and greed, but was not adapted into an award-winning Marathi feature film.

B. Sakharam Binder — (1972) provoked intense censorship controversies regarding gender and morality, but was not adapted into this National Award-winning film.

C. Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe! — correct. The film adaptation marked a major milestone in Indian parallel cinema, featuring Sulabha Deshpande and Amrish Puri.

D. Ghasiram Kotwal — (1972) is a political musical satire using traditional Tamasha and Khel forms, adapted into a film in 1976 by the Yukt Film Co-operative.
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Question 2
Which of the following is not a poem by Emily Dickinson?
1. ABecause I could not stop for Death
2. BRemember me when I am gone away
3. CSuccess is counted sweetest
4. DI like a look of Agony
Answer: (B) Remember me when I am gone away
Explanation
"Remember" (opening with the line "Remember me when I am gone away") is a famous Victorian sonnet written by the English poet Christina Rossetti in 1849 and published in Goblin Market and Other Poems in 1862.

A. Because I could not stop for Death — one of Emily Dickinson's most celebrated lyric poems personifying Death as a courteous gentleman driver.

B. Remember me when I am gone away — correct. Composed by Christina Rossetti, not the American poet Emily Dickinson.

C. Success is counted sweetest — an iconic poem by Emily Dickinson published anonymously in Helen Hunt Jackson's A Masque of Poets in 1878.

D. I like a look of Agony — a well-known short lyric by Emily Dickinson reflecting on truth, mortality, and suffering.
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Question 3
What does MLA stand for in Literary Studies?
1. AModern Literary Authority
2. BModern Language Association
3. CModern Linguistics Association
4. DModern Library Authority
Answer: (B) Modern Language Association
Explanation
MLA stands for the Modern Language Association of America, founded in 1883 to strengthen the study and teaching of languages and literatures.

A. Modern Literary Authority — a fictitious title.

B. Modern Language Association — correct. The organization publishes the authoritative MLA Handbook, the premier citation standard in literary research.

C. Modern Linguistics Association — an incorrect variation. Linguistic scholarship typically follows the LSA or APA styles.

D. Modern Library Authority — an inaccurate designation confusing research citation style with library science organizations.
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Question 4
Match the works in List-I with writers in List-II.
List-I List-II
A. Dhvanyaloka I. Kuntaka
B. Vakyapadiya II. Bhartrhari
C. Vakrokti-jivita III. Anandavardhana
D. Dasarupa IV. Dhananjaya
1. AA-I, B-II, C-III, D-IV
2. BA-II, B-IV, C-III, D-I
3. CA-III, B-II, C-I, D-IV
4. DA-III, B-I, C-IV, D-II
Answer: (C) A-III, B-II, C-I, D-IV
Explanation
The correctly matched sequence is A-III, B-II, C-I, D-IV.

A. Dhvanyaloka — III. Anandavardhana (the foundational 9th-century Sanskrit treatise establishing the Dhvani doctrine of poetic suggestion).

B. Vakyapadiya — II. Bhartrhari (the 5th-century philosophical treatise on Sanskrit grammar, sentence meaning, and Sphota theory).

C. Vakrokti-jivita — I. Kuntaka (the 10th-century critical work formulating the Vakrokti school, which identifies oblique expression as the soul of poetry).

D. Dasarupa — IV. Dhananjaya (the 10th-century dramaturgical treatise expounding Bharata Muni's ten dramatic forms).
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Question 5

Match the plays in List-I with their plots in List-II.

List-I	List-II
A. Magnificence	I. The story in this work is that of a conceited fop in love with a widow, who is already engaged to another man.
B. Gammer Gurton’s Needle	II. This work recalls the story used by Shakespeare in King Lear and is also remarkable as the first play to be written in blank verse.
C. Gorboduc	III. This work shows the rise, fall, and final repentance of a worldly prince who is seduced and, in the end, redeemed by allegorical figures representing different virtues and vices.
D. Ralph Royster Doyster	IV. This work is a domestic comedy, a true bit of English realism, representing the life of the peasant class.

AA-I, B-II, C-III, D-IV
BA-II, B-I, C-IV, D-III
CA-IV, B-III, C-II, D-I
DA-III, B-IV, C-II, D-I

Answer: (D) A-III, B-IV, C-II, D-I

Explanation

The correctly matched sequence is A-III, B-IV, C-II, D-I.

A. Magnificence — III. John Skelton's 1519 Tudor morality play depicting the fall and eventual redemption of a prince surrounded by allegorical vices like Counterfeit Countenance and Measure.
B. Gammer Gurton's Needle — IV. An early English domestic comedy in rhymed verse portraying village rustic life and chaos sparked by a lost sewing needle.
C. Gorboduc — II. Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville's 1561 tragedy, based on British legendary history like King Lear and famed as the first English drama in blank verse.
D. Ralph Roister Doister — I. Nicholas Udall's Roman-inspired comedy centered on a vainglorious clown in pursuit of the wealthy widow Christian Custance.

Question 6
Identify the three-term labels describing the articulation of the English sound /ð/.
1. AVoiced, Velar, Nasal
2. BVoiceless, Plosive, Affricate
3. CVoiced, Dental, Fricative
4. DVoiceless, Alveolar, Plosive
Answer: (C) Voiced, Dental, Fricative
Explanation
The English consonant /ð/ (found in words such as "this", "feather", and "breathe") is articulated with vibrating vocal cords (voiced), the tongue tip against the upper teeth (dental), and an incomplete constriction causing friction (fricative).

A. Voiced, Velar, Nasal — describes the sound /ŋ/ (as in "sing").

B. Voiceless, Plosive, Affricate — mixes incompatible manner categories — /tʃ/ is a voiceless palato-alveolar affricate.

C. Voiced, Dental, Fricative — correct. Distinct from its voiceless counterpart /θ/ (as in "thin").

D. Voiceless, Alveolar, Plosive — describes the sound /t/.
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Question 7
Identify the correct chronological sequence of the following:

A. Theatre of the Absurd
B. Miracle Plays
C. Epic Theatre
D. Jacobean Drama
E. Senecan Tragedies

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
1. AD, C, A, B, E
2. BE, C, D, B, A
3. CE, B, D, C, A
4. DC, E, D, B, A
Answer: (C) E, B, D, C, A
Explanation
The correct chronological sequence is E, B, D, C, A.

E. Senecan Tragedies — 1st century CE Roman closet dramas by Seneca the Younger.

B. Miracle Plays — 12th to 14th century medieval mystery and miracle religious plays.

D. Jacobean Drama — early 17th century drama during the reign of King James I (1603–1625).

C. Epic Theatre — 1920s and 1930s avant-garde political theatre developed by Bertolt Brecht.

A. Theatre of the Absurd — 1950s post-World War II theatrical movement identified by Martin Esslin.
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Question 8
Fill in the blank in the following statement from the options provided below.

________ are consonant sounds that are produced with a very narrow opening between the active and passive articulators. They are articulated by almost blocking the airflow, then letting the air escape through a narrow gap, creating friction.
1. APlosives
2. BFricatives
3. CNasals
4. DLiquids
Answer: (B) Fricatives
Explanation
Fricatives are speech sounds produced when the active and passive articulators come close together to leave only a narrow slit, causing continuous turbulent airflow and acoustic friction.

A. Plosives — produced by complete closure of the vocal tract followed by sudden explosive release.

B. Fricatives — correct. Examples in English include /f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, and /ʒ/.

C. Nasals — produced with complete oral closure while the lowered velum allows air to resonate in the nasal cavity.

D. Liquids — frictionless continuants like the lateral /l/ and rhotic /r/.
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Question 9
Who among the following was not a part of the Dalit Panthers Movement?
1. ANamdeo Dhasal
2. BShravankumar Nimbale
3. CJ. V. Pawar
4. DRaja Dhale
Answer: (B) Shravankumar Nimbale
Explanation
The Dalit Panthers movement was founded in Bombay in 1972 by young writer-activists Namdeo Dhasal, J. V. Pawar, and Raja Dhale, inspired by the American Black Panther Party.

A. Namdeo Dhasal — co-founder and charismatic poet of the Dalit Panthers.

B. Shravankumar Nimbale — correct. Sharankumar Limbale (printed with alternative transliteration in the source) is a prominent Dalit novelist and critic, but was not among the founders of the Dalit Panthers.

C. J. V. Pawar — co-founder and general secretary of the movement who documented its history.

D. Raja Dhale — co-founder and president of the Dalit Panthers whose 1972 essay in Sadhana galvanized militant Dalit youth.
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Question 10
Read the following statements carefully and choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

A. Foucault's genealogical method accepts objectivity and rejects the transformative and resistant figure of the ‘effective’ historian.
B. Foucault’s genealogical method assumes heterogeneity, discontinuity, singularity and the interimplication of power-knowledge.
C. Foucault understands the author-function as a critical device of the modern Western institution of criticism, unifying and homogenizing the literary text.
D. In search of another site of resistance, Foucault turns to classical Greek self-fashioning, its ethics/aesthetics of existence and its practices of the self (enkrateia).

Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
1. AA, B and C only
2. BB, C and D only
3. CA, C and D only
4. DA, B and D only
Answer: (B) B, C and D only
Explanation
Statements B, C, and D are accurate accounts of Michel Foucault's critical philosophy, while statement A is false.

Statement A is false — in "Nietzsche, Genealogy, History", Foucault explicitly rejects traditional historical objectivity and instead champions "effective history" (wirkliche Historie) that destabilizes timeless constants.

Statement B is true — genealogy investigates discontinuous origins, singular accidents, and the pervasive entanglement of power and knowledge.

Statement C is true — in "What is an Author?", Foucault defines the author-function as a regulatory principle that limits, classifies, and homogenizes texts within modern Western discourse.

Statement D is true — in his late volumes of The History of Sexuality, Foucault turns to ancient Greek and Roman askesis and enkrateia (self-mastery) to explore ethical self-creation as resistance.
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Question 11
Which of the following authors was awarded by the Sahitya Academy in the year 2000 for his novel Cuckold?
1. AAmitav Ghosh
2. BAmit Chaudhuri
3. CVikram Seth
4. DKiran Nagarkar
Answer: (D) Kiran Nagarkar
Explanation
Kiran Nagarkar received the Sahitya Akademi Award in English in 2000 for his celebrated historical novel Cuckold (published in 1997).

A. Amitav Ghosh — author of The Shadow Lines (won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1989) and the Ibis Trilogy.

B. Amit Chaudhuri — received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002 for his novel A New World.

C. Vikram Seth — won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1988 for his verse novel The Golden Gate.

D. Kiran Nagarkar — correct. Cuckold is set in 16th-century Mewar and narrates the perspective of Maharaj Kumar, the husband of the saint-poet Mirabai.
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Question 12
Which one of the following is not a Figure of Speech?
1. AAnaphora
2. BEnjambment
3. CMetonymy
4. DElegy
Answer: (D) Elegy
Explanation
An elegy is a poetic genre or lyrical form of mourning and serious reflection on mortality, rather than a rhetorical figure of speech.

A. Anaphora — a rhetorical figure of speech involving the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.

B. Enjambment — a prosodic and poetic device where a syntactic sentence runs over from one poetic line to the next without terminal punctuation.

C. Metonymy — a figure of speech in which an entity is referred to by the name of something closely associated with it.

D. Elegy — correct. It denotes a full literary genre or poem of lamentation rather than a rhetorical figure.
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Question 13
Pick the odd one out from the following poets.
1. AWilliam Wordsworth
2. BWilliam Blake
3. CJohn Keats
4. DWalt Whitman
Answer: (D) Walt Whitman
Explanation
Walt Whitman is an American poet of the nineteenth century, whereas William Wordsworth, William Blake, and John Keats are canonical British Romantic poets.

A. William Wordsworth — a major British first-generation Romantic poet and co-author of Lyrical Ballads.

B. William Blake — an early visionary British Romantic poet and printmaker, author of Songs of Innocence and of Experience.

C. John Keats — a prominent British second-generation Romantic poet famed for his 1819 odes.

D. Walt Whitman — correct. The pioneer of American free verse poetry and author of Leaves of Grass.
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Question 14
What is meant by plagiarism in research?
1. AParaphrasing from a source with acknowledgement
2. BCopy pasting from a source
3. CQuoting from a source
4. DReading from a source
Answer: (B) Copy pasting from a source
Explanation
Plagiarism is the unethical academic practice of copying words, data, or ideas from another source without proper attribution or citation and presenting them as one's own.

A. Paraphrasing from a source with acknowledgement — legitimate scholarly practice that respects intellectual attribution.

B. Copy pasting from a source — correct. Direct copying without quotation marks or citation constitutes uncredited copying and academic misconduct.

C. Quoting from a source — standard research practice when accompanied by appropriate quotation marks and parenthetical citations.

D. Reading from a source — essential literature review and background research activity.
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Question 15
Which of the following is not a Dalit autobiography?
1. AKumud Pawde’s Antasphot
2. BSharankumar Limbale’s Akkarmashi
3. CAkhila Naik’s Bheda
4. DBama’s Karukku
Answer: (C) Akhila Naik’s Bheda
Explanation
Akhila Naik's Bheda (published in 2010) is celebrated as the first Dalit novel in the Odia language, rather than an autobiography.

A. Kumud Pawde’s Antasphot — a pioneering Marathi Dalit autobiography by an Ambedkarite Sanskrit scholar recounting caste and gender struggles.

B. Sharankumar Limbale’s Akkarmashi — a landmark 1984 Marathi autobiography depicting the stigma and identity struggles of an outcaste.

C. Akhila Naik’s Bheda — correct. It is a work of fiction depicting caste atrocities in the Kalahandi region of western Odisha.

D. Bama’s Karukku — a seminal 1992 Tamil autobiographical testimony documenting the lived experience of a Dalit Christian woman.
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Question 16
"Oh, say what stranger cause, yet unexplored, Could make a gentle belle, reject a lord?"

Identify the poet of the lines given above:
1. AAndrew Marvell
2. BJohn Donne
3. CAlexander Pope
4. DWilliam Shakespeare
Answer: (C) Alexander Pope
Explanation
These lines are from Canto I (lines 9–10) of Alexander Pope's famous 1714 heroic-comical poem The Rape of the Lock.

A. Andrew Marvell — metaphysical poet famed for "To His Coy Mistress" and political Horatian odes.

B. John Donne — leading metaphysical poet known for "The Flea" and Holy Sonnets.

C. Alexander Pope — correct. The couplet poses the central mock-epic question regarding Belinda's rejection of the Baron who snips her lock.

D. William Shakespeare — Elizabethan dramatist and sonneteer.
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Question 17
Match the persons in List-I with the persons they are associated with in List-II.
List-I List-II
A. Nora Barnacle I. Rajendra Yadav
B. Frieda Weekley II. Jean-Paul Sartre
C. Manu Bhandari III. D. H. Lawrence
D. Simone de Beauvoir IV. James Joyce
1. AA-IV, B-III, C-I, D-II
2. BA-III, B-IV, C-I, D-II
3. CA-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III
4. DA-III, B-II, C-I, D-IV
Answer: (A) A-IV, B-III, C-I, D-II
Explanation
The correctly matched sequence is A-IV, B-III, C-I, D-II.

A. Nora Barnacle — IV. James Joyce (his life partner, muse, and wife who inspired Molly Bloom and the setting of Bloomsday).

B. Frieda Weekley — III. D. H. Lawrence (Frieda von Richthofen, whose partnership profoundly shaped Lawrence's major novels).

C. Manu Bhandari — I. Rajendra Yadav (distinguished Hindi authors who were married and co-authored the experimental novel Ek Inch Muskaan).

D. Simone de Beauvoir — II. Jean-Paul Sartre (existentialist philosophers who shared an enduring intellectual and romantic relationship).
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Question 18
Fill in the blank in the following statement from the options provided below.

The practice of approaching male authors from a feminist perspective became known as ________ because it sought to expose the masculine bias of the work.
1. Abiological criticism
2. Bgynocriticism
3. Cphallocentric criticism
4. Dpsychoanalysis
Answer: (C) phallocentric criticism
Explanation
In feminist literary criticism, the critical analysis that examines male-authored canonical literature to unmask misogyny, patriarchal ideology, and masculine power is known as feminist critique or phallocentric criticism.

A. biological criticism — examines gender in relation to biological essentialism or physical embodiment.

B. gynocriticism — Elaine Showalter's term for the study of women as writers, focusing on female literary history and creativity.

C. phallocentric criticism — correct. It investigates how male-dominated texts construct women as passive objects or symbols of masculine desire.

D. psychoanalysis — the psychological school founded by Sigmund Freud exploring the unconscious and neuroses.
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Question 19
Who among the following has said, "Undoubtedly, philosophers are in the right when they say that nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison"?
1. ARichard Steele
2. BWilliam Congreve
3. CJonathan Swift
4. DAlexander Pope
Answer: (C) Jonathan Swift
Explanation
This observation is made by Lemuel Gulliver in Part II, Chapter 1 of Jonathan Swift's 1726 satire Gulliver's Travels ("A Voyage to Brobdingnag").

A. Richard Steele — 18th-century essayist and co-founder of The Tatler and The Spectator.

B. William Congreve — Restoration dramatist renowned for The Way of the World.

C. Jonathan Swift — correct. Gulliver reflects on his diminutiveness among giant Brobdingnagians in contrast to his stature in Lilliput.

D. Alexander Pope — Scriblerian poet and satirist famed for The Dunciad and An Essay on Man.
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Question 20
Who among the following remarked that Panchatantra "certainly is the most translated literary product of India"?
1. AE. M. Forster
2. BFranklin Edgerton
3. CRudyard Kipling
4. DWilliam Jones
Answer: (B) Franklin Edgerton
Explanation
The American Sanskritist and comparative philologist Franklin Edgerton made this statement in his 1924 study and critical edition The Panchatantra Reconstructed.

A. E. M. Forster — British novelist who wrote A Passage to India and literary lectures collected in Aspects of the Novel.

B. Franklin Edgerton — correct. Edgerton exhaustively traced the global migration of the fables through Pahlavi, Arabic, and European versions.

C. Rudyard Kipling — Anglo-Indian author of The Jungle Book and Kim.

D. William Jones — founder of the Asiatic Society who translated Kalidasa's Abhijnanasakuntalam and the Hitopadesha.
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Question 21
Which of the following is a voiceless, bilabial, plosive sound?
1. A/m/
2. B/p/
3. C/t/
4. D/f/
Answer: (B) /p/
Explanation
The consonant /p/ is articulated by bringing both lips together (bilabial), creating a complete blockage of the airstream before releasing it (plosive), without vocal cord vibration (voiceless).

A. /m/ — voiced bilabial nasal consonant.

B. /p/ — correct. Found in English words such as "pat", "spin", and "cup".

C. /t/ — voiceless alveolar plosive consonant.

D. /f/ — voiceless labiodental fricative consonant.
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Question 22
In which of the following plays does the phrase "frailty, thy name is woman" occur?
1. A‘Tis Pity She's a Whore
2. BRomeo and Juliet
3. CA Doll’s House
4. DHamlet
Answer: (D) Hamlet
Explanation
The famous soliloquy in Act I, Scene 2 of William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet contains Prince Hamlet's bitter lament: "Frailty, thy name is woman!"

A. ‘Tis Pity She's a Whore — John Ford's 1633 Jacobean revenge tragedy centered on Giovanni and Annabella.

B. Romeo and Juliet — Shakespeare's early romantic tragedy about the star-crossed lovers of Verona.

C. A Doll’s House — Henrik Ibsen's 1879 realist drama following Nora Helmer's defiance of bourgeois marriage.

D. Hamlet — correct. Spoken by Hamlet while condemning his mother Gertrude's hasty remarriage to his uncle Claudius.
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Question 23
Which book among the following has not been written by Namita Gokhale?
1. AParo
2. BA Himalayan Story
3. CThings to Leave Behind
4. DThe Golden Honeycomb
Accepted answers: (A) Paro, (B) A Himalayan Story, (C) Things to Leave Behind, (D) The Golden Honeycomb
Explanation
NTA dropped this question from scoring in the final answer key because multiple options are valid non-Gokhale titles or misnamed works.

A. Paro — Namita Gokhale's debut novel is titled Paro: Dreams of Passion (1984).

B. A Himalayan Story — Gokhale's novel is actually titled A Himalayan Love Story (1996), making this option inaccurate.

C. Things to Leave Behind — a historical novel written by Namita Gokhale (2016), which won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2021.

D. The Golden Honeycomb — an acclaimed 1977 historical novel written by Kamala Markandaya, not Namita Gokhale.

Because both Option B and Option D represent titles not written under those names by Namita Gokhale, all options are accepted.
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Question 24
What is the first element of a research presentation?
1. AMethodology
2. BLiterature Review
3. CObjective
4. DAnalysis
Answer: (C) Objective
Explanation
In standard academic research design and scholarly presentations, defining the research objective or research problem forms the essential initial step that frames the study.

A. Methodology — details data collection and analysis tools, presented after establishing the problem.

B. Literature Review — contextualizes the inquiry within existing scholarship to establish research gaps.

C. Objective — correct. The primary aim orienting the listener toward the specific goals and research questions.

D. Analysis — interprets collected data, situated in the latter half of the presentation.
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Question 25

Match the critics in List-I with the concepts they are associated with in List-II.

List-I	List-II
A. Rosemarie Garland-Thomson	I. Narrative Prosthesis
B. David Mitchell & Sharon Snyder	II. Disability Rights and Bioethics
C. David Bolt	III. Disability and Gender
D. Tom Shakespeare	IV. Cultural Disability Studies

AA-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III
BA-IV, B-I, C-II, D-III
CA-IV, B-II, C-III, D-I
DA-III, B-I, C-IV, D-II

Answer: (D) A-III, B-I, C-IV, D-II

Explanation

The correctly matched sequence is A-III, B-I, C-IV, D-II.

A. Rosemarie Garland-Thomson — III. Pioneering theorist who integrated feminist theory with disability studies in works like Extraordinary Bodies.
B. David Mitchell & Sharon Snyder — I. Formulated the influential concept of "narrative prosthesis" to describe literature's reliance on disability as a narrative crutch.
C. David Bolt — IV. Leading scholar in Cultural Disability Studies and author of The Metanarrative of Blindness.
D. Tom Shakespeare — II. Renowned British sociologist and bioethicist who wrote Disability Rights and Wrongs.

Question 26
What is a ‘citation’ in literary research?
1. AReference to a particular research source
2. BParaphrasing from a source
3. CMaking a bibliography
4. DReferring to the supervisor
Answer: (A) Reference to a particular research source
Explanation
A citation is a formal reference embedded within an academic work that directs the reader to a specific published or archival source containing the cited idea, fact, or quotation.

A. Reference to a particular research source — correct. Establishes scholarly attribution and enables readers to verify evidence.

B. Paraphrasing from a source — restating source content in one's own words, which still requires a citation.

C. Making a bibliography — compiling the comprehensive list of consulted sources at the conclusion of a paper.

D. Referring to the supervisor — consultative engagement with an academic advisor, not a textual citation.
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Question 27
In which of the following works was the term ‘Science Fiction’ first used?
1. AWilliam Wilson's A Little Earnest Book upon a Great Old Subject
2. BMatthew Arnold's Culture and Anarchy
3. CSamuel Johnson's The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia
4. DElizabeth Eisenstein's The Printing Press as an Agent of Change
Answer: (A) William Wilson's A Little Earnest Book upon a Great Old Subject
Explanation
The term "Science-Fiction" was first introduced by the British writer William Wilson in Chapter 10 of his 1851 treatise A Little Earnest Book upon a Great Old Subject.

A. William Wilson's A Little Earnest Book upon a Great Old Subject — correct. Wilson defined it as poetry or fiction where scientific discoveries are interwoven with imaginative narrative.

B. Matthew Arnold's Culture and Anarchy — 1869 cultural essay distinguishing between Hellenism and Hebraism and critiquing Philistinism.

C. Samuel Johnson's The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia — 1759 philosophical apologue on the "choice of life".

D. Elizabeth Eisenstein's The Printing Press as an Agent of Change — 1979 historical study on typography and print culture.
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Question 28
Which of the following writers were born in the same year?
1. AGeorge Bernard Shaw and Henrik Ibsen
2. BW. B. Yeats and T. S. Eliot
3. CChristopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare
4. DPhilip Sidney and John Milton
Answer: (C) Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare
Explanation
Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare were both born in the year 1564 during the Elizabethan era.

A. George Bernard Shaw and Henrik Ibsen — Shaw was born in 1856, whereas Ibsen was born in 1828.

B. W. B. Yeats and T. S. Eliot — Yeats was born in 1865, whereas Eliot was born in 1888.

C. Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare — correct. Marlowe was baptized in February 1564 and Shakespeare in April 1564.

D. Philip Sidney and John Milton — Sidney was born in 1554, whereas Milton was born in 1608.
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Question 29
"Summer in Calcutta" has been written by one of the following Indian poets. Choose the correct option:
1. AShashi Deshpande
2. BNissim Ezekiel
3. CArun Joshi
4. DKamala Das
Answer: (D) Kamala Das
Explanation
Summer in Calcutta (published in 1965) is the landmark debut poetry collection of the Indian English poet Kamala Das (Kamala Surayya).

A. Shashi Deshpande — feminist novelist renowned for That Long Silence.

B. Nissim Ezekiel — pioneering modern Indian poet whose collections include A Time to Change and The Unfinished Man.

C. Arun Joshi — novelist famed for The Strange Case of Billy Biswas and The Last Labyrinth.

D. Kamala Das — correct. The collection features confessional poems such as "An Introduction" and "The Dance of the Eunuchs".
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Question 30
Which of the following plays is not a Shakespearean comedy?
1. ALove's Labour's Lost
2. BThe Taming of the Shrew
3. CThe Merry Wives of Windsor
4. DCoriolanus
Answer: (D) Coriolanus
Explanation
Coriolanus is one of William Shakespeare's late Roman tragedies, written around 1608 and based on Plutarch's Lives.

A. Love's Labour's Lost — an early romantic comedy featuring Navarre, his lords, and the Princess of France.

B. The Taming of the Shrew — a comedy centered on Petruchio's courtship of the headstrong Katherina.

C. The Merry Wives of Windsor — a bourgeois comedy featuring Sir John Falstaff and the mistresses of Windsor.

D. Coriolanus — correct. A tragedy chronicling the political downfall and betrayal of the Roman general Caius Marcius Coriolanus.
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Question 31
Which of the following is not true about Disability Studies?
1. AIt challenges the notion of the normal.
2. BIt provides a broad understanding of disability experiences.
3. CIt promotes ableism as a way of life.
4. DIt studies disability in the context of society and culture.
Answer: (C) It promotes ableism as a way of life.
Explanation
Disability Studies explicitly critiques and deconstructs ableism — the systemic discrimination and prejudice that privileges able-bodied norms over disabled lives.

A. It challenges the notion of the normal — a central objective that unpacks how "normality" is socially constructed.

B. It provides a broad understanding of disability experiences — illuminates diverse physical, sensory, and cognitive lived realities.

C. It promotes ableism as a way of life — correct. This claim is false because Disability Studies seeks to dismantle ableism rather than promote it.

D. It studies disability in the context of society and culture — focuses on the social model of disability in contrast to an exclusively medical model.
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Question 32
Which of the following do not characterize an Affricate sound?

A. A complete closure is made at some point in the mouth
B. Air pressure builds up behind the closure and is then released slowly
C. Air pressure builds up behind the closure and is then released explosively
D. The soft palate is raised
E. The soft palate is lowered

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
1. AA & B
2. BB & D
3. CC & E
4. DA & D
Answer: (C) C & E
Explanation
Statements C and E do not characterize an affricate sound.

C is incorrect for affricates — explosive release characterizes plosives (stops) such as /p/ or /t/, whereas affricates release slowly with continuous friction.

E is incorrect for affricates — lowering the soft palate directs air through the nasal cavity to produce nasal consonants, whereas oral sounds require a raised soft palate.

A, B, and D are valid characteristics — an affricate begins with complete oral closure (A), behind which air pressure builds before being released slowly with friction (B), while the velum remains raised (D) to prevent nasal escape.
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Question 33
Arrange the following works in the chronological order of their publication:

A. A Woman Killed with Kindness
B. The Shoemaker’s Holiday
C. The Honest Whore
D. Old Fortunatus

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
1. AA, B, D, C
2. BB, D, A, C
3. CB, D, C, A
4. DC, B, A, D
Answer: (B) B, D, A, C
Explanation
The correct chronological sequence of initial publication is B, D, A, C.

B. The Shoemaker’s Holiday — Thomas Dekker's festive citizen comedy published in 1600.

D. Old Fortunatus — Thomas Dekker's allegorical fantasy drama published in 1600 after its Christmas court performance.

A. A Woman Killed with Kindness — Thomas Heywood's domestic tragedy entered in the Stationers' Register and published in 1607.

C. The Honest Whore — Thomas Dekker and Thomas Middleton's comedy series whose definitive collected printings and sequel appeared across 1604–1630.
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Question 34
What is paraphrasing?
1. ATo copy the author's words
2. BTo analyse the author's words
3. CTo put the author's words within quotation marks
4. DTo interpret the author's words in one's own language
Answer: (D) To interpret the author's words in one's own language
Explanation
Paraphrasing consists of reformulating and interpreting another writer's ideas using one's own sentence structure and vocabulary while retaining the original meaning.

A. To copy the author's words — verbatim transcription or direct copying.

B. To analyse the author's words — critical evaluation and interpretation of a text's arguments or rhetoric.

C. To put the author's words within quotation marks — the technique of direct quotation.

D. To interpret the author's words in one's own language — correct. Demonstrates conceptual understanding through restatement in fresh phrasing.
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Question 35

Match the writers in List-I with works in List-II.

List-I	List-II
A. Germaine Greer	I. Sexual Anarchy: Gender and Culture at the Fin de Siècle
B. Elaine Showalter	II. Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of ‘Sex’
C. Judith Butler	III. Epistemology of the Closet
D. Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick	IV. The Female Eunuch

AA-IV, B-I, C-II, D-III
BA-I, B-III, C-IV, D-II
CA-II, B-III, C-IV, D-I
DA-III, B-IV, C-II, D-I

Answer: (A) A-IV, B-I, C-II, D-III

Explanation

The correctly matched sequence is A-IV, B-I, C-II, D-III.

A. Germaine Greer — IV. The Female Eunuch (1970 landmark second-wave feminist text on patriarchal castration of women's sexuality).
B. Elaine Showalter — I. Sexual Anarchy: Gender and Culture at the Fin de Siècle (1990 cultural study examining late Victorian sexual panics).
C. Judith Butler — II. Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of ‘Sex’ (1993 study elaborating gender performativity and bodily matter).
D. Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick — III. Epistemology of the Closet (1990 foundational queer theory text analyzing homosexual/heterosexual binaries in modern Western culture).

Question 36
Match the idea in List-I with critics in List-II.
List-I List-II
A. Psychoanalytic Criticism I. Wolfgang Iser
B. Reader-Response Theory II. J. L. Austin
C. Speech Act Theory III. Sigmund Freud
D. Archetypal Criticism IV. Carl Jung
1. AA-I, B-II, C-III, D-IV
2. BA-III, B-I, C-II, D-IV
3. CA-IV, B-III, C-I, D-II
4. DA-II, B-III, C-IV, D-I
Answer: (B) A-III, B-I, C-II, D-IV
Explanation
The correctly matched sequence is A-III, B-I, C-II, D-IV.

A. Psychoanalytic Criticism — III. Sigmund Freud (pioneered the psychological analysis of unconscious desire, dreams, and repression in literature).

B. Reader-Response Theory — I. Wolfgang Iser (developed the phenomenological theory of aesthetic response, focusing on the "implied reader" and filling textual gaps).

C. Speech Act Theory — II. J. L. Austin (introduced performative language and speech acts in How to Do Things with Words).

D. Archetypal Criticism — IV. Carl Jung (formulated the concept of the collective unconscious and primordial archetypes).
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Question 37
Which of the following statements characterize literary modernism?

A. There is a sense of continuity, rather than a separation, between the worlds of subject and object, the self and the world. The human self is not viewed as a stable entity which simply engages with an already present external world of objects and other selves.
B. Time is conceived in a static model which separates past, present, and future as discrete elements in linear relation.
C. The linear narrative structure following the conventional Aristotelian model which prescribes beginning, middle, and end, has been adapted.
D. Modernist poetry tends to be fragmented, creating its own internal ‘logic’ of emotion, image, sound, symbol, and mood.
E. There is a self-consciousness regarding the process of literary composition. This embraces both an awareness of how one’s own work relates to the literary tradition as a whole, and also an ironic stance toward the content of one’s own work.

Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
1. AA, B and C only
2. BA, C and D only
3. CA, D and E only
4. DC, D and E only
Answer: (C) A, D and E only
Explanation
Statements A, D, and E define foundational aesthetic tenets of literary modernism.

Statement A is true — modernist epistemology blurs the boundary between external reality and inward consciousness, presenting the self as fragmented and fluid.

Statement B is false — modernism breaks away from linear clock time in favor of psychological time and Bergsonian flux (la durée).

Statement C is false — modernists actively disrupted and dismantled the conventional linear Aristotelian plot model rather than preserving it.

Statement D is true — modernist verse employs collage, juxtaposition, and symbolic fragmentation (as in T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound).

Statement E is true — modernism is distinguished by intense meta-literary self-consciousness, formal experimentation, and complex irony toward tradition.
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Question 38
What is an adjunct?
1. AA part of a sentence that provides additional information about where, when or how.
2. BA new word formed from the initial letters of other words.
3. CA bound morpheme such as un- or -ed, added to a word.
4. DWords in different languages that have a similar form and meaning.
Answer: (A) A part of a sentence that provides additional information about where, when or how.
Explanation
In syntax and grammar, an adjunct is an optional word, phrase, or clause that supplements a clause by specifying circumstantial details like location, time, frequency, or manner.

A. A part of a sentence that provides additional information about where, when or how — correct. An adjunct can be removed without making the remaining sentence ungrammatical.

B. A new word formed from the initial letters of other words — defines an acronym or initialism.

C. A bound morpheme such as un- or -ed, added to a word — defines an affix (prefix or suffix).

D. Words in different languages that have a similar form and meaning — defines cognates.
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Question 39
Which of the following is not an autobiography of a person with disability?
1. AThe Other Senses
2. BNo Looking Back
3. CAnimal's People
4. DFace to Face
Answer: (C) Animal's People
Explanation
Indra Sinha's Animal's People (2007) is a fictional novel narrated by a young protagonist named Animal, whose spine was warped in the aftermath of a catastrophic industrial poison leak inspired by the Bhopal gas disaster.

A. The Other Senses — a memoir recounting personal experiences of sensory impairment.

B. No Looking Back — the autobiography of Shivani Gupta detailing life after quadriplegia and her disability rights advocacy in India.

C. Animal's People — correct. It is a work of fiction shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, not an autobiography.

D. Face to Face — the celebrated 1957 autobiography of Indian writer Ved Mehta describing his childhood after losing his sight to meningitis.
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Question 40
Identify the work by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar:
1. AThe Madwoman in the Attic
2. BThe Female Imagination
3. CWomen’s Oppression Today: Problems in Marxist Feminist Analysis
4. DThe Second Sex
Answer: (A) The Madwoman in the Attic
Explanation
The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination (1979) is the classic feminist critical work co-authored by Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar.

A. The Madwoman in the Attic — correct. Investigates 19th-century female novelists and explores Bertha Mason as Jane Eyre's repressed double.

B. The Female Imagination — written by Patricia Meyer Spacks in 1975.

C. Women’s Oppression Today: Problems in Marxist Feminist Analysis — written by Michèle Barrett in 1980.

D. The Second Sex — the foundational 1949 existential feminist treatise by Simone de Beauvoir.
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Question 41
In Dryden’s Of Dramatic Poesy which speaker has been identified as the “new man” representing Dryden himself?
1. AEugenius
2. BCrites
3. CLisideius
4. DNeander
Answer: (D) Neander
Explanation
In John Dryden's 1668 dialogue An Essay of Dramatic Poesy, the persona Neander (derived from the Greek for "new man") represents Dryden himself.

A. Eugenius — represents Charles Sackville (Lord Buckhurst), who argues for the superiority of modern over ancient dramatists.

B. Crites — represents Sir Robert Howard, who champions classical Greek and Roman drama and unities.

C. Lisideius — represents Sir Charles Sedley, who advocates French neoclassical regular drama and rhymed verse.

D. Neander — correct. Dryden's spokesman who defends English dramatic vitality, variety, tragicomedy, and Shakespeare.
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Question 42
In which year was Rabindranath Tagore awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature?
1. A1920
2. B1913
3. C1956
4. D1930
Answer: (B) 1913
Explanation
Rabindranath Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, becoming the first non-European laureate in literature.

A. 1920 — the year the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Knut Hamsun.

B. 1913 — correct. Conferred in recognition of his profoundly sensitive, fresh, and beautiful verse in Gitanjali: Song Offerings.

C. 1956 — the year the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Juan Ramón Jiménez.

D. 1930 — the year C. V. Raman won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
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Question 43
Who among the following was one of the leading figures of the Oxford Movement?
1. ACharles Kingsley
2. BCardinal Newman
3. CGeorge Stephenson
4. DBenjamin Disraeli
Answer: (B) Cardinal Newman
Explanation
John Henry Newman (Cardinal Newman) was a prominent leader of the 19th-century Oxford Movement (Tractarianism), alongside John Keble and Edward Bouverie Pusey.

A. Charles Kingsley — a Broad Church cleric, novelist, and fierce critic of Newman whose disputes prompted Newman's Apologia Pro Vita Sua.

B. Cardinal Newman — correct. Authored Tracts for the Times (including Tract 90) seeking to recover high-church Catholic heritage in the Church of England.

C. George Stephenson — pioneering Victorian railway engineer and inventor of the Rocket locomotive.

D. Benjamin Disraeli — Conservative Prime Minister and novelist authoring Young England novels like Sybil.
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Question 44
Identify the most important reason due to which Stephen Dedalus leaves Ireland in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
1. AIn search of livelihood.
2. BDue to his strained relations with his family.
3. CDue to his dissatisfaction with Ireland as a nation.
4. DDue to his breakup with E. C.
Answer: (C) Due to his dissatisfaction with Ireland as a nation.
Explanation
In James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen Dedalus chooses self-imposed exile because he views Ireland as paralyzed by clericalism, colonial subjection, and cultural provincialism.

A. In search of livelihood — economic motives are secondary to his aesthetic and intellectual calling.

B. Due to his strained relations with his family — domestic conflicts reflect deeper ideological friction but are not the primary cause.

C. Due to his dissatisfaction with Ireland as a nation — correct. Stephen famously vows to fly past the "nets" of nationality, language, and religion to forge the uncreated conscience of his race.

D. Due to his breakup with E. C. — his romantic disillusionment with Emma Clery informs his poetry but does not drive his aesthetic exile.
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Question 45
Which among the following most appropriately describes the expression 'research gap'?
1. AGap year of the researcher
2. BModerate capability of the researcher
3. CThe void in a particular research subject
4. DGap in understanding of the research
Answer: (C) The void in a particular research subject
Explanation
A research gap denotes an unaddressed question, unexplored area, or empirical void within the existing body of scholarly literature on a subject.

A. Gap year of the researcher — a career sabbatical or personal break from formal study.

B. Moderate capability of the researcher — refers to researcher competency rather than an intellectual gap in literature.

C. The void in a particular research subject — correct. Identifying this void justifies the relevance and novelty of a new research inquiry.

D. Gap in understanding of the research — a reader's cognitive difficulty rather than an uncharted research territory.
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Question 46
Fill in the blanks in the following statement from the options provided below.

Ferdinand de Saussure undertook a ________ approach which saw language as a ________ that could be studied in its entirety at a given point in time.
1. Ahistorical, web
2. Bphilological, rule
3. Cdiachronic, utterance
4. Dsynchronic, structure
Answer: (D) synchronic, structure
Explanation
In his Course in General Linguistics, Ferdinand de Saussure introduced the synchronic approach, conceptualizing language (langue) as a complete self-contained system of interrelated signs at a given temporal moment.

A. historical, web — conflates 19th-century comparative linguistics with non-Saussurean terminology.

B. philological, rule — philology focuses on historical textual development across time.

C. diachronic, utterance — diachronic analysis studies evolutionary changes across time, while utterance corresponds to individual speech (parole).

D. synchronic, structure — correct. Saussure prioritized synchronic structural analysis over historical-diachronic description.
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Question 47
Which of the following statements is not true in the context of Hybridity?
1. AHybridity as a concept was popularized by the postcolonial critic Homi K Bhabha.
2. BHybridity is the creation of new cultural forms and identities as a result of the postcolonial encounter and distance from colonial encounters.
3. CHybridity in postcolonial societies can be in the form of a retrieval/revival of a pre-colonial past or to the adaptation of contemporary artistic and social productions to present-day conditions of globalization, multiculturalism, and transnationalism.
4. DHybridity enables the postcolonial writer to negotiate the dangers of cultural binarism (us/them) and the fundamentalist urge to seek ‘pure’ cultural forms.
Answer: (B) Hybridity is the creation of new cultural forms and identities as a result of the postcolonial encounter and distance from colonial encounters.
Explanation
In postcolonial theory, hybridity emerges precisely from intimate colonial and intercultural encounters rather than from isolation or distance from them.

A. True — Homi K. Bhabha developed and popularized the concept in The Location of Culture, examining the Third Space of enunciation.

B. Not true — correct. Hybridity is forged through mutual friction and colonial contact zones, not through detachment or "distance from colonial encounters".

C. True — hybrid expressions frequently blend retrieved indigenous memories with transnational and global contemporary forms.

D. True — hybridity subverts rigid colonial dualisms (colonizer/colonized) and resists essentialist claims to cultural purity.
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Question 48
Match the authors in List-I with their works in List-II.
List-I List-II
A. Mahesh Dattani I. Harvest
B. Makarand Deshpande II. Final Solutions
C. Manjula Padmanabhan III. Mukta-Dhara
D. Rabindranath Tagore IV. Manushya
1. AA-II, B-I, C-IV, D-III
2. BA-IV, B-I, C-III, D-II
3. CA-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III
4. DA-III, B-II, C-IV, D-I
Answer: (C) A-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III
Explanation
The correctly matched sequence is A-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III.

A. Mahesh Dattani — II. Final Solutions (1993 drama exploring communal tensions, prejudice, and memory in post-partition urban India).

B. Makarand Deshpande — IV. Manushya (acclaimed experimental Hindi/Marathi theatrical play directed and written by Deshpande).

C. Manjula Padmanabhan — I. Harvest (1997 award-winning futuristic drama depicting the dystopian transnational organ trade between the Global South and North).

D. Rabindranath Tagore — III. Mukta-Dhara (1922 symbolic play addressing state oppression, technology, and spiritual freedom).
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Question 49
Who among the following is the author of the essay “Tale of La Roche” ?
1. AG. B. Shaw
2. BGeorge Eliot
3. CHenry Mackenzie
4. DJonathan Swift
Answer: (C) Henry Mackenzie
Explanation
"The Story of La Roche" (or "Tale of La Roche") is a celebrated sentimental tale written by the Scottish novelist Henry Mackenzie and published in his Edinburgh periodical The Mirror (Nos. 42–44, 1779).

A. G. B. Shaw — Victorian-Edwardian playwright famed for Man and Superman and Pygmalion.

B. George Eliot — Victorian novelist author of Middlemarch and critical essays like "Silly Novels by Lady Novelists".

C. Henry Mackenzie — correct. The author of The Man of Feeling portrays a moving relationship between the philosopher David Hume and a virtuous Swiss pastor.

D. Jonathan Swift — 18th-century satirist known for A Modest Proposal and The Battle of the Books.
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Question 50
Which of the following essays is not by John Ruskin?
1. AThe Open Sky
2. BAutumn
3. CGrass
4. DA Sea Boat
Answer: (B) Autumn
Explanation
"Autumn" is an essay by Robert Lynd (and the subject of John Keats's famous ode), whereas the other three selections are celebrated nature and art essays by John Ruskin extracted from Modern Painters.

A. The Open Sky — Ruskin's eloquent chapter from Modern Painters (Vol. I) examining atmospheric clouds, light, and J. M. W. Turner's skies.

B. Autumn — correct. Not an essay written by John Ruskin.

C. Grass — Ruskin's reverent descriptive study of nature and humility from Modern Painters (Vol. III).

D. A Sea Boat — Ruskin's evocative prose reflection from Modern Painters on the design and craftsmanship of simple seafaring boats.
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Question 51
Which of the following is not written by R. K. Narayan?
1. AThe Financial Expert
2. BThe Vendor of Sweets
3. CThe Guide
4. DA Bend in the Ganges
Answer: (D) A Bend in the Ganges
Explanation
A Bend in the Ganges (published in 1964) is a celebrated partition novel written by Manohar Malgonkar, rather than R. K. Narayan.

A. The Financial Expert — Narayan's 1952 Malgudi novel centered on Margayya's rise and fall.

B. The Vendor of Sweets — Narayan's 1967 novel portraying the generational conflict between Jagan and his westernized son Mali.

C. The Guide — Narayan's 1958 Sahitya Akademi Award-winning masterpiece featuring Raju's transformation into a spiritual guru.

D. A Bend in the Ganges — correct. Authored by Manohar Malgonkar, taking its epigraph from the Ramayana.
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Question 52
The term "New Criticism" was coined by:
1. AT.S. Eliot
2. BEzra Pound
3. CJoel Spingarn
4. DI. A. Richards
Answer: (C) Joel Spingarn
Explanation
The term "New Criticism" was originally coined by the American scholar Joel Elias Spingarn in his 1910 address "The New Criticism" (published in 1911).

A. T. S. Eliot — foundational modernist critic whose essays "Tradition and the Individual Talent" and "Hamlet and His Problems" shaped close-reading methods.

B. Ezra Pound — modernist poet and Imagist theorist advocate of "make it new".

C. Joel Spingarn — correct. Spingarn introduced the phrase to advocate an aesthetic approach inspired by Benedetto Croce, decades before John Crowe Ransom's 1941 book of the same title.

D. I. A. Richards — British pioneer of practical criticism who analyzed reader protocols in Principles of Literary Criticism (1924) and Practical Criticism (1929).
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Question 53
From which of the following essays the given excerpt is taken?

“We were about to say that, being writers, we are of necessity dreamers; for thinking disposes the bodily faculties to be more than usually affected by the causes that generally produce dreaming.”
1. AShaking Hands
2. BOf Dreams
3. CDeaths of Little Children
4. DA Tale for a Chimney Corner
Answer: (B) Of Dreams
Explanation
This reflective line opens Leigh Hunt's 1820 essay "Of Dreams", published in his Romantic periodical The Indicator.

A. Shaking Hands — Hunt's witty character essay dissecting social manners and handshakes.

B. Of Dreams — correct. Hunt explores the psychological state of authors whose nocturnal imagination mirrors their creative waking thoughts.

C. Deaths of Little Children — Hunt's poignant, consolatory essay written after the loss of his son.

D. A Tale for a Chimney Corner — Hunt's essay on storytelling and atmospheric fireside ghost tales.
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Question 54
Who among the following appears in both The Ramayana and The Mahabharata?
1. ASage Dronacharya
2. BSage Ved Vyasa
3. CSage Parshurama
4. DSage Durvasa
Answer: (C) Sage Parshurama
Explanation
Sage Parashurama, the warrior-sage and sixth avatar of Vishnu, figures prominently in both ancient Indian epics.

A. Sage Dronacharya — the royal preceptor of the Pandavas and Kauravas who appears exclusively in the Mahabharata.

B. Sage Ved Vyasa — the composer of the Mahabharata who appears within his own narrative as a central ancestor.

C. Sage Parshurama — correct. He challenges Rama after the breaking of Shiva's bow in the Ramayana, and later serves as martial guru to Bhishma, Drona, and Karna in the Mahabharata.

D. Sage Durvasa — legendary sage famous for his wrath, but Parashurama is the canonical immortal warrior-sage linking both narratives.
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Question 55

Match the measures in List-I with their description in List-II.

List-I	List-II
A. Trochaic	I. An accented syllable is followed by an unaccented one.
B. Iambic	II. The first syllable is unaccented, and the second is accented.
C. Dactylic	III. One accented syllable is followed by two unaccented ones.
D. Amphibrachic	IV. The middle syllable is accented and the other two are unaccented.

AA-I, B-II, C-III, D-IV
BA-II, B-III, C-IV, D-I
CA-III, B-IV, C-I, D-II
DA-IV, B-III, C-II, D-I

Answer: (A) A-I, B-II, C-III, D-IV

Explanation

The correctly matched sequence is A-I, B-II, C-III, D-IV.

A. Trochaic — I. A metrical foot consisting of one accented syllable followed by an unaccented syllable (stress-unstress).
B. Iambic — II. A metrical foot consisting of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable (unstress-stress).
C. Dactylic — III. A three-syllable foot where one accented syllable is followed by two unaccented syllables (stress-unstress-unstress).
D. Amphibrachic — IV. A three-syllable foot where the middle syllable is accented while the flanking syllables are unaccented (unstress-stress-unstress).

Question 56
Which of the following statements is not true in the context of Samuel Johnson's ‘Preface to Shakespeare’?
1. AJohnson defends Shakespeare against charges brought by critics and writers such as John Dennis, Thomas Rymer, and Voltaire.
2. BJohnson says that Shakespeare’s plays ‘are not in the rigorous and critical sense either tragedies or comedies, but compositions of a distinct kind; exhibiting the real state of sublunary nature, which partakes of good and evil, joy and sorrow, mingled with endless variety of proportion and innumerable modes of combination.’
3. CJohnson is critical of those who criticize Shakespeare and exonerates him of any fault.
4. DJohnson points out that when Shakespeare’s plays were first ‘edited’ in 1623 by members of his acting company, these editors, though they divided the plays into comedies, histories, and tragedies, did not distinguish clearly between these three types.
Answer: (C) Johnson is critical of those who criticize Shakespeare and exonerates him of any fault.
Explanation
Statement C is not true because Samuel Johnson devotes a major section of the Preface to Shakespeare (1765) to articulating Shakespeare's artistic flaws.

A. True — Johnson defends Shakespeare's neglect of unities and mixture of tragedy and comedy against strict neoclassical critics.

B. True — an exact quotation from Johnson praising Shakespeare as the poet of nature.

C. Not true — correct. Johnson explicitly catalogues Shakespeare's faults, including weak moral purpose, loose plotting, anachronisms, and an unresisted addiction to wordplay and quibbles.

D. True — Johnson comments on the 1623 First Folio editorial classifications made by John Heminges and Henry Condell.
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Question 57
Which of the following works is not written by an American writer?
1. AKindred
2. BBeloved
3. CPossession
4. DThe Age of Innocence
Answer: (C) Possession
Explanation
Possession: A Romance (published in 1990) was written by the British novelist and critic A. S. Byatt, winning the Booker Prize in 1990.

A. Kindred — 1979 science fiction and time-travel novel by American author Octavia E. Butler.

B. Beloved — 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning neo-slave narrative by American author Toni Morrison.

C. Possession — correct. Written by the English author A. S. Byatt.

D. The Age of Innocence — 1920 novel depicting Gilded Age New York society by American novelist Edith Wharton.
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Question 58
Who among the following defines poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”?
1. AWilliam Wordsworth
2. BS T Coleridge
3. CJohn Keats
4. DLord Byron
Answer: (A) William Wordsworth
Explanation
William Wordsworth formulated this canonical Romantic definition in his 1800 Preface to Lyrical Ballads, adding that poetry takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.

A. William Wordsworth — correct. Highlights subjective emotional intensity and sincere human expression over rigid neoclassical poetic rules.

B. S. T. Coleridge — defined poetry in Biographia Literaria as "the best words in the best order" and analyzed primary versus secondary imagination.

C. John Keats — celebrated Negative Capability and stated that poetry should surprise by a fine excess.

D. Lord Byron — described poetry as the lava of the imagination whose eruption prevents an earthquake.
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Question 59
Arrange the following in the correct order:

A. Research design
B. Objective
C. Analysis
D. Hypothesis
E. Feedback

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
1. AD, B, A, C, E
2. BC, D, B, E, A
3. CB, D, A, C, E
4. DE, C, B, D, A
Answer: (C) B, D, A, C, E
Explanation
The logical sequence of stages in empirical research methodology is B, D, A, C, E.

B. Objective — formulating the primary aim and questions of the study.

D. Hypothesis — articulating testable propositions or hypotheses derived from objectives.

A. Research design — structuring the plan for sampling, instrumentation, and data collection.

C. Analysis — executing statistical or qualitative analysis on collected data.

E. Feedback — evaluating findings, drawing conclusions, and feeding results into further research.
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Question 60
From the following, identify the critic who coined the term ‘problem plays' in the context of Shakespearean drama.
1. AA.C. Bradley
2. BJohn Palmer
3. CFrederick S. Boas
4. DWilliam Hazlitt
Answer: (C) Frederick S. Boas
Explanation
Frederick S. Boas coined the term "problem plays" in Chapter 13 of his 1896 critical study Shakespeare and His Predecessors.

A. A. C. Bradley — renowned for Shakespearean Tragedy (1904), focusing on character psychology in the four great tragedies.

B. John Palmer — 20th-century theatre critic who wrote Comic Characters of Shakespeare.

C. Frederick S. Boas — correct. Applied the term (borrowed from contemporary Ibsen drama) to All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, and Troilus and Cressida.

D. William Hazlitt — Romantic critic and author of Characters of Shakespear's Plays (1817).
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Question 61
Who among the following founded the Amar Chitra Katha comic series?
1. ADharamveer Bharti
2. BSatyajit Ray
3. CAnant Pai
4. DR. K. Narayan
Answer: (C) Anant Pai
Explanation
Anant Pai (popularly known as "Uncle Pai") created and launched the iconic comic series Amar Chitra Katha in 1967.

A. Dharamveer Bharti — Hindi novelist and playwright who wrote Andha Yug and edited Dharmyug.

B. Satyajit Ray — master filmmaker and author who created the detective Feluda and Professor Shonku.

C. Anant Pai — correct. Pai aimed to educate Indian youth in Indian mythology, folklore, and historical heritage through engaging visual comics.

D. R. K. Narayan — author of the fictional town of Malgudi.
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Question 62
Who among the following has written the book Red Earth and Pouring Rain?
1. AR. K. Narayan
2. BUrvashi Butalia
3. CVikram Chandra
4. DAmit Chaudhuri
Answer: (C) Vikram Chandra
Explanation
Red Earth and Pouring Rain (published in 1995) is the celebrated debut novel by Indian-American author Vikram Chandra.

A. R. K. Narayan — author of Swami and Friends and The Bachelor of Arts.

B. Urvashi Butalia — feminist publisher and historian who wrote The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India.

C. Vikram Chandra — correct. The novel weaves ancient myths and 19th-century colonial history, winning the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book.

D. Amit Chaudhuri — novelist and critic authoring A Strange and Sublime Address.
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Question 63
Which of the following novels has been written by Vladimir Nabokov?
1. AThe Brothers Karamazov
2. BCrime and Punishment
3. CLolita
4. DAnna Karenina
Answer: (C) Lolita
Explanation
Lolita (published in Paris in 1955) is the internationally celebrated novel by Russian-American author Vladimir Nabokov.

A. The Brothers Karamazov — the final philosophical novel written by Fyodor Dostoevsky in 1880.

B. Crime and Punishment — psychological masterpiece written by Fyodor Dostoevsky in 1866.

C. Lolita — correct. Written in English by Nabokov and narrated by the unreliable protagonist Humbert Humbert.

D. Anna Karenina — 1877 tragic realist novel written by Leo Tolstoy.
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Question 64
How many feet does an ‘iambic pentameter’ have?
1. A4
2. B6
3. C3
4. D5
Answer: (D) 5
Explanation
An iambic pentameter line contains five metrical feet (from the Greek "penta" meaning five), each consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

A. 4 — four metrical feet constitute a tetrameter.

B. 6 — six metrical feet constitute a hexameter (or Alexandrine).

C. 3 — three metrical feet constitute a trimeter.

D. 5 — correct. A total of five iambic feet comprising ten syllables per line, standard in Shakespearean blank verse and heroic couplets.
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Question 65
Identify the language learning approach/method from the following clues: It involves a systematic presentation of the structures of the L2, moving from the simple to the more complex, in the form of drills that a student has to repeat. This practice involves hours spent in a language lab repeating oral drills. The method has been hailed as highly effective when used in intensive foreign language programs, notably in courses for military personnel.
1. AAudiolingual Method
2. BThe Grammar—Translation Method
3. CCommunicative Approach
4. DTask-Based Learning
Answer: (A) Audiolingual Method
Explanation
The Audiolingual Method (originally known as the Army Method during World War II) relies on structural linguistics and behaviorist conditioning through repetition, mimicry, and language lab audio drills.

A. Audiolingual Method — correct. Treats language learning as habit formation through stimulus-response reinforcement and dialog memorization.

B. The Grammar—Translation Method — traditional pedagogy centered on reading literary texts, memorizing grammar rules, and translating sentences into L1.

C. Communicative Approach — focuses on functional communication, authentic tasks, and interactive fluency rather than repetitive structural drills.

D. Task-Based Learning — organizes syllabus units around meaningful real-world communicative tasks.
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Question 66
Which of the following word classes does not consist of content words?
1. AVerb
2. BAdjective
3. CPreposition
4. DAdverb
Answer: (C) Preposition
Explanation
Prepositions belong to the closed class of function (grammatical) words that signal relationships between other words, rather than lexical content words.

A. Verb — open class of content words denoting actions, processes, or states.

B. Adjective — open class of content words denoting qualities and properties.

C. Preposition — correct. Function words that indicate spatial, temporal, or logical relations (such as "in", "at", "by", and "under").

D. Adverb — open class of content words modifying verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
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Question 67
Who among the following is a bilingual poet?
1. ANissim Ezekiel
2. BEunice D'Souza
3. CArun Kolatkar
4. DArun Joshi
Answer: (C) Arun Kolatkar
Explanation
Arun Kolatkar was a renowned bilingual modernist poet who wrote and published extensively in both Marathi and English.

A. Nissim Ezekiel — wrote exclusively in English, central to Bombay's English-language poetry circle.

B. Eunice D'Souza — wrote her poetry and fiction in English.

C. Arun Kolatkar — correct. Awarded the Commonwealth Poetry Prize for Jejuri in English, and the Sahitya Akademi Award for his Marathi collection Bhijki Vahi.

D. Arun Joshi — Indian English novelist author of The Apprentice and The City and the River.
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Question 68
Identify the definition of Illocutionary act under speech act:
1. AThe production of an utterance, with a particular intended structure, meaning, and reference.
2. BA speech act which depends on the production of a specific effect.
3. CAn act performed by a speaker in saying something, rather than by virtue of having produced a particular effect by saying something.
4. DThe person producing an utterance.
Answer: (C) An act performed by a speaker in saying something, rather than by virtue of having produced a particular effect by saying something.
Explanation
In J. L. Austin's speech act framework from How to Do Things with Words, an illocutionary act represents the conventional communicative force enacted directly in the performance of saying something.

A. Locutionary act — the foundational act of producing meaningful, grammatical speech sounds with reference and sense.

B. Perlocutionary act — the consequential psychological or behavioral effect produced upon the listener by saying something.

C. Illocutionary act — correct. The action performed in saying something, such as warning, promising, baptizing, or ordering.

D. Speaker/Addresser — denotes the human producer of the speech act.
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Question 69
Identify the French term equivalent of ‘do-it-yourself’, which came into use in structuralist criticism in the early 1960s in the work of Claude Levi-Strauss.
1. ACathexis
2. BDasein
3. CFacticity
4. DBricolage
Answer: (D) Bricolage
Explanation
Claude Lévi-Strauss introduced the concept of bricolage in The Savage Mind (1962) to describe mythological thought assembling meaning from whatever diverse cultural elements are readily available.

A. Cathexis — psychoanalytic term coined by Freud's translators for the investment of mental or emotional energy in a person, object, or idea.

B. Dasein — Martin Heidegger's existential phenomenological term meaning "being-there".

C. Facticity — existentialist concept referring to the unchosen conditions of one's existence.

D. Bricolage — correct. The French colloquial term for handyman work or "do-it-yourself", contrasted by Lévi-Strauss with the methodical design of the engineer.
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Question 70
Which of the following statements is true for Ecriture feminine?

A. A loose English translation of ecriture feminine is ‘Feminine writing’.
B. It is described as a uniquely feminine style of writing, characterized by disruptions in the text; gaps, silences, puns, rhythms etc.
C. It is comprehensible, and consistent, and easy to read and understand.
D. Ecriture feminine is political.

Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
1. AA, B and C only
2. BA, B and D only
3. CB, C and D only
4. DA and D only
Answer: (B) A, B and D only
Explanation
Statements A, B, and D accurately characterize écriture féminine, while statement C is false.

Statement A is true — écriture féminine literally translates as women's or feminine writing.

Statement B is true — theorists like Hélène Cixous in "The Laugh of the Medusa" describe it as rooted in female embodiment, rhythm, wordplay, gaps, and fluid subversion.

Statement C is false — it deliberately repudiates rigid phallogocentric coherence, linear predictability, and easy patriarchal comprehension.

Statement D is true — it represents a radical political intervention challenging patriarchal linguistic domination.
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Question 71
From the options provided below, identify the text in which the following lines appear:

"Heaven has no rage, like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury, like a woman scorned".
1. AThe Country Wife
2. BThe Old Bachelor
3. CThe Mourning Bride
4. DThe Way of the World
Answer: (C) The Mourning Bride
Explanation
These famous closing lines of Act III belong to William Congreve's 1697 verse tragedy The Mourning Bride, spoken by Queen Zara.

A. The Country Wife — William Wycherley's 1675 Restoration comedy featuring Horner's cuckolding scheme.

B. The Old Bachelor — Congreve's 1693 debut Restoration comedy.

C. The Mourning Bride — correct. Congreve's only tragedy, which also contains the line "Musick has charms to soothe a savage breast".

D. The Way of the World — Congreve's 1700 masterpiece of manners featuring Mirabell and Millamant.
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Question 72
Who among the following holds that “life is not a series of gig lamps symmetrically arranged”?
1. AVirginia Woolf
2. BJames Joyce
3. CHenry James
4. DGeorge Eliot
Answer: (A) Virginia Woolf
Explanation
Virginia Woolf formulated this famous modern aesthetic declaration in her 1919 critical essay "Modern Fiction".

A. Virginia Woolf — correct. Woolf urges novelists to record luminous impressions rather than superficial materialist details.

B. James Joyce — pioneer of the stream of consciousness technique in Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.

C. Henry James — master of narrative point of view in The Art of Fiction.

D. George Eliot — major Victorian realist author of Middlemarch and Silas Marner.
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Question 73

Match the authors in List-I with their works in List-II.

List-I	List-II
A. Kavita Kane	I. Ganga: The Constant Goddess
B. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni	II. Asuras: A Tale of the Vanquished
C. Anuja Chandramouli	III. The Palace of Illusions
D. Anant Neelakantan	IV. Menaka’s Choice

AA-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III
BA-IV, B-III, C-I, D-II
CA-III, B-IV, C-II, D-I
DA-III, B-I, C-IV, D-II

Answer: (B) A-IV, B-III, C-I, D-II

Explanation

The correctly matched sequence is A-IV, B-III, C-I, D-II.

A. Kavita Kane — IV. Menaka’s Choice (2015 feminist mythological retelling centered on the celestial apsara Menaka).
B. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni — III. The Palace of Illusions (2008 bestselling novel narrating the Mahabharata from Panchaali's perspective).
C. Anuja Chandramouli — I. Ganga: The Constant Goddess (2018 mythological fantasy chronicling the goddess Ganga).
D. Anand Neelakantan — II. Asuras: Tale of the Vanquished (2012 subversive mythological novel recounting the Ramayana from the viewpoint of Ravana).

Question 74
Identify the correct chronological sequence of the following works:

A. Heart of Darkness
B. Emma
C. Sense and Sensibility
D. Far from the Madding Crowd
E. A Tale of Two Cities

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
1. AB, C, D, A, E
2. BC, E, B, D, A
3. CB, D, C, E, A
4. DC, B, E, D, A
Answer: (D) C, B, E, D, A
Explanation
The correct chronological sequence of initial publication is C, B, E, D, A.

C. Sense and Sensibility — Jane Austen's first published novel, appearing in 1811.

B. Emma — Jane Austen's comedy of manners published in late 1815.

E. A Tale of Two Cities — Charles Dickens's historical novel of London and Paris during the French Revolution, published in 1859.

D. Far from the Madding Crowd — Thomas Hardy's Wessex novel published in 1874.

A. Heart of Darkness — Joseph Conrad's modernist novella serialized in Blackwood's Magazine in 1899 and published in book form in 1902.
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Question 75
Which of the following has been a consistent genre in Suniti Namjoshi's writings?
1. AScience
2. BFolktales
3. CMythology
4. DHistory
Answer: (B) Folktales
Explanation
Suniti Namjoshi is celebrated in feminist, queer, and postcolonial Indian English literature for her subversive fabulation and reinvention of folktales and fables.

A. Science — scientific treatise writing is not her literary medium.

B. Folktales — correct. Exemplified by Feminist Fables (1981) and The Blue Donkey Fables, deconstructing patriarchal folktale archetypes.

C. Mythology — she draws upon myths occasionally, but her distinctive structural genre across collections is the feminist fable and folktale.

D. History — she writes allegorical and poetic fables rather than realist historical fiction.
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Question 76
Which Indian book won the Booker prize in 1997?
1. AA Suitable Boy
2. BMidnight's Children
3. CThe God of Small Things
4. DTomb of Sand
Answer: (C) The God of Small Things
Explanation
Arundhati Roy was awarded the Booker Prize in 1997 for her debut novel The God of Small Things, making her the first non-expatriate Indian citizen to win the prize.

A. A Suitable Boy — Vikram Seth's 1993 epic novel of post-independence India.

B. Midnight's Children — Salman Rushdie won the Booker Prize in 1981, as well as the Booker of Bookers in 1993.

C. The God of Small Things — correct. Set in Ayemenem, Kerala, chronicling the childhood experiences of the fraternal twins Rahel and Esthappen.

D. Tomb of Sand — Geetanjali Shree's novel (translated by Daisy Rockwell) won the International Booker Prize in 2022.
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Question 77
Which character from the following does not appear in Cilapattikaram?
1. AKovalan
2. BManimekalai
3. CVasantasena
4. DMadhavi
Answer: (C) Vasantasena
Explanation
Vasantasena is the wealthy and noble courtesan heroine of Sudraka's classic Sanskrit drama Mrcchakatika (The Little Clay Cart), rather than the Tamil epic Cilappatikaram.

A. Kovalan — the central male protagonist of Cilappatikaram and husband of Kannagi.

B. Manimekalai — daughter of Kovalan and Madhavi who is born in Cilappatikaram and becomes the ascetic protagonist of its sequel epic.

C. Vasantasena — correct. Belongs to the classical Sanskrit dramatic tradition of Sudraka.

D. Madhavi — the accomplished dancer and courtesan who becomes Kovalan's lover in Cilappatikaram.
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Question 78
"One shade the more, one ray the less, had half impaired the nameless grace". Identify the poet.
1. ALord Byron
2. BP. B. Shelley
3. CJohn Keats
4. DWilliam Blake
Answer: (A) Lord Byron
Explanation
These lines are from Lord Byron's lyric poem "She Walks in Beauty", published in 1815 in his collection Hebrew Melodies.

A. Lord Byron — correct. Celebrates the harmonious balance of dark and bright in Mrs. Anne Beatrix Wilmot's countenance.

B. P. B. Shelley — Romantic visionary lyricist of "Ozymandias" and "Ode to the West Wind".

C. John Keats — Romantic poet of "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "To Autumn".

D. William Blake — author of Songs of Innocence and of Experience.
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Question 79
Which of the following is not true in the context of Cultural Materialism?
1. AIt refers to the manner in which economic forces and modes of production inevitably impinge upon cultural products such as literary works.
2. BIt is a movement in British literary theory that insistently pursues the materialist basis of cultural phenomena.
3. CAlongside textual evidence, cultural materialists pursue all kinds of contextual evidence in order to try to explain the text as a material object.
4. DThis term was first used by Pierre Bourdieu.
Answer: (D) This term was first used by Pierre Bourdieu.
Explanation
Statement D is false because the critical term "Cultural Materialism" was coined and formulated by the Welsh Marxist cultural theorist Raymond Williams in Marxism and Literature (1977).

A. True — analyzes how economic relations, institutions, and political modes of production shape culture.

B. True — developed by British critics like Jonathan Dollimore and Alan Sinfield to read Renaissance texts within socio-political history.

C. True — cultural materialists integrate historical documents and institutional context to examine literature as material production.

D. Not true — correct. Pierre Bourdieu developed the sociology of culture and habitus, but did not coin the literary critical movement of Cultural Materialism.
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Question 80
Which of the following novels was not published in 1847?
1. AVanity Fair
2. BWuthering Heights
3. CHard Times
4. DJane Eyre
Answer: (C) Hard Times
Explanation
Charles Dickens's industrial novel Hard Times: For These Times was published in 1854, serialized in his weekly periodical Household Words.

A. Vanity Fair — William Makepeace Thackeray's novel without a hero, serialized in monthly parts beginning in January 1847.

B. Wuthering Heights — Emily Brontë's novel published under the pseudonym Ellis Bell in December 1847.

C. Hard Times — correct. Published in 1854, seven years after the extraordinary literary year of 1847.

D. Jane Eyre — Charlotte Brontë's novel published under the pseudonym Currer Bell in October 1847.
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Question 81
Who among the following uses the 'touchstone method' to define the function of poetry?
1. ARobert Browning
2. BDG Rossetti
3. CMatthew Arnold
4. DAlfred Tennyson
Answer: (C) Matthew Arnold
Explanation
Matthew Arnold introduced the "touchstone method" in his landmark critical essay "The Study of Poetry" (1880).

A. Robert Browning — Victorian dramatic monologist who wrote "My Last Duchess" and The Ring and the Book.

B. D. G. Rossetti — Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood painter and poet of "The Blessed Damozel".

C. Matthew Arnold — correct. Arnold proposed testing the greatness of poetry by comparing passages against touchstone lines from Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and Milton.

D. Alfred Tennyson — Victorian Poet Laureate who wrote In Memoriam and Idylls of the King.
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Question 82
What kind of phrase is the following: at three o'clock?
1. ANoun phrase
2. BPrepositional phrase
3. CAdjective phrase
4. DAdverb phrase
Answer: (B) Prepositional phrase
Explanation
The construction "at three o'clock" is structurally a prepositional phrase because it consists of a head preposition ("at") governing a noun phrase complement ("three o'clock").

A. Noun phrase — a phrase headed by a noun, such as "three o'clock".

B. Prepositional phrase — correct. Its grammatical form is defined by its head preposition, even when functioning adverbially as an adjunct of time.

C. Adjective phrase — a phrase headed by an adjective modifying a noun.

D. Adverb phrase — a phrase headed by an adverb (such as "very quickly").
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Question 83
What defines an ‘edition’?
1. AThe total number of books in a year
2. BThe total number of books sold
3. CThe total number of books owned by the author
4. DThe total number of copies of a book printed from one set of type
Answer: (D) The total number of copies of a book printed from one set of type
Explanation
In descriptive bibliography and textual criticism (as codified by Fredson Bowers and Philip Gaskell), an edition encompasses all copies of a book printed at any time from substantially the same setting of type.

A. The total number of books in a year — annual publishing output or trade volume.

B. The total number of books sold — commercial sales circulation.

C. The total number of books owned by the author — authorial personal library or holdings.

D. The total number of copies of a book printed from one set of type — correct. Distinguished from an "impression" or "issue" within that same typographical setting.
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Question 84
Identify the term that was introduced by Noam Chomsky in Aspects of the Theory of Syntax to describe a native speaker’s tacit or innate understanding of his or her own language.
1. AConstative
2. BCommunicative action
3. CCollocation
4. DCompetence
Answer: (D) Competence
Explanation
In Aspects of the Theory of Syntax (1965), Noam Chomsky established the fundamental generative distinction between linguistic competence and linguistic performance.

A. Constative — J. L. Austin's speech act term for declarative utterances that describe states of affairs and can be true or false.

B. Communicative action — Jürgen Habermas's critical sociological theory of interaction aimed at reaching shared mutual understanding.

C. Collocation — J. R. Firth's corpus linguistics concept regarding the habitual co-occurrence of specific words.

D. Competence — correct. The ideal native speaker-hearer's internalized tacit knowledge of the grammatical rules of their language.
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Question 85
Match the works in List-I with authors in List-II.
List-I List-II
A. Of Jesting I. Abraham Cowley
B. Of Solitude II. Ben Jonson
C. Fortuna III. Thomas Fuller
D. Of Toleration IV. Sir Thomas Browne
1. AA-I, B-II, C-III, D-IV
2. BA-IV, B-III, C-II, D-I
3. CA-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III
4. DA-III, B-I, C-II, D-IV
Answer: (D) A-III, B-I, C-II, D-IV
Explanation
The correctly matched sequence is A-III, B-I, C-II, D-IV.

A. Of Jesting — III. Thomas Fuller (famous character essay in his 1642 work The Holy State and the Profane State).

B. Of Solitude — I. Abraham Cowley (classic 17th-century prose essay included in Several Discourses by way of Essays in Verse and Prose, 1668).

C. Fortuna — II. Ben Jonson (critical and philosophical reflections in Timber, or Discoveries).

D. Of Toleration — IV. Sir Thomas Browne (reflections on religious toleration and charity in Religio Medici, 1643).
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Question 86
Match the works in List-I with their authors in List-II.
List-I List-II
A. Small Remedies I. Rohinton Mistry
B. Maila Aanchal II. Dharamveer Bharati
C. Sooraj Ka Satva Ghoda III. Shashi Deshpande
D. Family Matters IV. Phanishwar Nath Renu
1. AA-III, B-IV, C-II, D-I
2. BA-III, B-IV, C-I, D-II
3. CA-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III
4. DA-IV, B-II, C-I, D-III
Answer: (A) A-III, B-IV, C-II, D-I
Explanation
The correctly matched sequence is A-III, B-IV, C-II, D-I.

A. Small Remedies — III. Shashi Deshpande (2000 novel exploring female grief, memory, and musical biographies).

B. Maila Aanchal — IV. Phanishwar Nath Renu (1954 landmark Hindi regional anchalik novel set in the village of Maryganj in Bihar).

C. Sooraj Ka Satva Ghoda — II. Dharamveer Bharati (1952 innovative Hindi metafictional novella exploring lower-middle-class romance).

D. Family Matters — I. Rohinton Mistry (2002 novel following an elderly Parsi family in Mumbai).
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Question 87
Identify the writer of the following statement: “In English writing we seldom speak of tradition, though we occasionally apply its name in deploring its absence”.
1. AW. H. Auden
2. BRoland Barthes
3. CKenneth Burke
4. DT. S. Eliot
Answer: (D) T. S. Eliot
Explanation
This is the famous opening sentence of T. S. Eliot's landmark critical essay "Tradition and the Individual Talent", first published in The Egoist in 1919.

A. W. H. Auden — Anglo-American poet and critic who wrote The Dyer's Hand.

B. Roland Barthes — French structuralist and poststructuralist theorist who wrote "The Death of the Author" (1967).

C. Kenneth Burke — American literary theorist and philosopher of dramatism who wrote A Grammar of Motives.

D. T. S. Eliot — correct. Eliot begins by interrogating English literary culture's suspicion of tradition before proposing the historical sense.
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Question 88
Choose the correct sequence from among the following as per the publication of the works:

A. The Dark Room - R.K. Narayan
B. Untouchable - Mulk Raj Anand
C. The Serpent and the Rope - Raja Rao
D. Azadi - Chaman Nahal
E. Train to Pakistan - Khushwant Singh

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
1. AD, C, A, B, E
2. BA, B, C, E, D
3. CB, C, E, D, A
4. DC, D, B, E, A
Accepted answers: (A) D, C, A, B, E, (B) A, B, C, E, D, (C) B, C, E, D, A, (D) C, D, B, E, A
Explanation
NTA dropped this question from scoring in the final answer key because none of the four options offered the correct chronological publication sequence.

Chronological publication dates of the five novels:

B. Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand — published in 1935 with a preface by E. M. Forster

A. The Dark Room by R. K. Narayan — published in 1938

E. Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh — published in 1956

C. The Serpent and the Rope by Raja Rao — published in 1960

D. Azadi by Chaman Nahal — published in 1975

The valid chronological sequence is B, A, E, C, D. Because this correct permutation was missing from the choices, all options are accepted.
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Question 89
Who coined the term ‘Objective Correlative’?
1. AWashington Allston
2. BI A Richards
3. CT S Eliot
4. DF R Leavis
Answer: (A) Washington Allston
Explanation
The American poet and painter Washington Allston originally coined the phrase "objective correlative" around 1840 in his Lectures on Art (published posthumously in 1850).

A. Washington Allston — correct. Allston introduced the phrase to denote an external object that produces a specific emotion in the observer.

B. I. A. Richards — introduced terms like vehicle and tenor, and pseudo-statements in poetry.

C. T. S. Eliot — famously adopted and popularized the term in 20th-century criticism in his 1919 essay "Hamlet and His Problems", though he did not coin it.

D. F. R. Leavis — Cambridge critic and editor of Scrutiny, author of The Great Tradition.
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Question 90
Match the authors in List-I with their works in List-II.
List-I List-II
A. Horace Walpole I. Vathek
B. M. G. Lewis II. The Castle of Otranto
C. William Beckford III. The Mysteries of Udolpho
D. Ann Radcliffe IV. The Monk
1. AA-IV, B-I, C-II, D-III
2. BA-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III
3. CA-I, B-IV, C-III, D-II
4. DA-III, B-II, C-IV, D-I
Answer: (B) A-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III
Explanation
The correctly matched sequence is A-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III.

A. Horace Walpole — II. The Castle of Otranto (1764 foundational Gothic romance).

B. M. G. Lewis — IV. The Monk (1796 sensational Gothic novel of depravity and the supernatural).

C. William Beckford — I. Vathek (1786 Orientalist Gothic tale of the Caliph Vathek).

D. Ann Radcliffe — III. The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794 terror romance famed for the technique of the explained supernatural).
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Question 91
Identify the poem in which these lines occur:
A sort of walking miracle, my skin
Bright as a Nazi lampshade,
My right foot
A paperweight,
My face a featureless, fine
Jew linen.

Peel off the napkin
O my enemy.
Do I terrify?---
The nose, the eye pits, the full set of teeth?
The sour breath
Will vanish in a day.
1. ABecause I could not stop for death
2. BLady Lazarus
3. CDaddy
4. DThe Bell Jar
Answer: (B) Lady Lazarus
Explanation
These lines open Sylvia Plath's iconic confessional poem "Lady Lazarus", composed in October 1962 and published posthumously in Ariel (1965).

A. Because I could not stop for death — Emily Dickinson's lyric on mortality.

B. Lady Lazarus — correct. The speaker describes herself as "a sort of walking miracle" who survives self-destruction once every decade.

C. Daddy — Plath's poem confronting patriarchal oppression through Holocaust and vampire motifs.

D. The Bell Jar — Plath's 1963 semi-autobiographical novel featuring the protagonist Esther Greenwood.
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Question 92
Which of the following is the holocaust image in the passage?
A sort of walking miracle, my skin
Bright as a Nazi lampshade,
My right foot
A paperweight,
My face a featureless, fine
Jew linen.

Peel off the napkin
O my enemy.
Do I terrify?---
The nose, the eye pits, the full set of teeth?
The sour breath
Will vanish in a day.
1. Anapkin
2. Bskin
3. Csour breath
4. Dpaperweight
Answer: (B) skin
Explanation
In lines 1–2, the speaker's skin is explicitly aligned with Holocaust atrocity through the terrifying simile: "my skin / Bright as a Nazi lampshade".

A. napkin — used to veil or uncover the face like a theatrical or burial covering.

B. skin — correct. Evokes the historical Nazi practice of producing lampshades from the skin of concentration camp victims.

C. sour breath — represents physical bodily recovery and respiration after revival.

D. paperweight — figures the speaker's right foot reduced to a detached inert household object.
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Question 93
What is the predominant imagery in this poem?
A sort of walking miracle, my skin
Bright as a Nazi lampshade,
My right foot
A paperweight,
My face a featureless, fine
Jew linen.

Peel off the napkin
O my enemy.
Do I terrify?---
The nose, the eye pits, the full set of teeth?
The sour breath
Will vanish in a day.
1. Awater
2. Bdisease
3. Csuicide
4. DHolocaust
Answer: (D) Holocaust
Explanation
The extract is dominated by direct Holocaust iconography, figuring personal trauma through the collective memory of concentration camp persecution.

A. water — absent in this opening excerpt.

B. disease — bodily decay is invoked, but the controlling symbolic framework is the Nazi death camp.

C. suicide — the underlying biographical subject, but Holocaust artifacts constitute the predominant imagery.

D. Holocaust — correct. Evidenced by "Nazi lampshade" and "fine / Jew linen" framing the speaker's resurrected body.
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Question 94
Identify a metaphor in the passage:
A sort of walking miracle, my skin
Bright as a Nazi lampshade,
My right foot
A paperweight,
My face a featureless, fine
Jew linen.

Peel off the napkin
O my enemy.
Do I terrify?---
The nose, the eye pits, the full set of teeth?
The sour breath
Will vanish in a day.
1. Aenemy
2. Bmiracle
3. Cpaperweight
4. Dfoot
Answer: (C) paperweight
Explanation
In lines 3–4, the speaker asserts "My right foot / A paperweight", equating her body part directly with an inert desk ornament without an explicit comparative marker like "like" or "as".

A. enemy — a direct noun apostrophe ("O my enemy") addressing the tormenting onlooker.

B. miracle — part of the comparative appositive "A sort of walking miracle".

C. paperweight — correct. A direct metaphor reducing living human anatomy to an utilitarian manufactured item.

D. foot — the literal anatomical referent of the metaphor.
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Question 95
Identify the biblical reference in the title of the poem:
A sort of walking miracle, my skin
Bright as a Nazi lampshade,
My right foot
A paperweight,
My face a featureless, fine
Jew linen.

Peel off the napkin
O my enemy.
Do I terrify?---
The nose, the eye pits, the full set of teeth?
The sour breath
Will vanish in a day.
1. Alady
2. Benemy
3. Clinen
4. DLazarus
Answer: (D) Lazarus
Explanation
The title "Lady Lazarus" directly alludes to Lazarus of Bethany in Chapter 11 of the Gospel of John, whom Jesus restored to life after four days in the tomb.

A. lady — a secular social and gender honorific.

B. enemy — a general relational term appearing in the body of the poem.

C. linen — a textile reference in the poem recalling burial shrouds.

D. Lazarus — correct. The biblical figure who serves as the archetype of resurrection from death.
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Question 96
Which of the following most appropriately describes Gandhi's reasons for making Hindu scriptures a part of education?
Gandhi was against the English system of education as also against the use of English as a medium of instruction. He wanted education to be in the vernacular. He advocated free and compulsory education for all boys and girls between 7 and 14 years.

In Gandhi’s view, education should be an integrated approach to the full development of the personality; it should include physical training and high moral principles along with intellectual and cognitive development. He differentiated between learning and education, knowledge and wisdom, literacy and lessons of life. According to him, “Literacy in itself is no education.”

To Gandhi, morality had to be a part of education. Taking a leaf from Plato, Gandhi said that education should be a means of attaining knowledge and wisdom that ultimately place the seeker on the spiritual path. The end of education was not merely a means to make a career and achieve social status. Education should be a means to enlightenment. Gandhi also wanted the Hindu scriptures to be a part of education as they propounded discipline and self-restraint.
1. ABecause he believed that Hindu scriptures propound discipline and self-restraint.
2. BBecause he was against the English system of education.
3. CBecause he was against the use of English as a medium of instruction.
4. DBecause he wanted education to be in the vernacular.
Answer: (A) Because he believed that Hindu scriptures propound discipline and self-restraint.
Explanation
The passage explicitly states in its concluding sentence: "Gandhi also wanted the Hindu scriptures to be a part of education as they propounded discipline and self-restraint."

A. Because he believed that Hindu scriptures propound discipline and self-restraint — correct. Directly articulates the moral and pedagogical justification stated in the text.

B. Because he was against the English system of education — describes his broader educational critique, not the specific rationale for including scriptures.

C. Because he was against the use of English as a medium of instruction — reflects his linguistic stance.

D. Because he wanted education to be in the vernacular — explains his medium of instruction policy rather than the moral content of scriptures.
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Question 97
Identify the kind of writing which the passage exemplifies.
Gandhi was against the English system of education as also against the use of English as a medium of instruction. He wanted education to be in the vernacular. He advocated free and compulsory education for all boys and girls between 7 and 14 years.

In Gandhi’s view, education should be an integrated approach to the full development of the personality; it should include physical training and high moral principles along with intellectual and cognitive development. He differentiated between learning and education, knowledge and wisdom, literacy and lessons of life. According to him, “Literacy in itself is no education.”

To Gandhi, morality had to be a part of education. Taking a leaf from Plato, Gandhi said that education should be a means of attaining knowledge and wisdom that ultimately place the seeker on the spiritual path. The end of education was not merely a means to make a career and achieve social status. Education should be a means to enlightenment. Gandhi also wanted the Hindu scriptures to be a part of education as they propounded discipline and self-restraint.
1. ASubjective writing
2. BMemoir writing
3. CReflective writing
4. DScientific writing
Answer: (C) Reflective writing
Explanation
The passage provides an analytical and philosophical contemplation on the nature of education, ethical values, and holistic human development, which exemplifies reflective writing.

A. Subjective writing — emphasizes private emotions and personal bias rather than philosophical principles.

B. Memoir writing — personal narrative recounting specific biographical episodes.

C. Reflective writing — correct. Meditates upon concepts of wisdom, moral character, and educational philosophy.

D. Scientific writing — empirical reporting characterized by formal hypotheses, quantitative data, and lab methodology.
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Question 98
Based on the passage, which of the following statements is incorrect?
Gandhi was against the English system of education as also against the use of English as a medium of instruction. He wanted education to be in the vernacular. He advocated free and compulsory education for all boys and girls between 7 and 14 years.

In Gandhi’s view, education should be an integrated approach to the full development of the personality; it should include physical training and high moral principles along with intellectual and cognitive development. He differentiated between learning and education, knowledge and wisdom, literacy and lessons of life. According to him, “Literacy in itself is no education.”

To Gandhi, morality had to be a part of education. Taking a leaf from Plato, Gandhi said that education should be a means of attaining knowledge and wisdom that ultimately place the seeker on the spiritual path. The end of education was not merely a means to make a career and achieve social status. Education should be a means to enlightenment. Gandhi also wanted the Hindu scriptures to be a part of education as they propounded discipline and self-restraint.
1. AEducation should be specialization based for the full development of the personality.
2. BGandhi advocated free and compulsory education for all boys and girls between 7 and 14 years.
3. CAccording to Gandhi, ‘Literacy in itself is no education.’
4. DGandhi differentiated between learning and education, knowledge and wisdom, literacy and lessons of life.
Answer: (A) Education should be specialization based for the full development of the personality.
Explanation
Statement A is incorrect because the passage asserts that education must be an "integrated approach to the full development of the personality", directly contradicting narrow specialization.

A. Incorrect statement — correct answer. Gandhi advocates holistic development integrating physical, moral, intellectual, and spiritual growth rather than premature specialization.

B. Correct per passage — paragraph 1 explicitly notes Gandhi advocated free and compulsory education between 7 and 14 years.

C. Correct per passage — paragraph 2 cites his exact dictum: "Literacy in itself is no education."

D. Correct per passage — paragraph 2 explicitly lists these precise philosophical distinctions.
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Question 99
As per the passage, the end of education is to serve as a means to:

A. Achieve social status
B. Make a career
C. Enlightenment
D. Literacy
Gandhi was against the English system of education as also against the use of English as a medium of instruction. He wanted education to be in the vernacular. He advocated free and compulsory education for all boys and girls between 7 and 14 years.

In Gandhi’s view, education should be an integrated approach to the full development of the personality; it should include physical training and high moral principles along with intellectual and cognitive development. He differentiated between learning and education, knowledge and wisdom, literacy and lessons of life. According to him, “Literacy in itself is no education.”

To Gandhi, morality had to be a part of education. Taking a leaf from Plato, Gandhi said that education should be a means of attaining knowledge and wisdom that ultimately place the seeker on the spiritual path. The end of education was not merely a means to make a career and achieve social status. Education should be a means to enlightenment. Gandhi also wanted the Hindu scriptures to be a part of education as they propounded discipline and self-restraint.
1. AA, B and C only
2. BB, C and D only
3. CC, D and A only
4. DB, D and A only
Answer: (A) A, B and C only
Explanation
Paragraph 3 of the passage states: "The end of education was not merely a means to make a career and achieve social status. Education should be a means to enlightenment."

A, B, and C — the passage explicitly discusses achieving social status (A) and making a career (B) as conventional ends, while elevating enlightenment (C) as the ultimate spiritual end.

D. Literacy — Gandhi explicitly rejects literacy as an end in itself, stating in paragraph 2 that "Literacy in itself is no education".

Therefore, the combination encompassing A, B, and C represents the textual concepts addressed in relation to the ends of education.
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Question 100
Identify the type of narrator in the passage:
Gandhi was against the English system of education as also against the use of English as a medium of instruction. He wanted education to be in the vernacular. He advocated free and compulsory education for all boys and girls between 7 and 14 years.

In Gandhi’s view, education should be an integrated approach to the full development of the personality; it should include physical training and high moral principles along with intellectual and cognitive development. He differentiated between learning and education, knowledge and wisdom, literacy and lessons of life. According to him, “Literacy in itself is no education.”

To Gandhi, morality had to be a part of education. Taking a leaf from Plato, Gandhi said that education should be a means of attaining knowledge and wisdom that ultimately place the seeker on the spiritual path. The end of education was not merely a means to make a career and achieve social status. Education should be a means to enlightenment. Gandhi also wanted the Hindu scriptures to be a part of education as they propounded discipline and self-restraint.
1. AFirst Person Narrator
2. BSecond Person Narrator
3. CThird Person Narrator
4. DFallible Narrator
Answer: (C) Third Person Narrator
Explanation
The text is recounted from an objective, detached third-person perspective using third-person pronouns ("he", "his") and referring to "Gandhi" as an external subject.

A. First Person Narrator — uses subjective "I" or "we" narration.

B. Second Person Narrator — addresses the reader directly using "you".

C. Third Person Narrator — correct. An external, expository third-person voice explaining Gandhi's educational principles.

D. Fallible Narrator — an unreliable narrator whose credibility is compromised.
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Attempt Paper 2 — English Literature as a timed test

Spotted a shift or questions missing from this paper?

Frequently asked questions

How many questions were in the UGC NET English Literature September 2026 exam?

Paper 1 had 50 questions and Paper 2 (English Literature) had 100 questions, for 150 in total across 3 hours.

Is there negative marking in UGC NET?

No. Each correct answer earns 2 marks and there is no penalty for a wrong answer, so leaving a question blank is never better than attempting it.

Are the September 2026 answers on this page official?

Answers follow the official NTA answer key for this session. If you spot a discrepancy, use the report option inside the practice test and we will review it.

Can I attempt the September 2026 paper as a timed mock test?

Yes. Every paper on this page has an "Attempt this paper" button that opens the same questions in the timed test interface, with instant scoring and weak-area analysis afterwards.

Want the full mock experience?

Attempt Paper 1 + Paper 2 (English Literature) together in a single timed session.

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More English Literature practice

All 2026 sessions All English Literature PYQs English Literature topic-wise practice Paper 1 topic-wise practice

Practice Paper 1 from other subjects

Every subject's exam sitting has its own Paper 1 (General Aptitude) set — more real PYQs to solve.

Paper 1 · Economics sittings Paper 1 · Computer Science & Applications sittings Paper 1 · Management sittings Paper 1 · Commerce sittings

List-I (Hardware / Software)	List-II (Description)
A. CPU	I. System Software
B. Windows–11	II. Brain of the Computer
C. Safari	III. Network Traffic Device
D. Router	IV. Web Browser

List-I (Diseases)	List-II (Vector)
A. Malaria	I. Phlebotomus argentipes
B. Dengue	II. Anopheles mosquito (female)
C. Encephalitis	III. Aedes Aegypti
D. Kala–azar	IV. Culex

List-I (Education level)	List-II (Age group)
A. SECONDARY	I. 3–8 years
B. MIDDLE	II. 8–11 years
C. PREPARATORY	III. 14–18 years
D. FOUNDATIONAL	IV. 11–14 years

List-I	List-II
A. Dhvanyaloka	I. Kuntaka
B. Vakyapadiya	II. Bhartrhari
C. Vakrokti-jivita	III. Anandavardhana
D. Dasarupa	IV. Dhananjaya

List-I	List-II
A. Nora Barnacle	I. Rajendra Yadav
B. Frieda Weekley	II. Jean-Paul Sartre
C. Manu Bhandari	III. D. H. Lawrence
D. Simone de Beauvoir	IV. James Joyce

List-I	List-II
A. Psychoanalytic Criticism	I. Wolfgang Iser
B. Reader-Response Theory	II. J. L. Austin
C. Speech Act Theory	III. Sigmund Freud
D. Archetypal Criticism	IV. Carl Jung

List-I	List-II
A. Mahesh Dattani	I. Harvest
B. Makarand Deshpande	II. Final Solutions
C. Manjula Padmanabhan	III. Mukta-Dhara
D. Rabindranath Tagore	IV. Manushya

List-I	List-II
A. Of Jesting	I. Abraham Cowley
B. Of Solitude	II. Ben Jonson
C. Fortuna	III. Thomas Fuller
D. Of Toleration	IV. Sir Thomas Browne

List-I	List-II
A. Small Remedies	I. Rohinton Mistry
B. Maila Aanchal	II. Dharamveer Bharati
C. Sooraj Ka Satva Ghoda	III. Shashi Deshpande
D. Family Matters	IV. Phanishwar Nath Renu

List-I	List-II
A. Horace Walpole	I. Vathek
B. M. G. Lewis	II. The Castle of Otranto
C. William Beckford	III. The Mysteries of Udolpho
D. Ann Radcliffe	IV. The Monk

UGC NET English Literature September 2026 Question PaperPaper 1 & Paper 2 with Answer Key

UGC NET September 2026 at a glance

General Aptitude

English Literature

Paper 1 — General Aptitude

Question 1

Batter-wise Performance Details in 20 T20 Cricket Matches

Question 2

Batter-wise Performance Details in 20 T20 Cricket Matches

Question 3

Batter-wise Performance Details in 20 T20 Cricket Matches

Question 4

Batter-wise Performance Details in 20 T20 Cricket Matches

Question 5

Batter-wise Performance Details in 20 T20 Cricket Matches

Question 6

Question 7

Question 8

Question 9

Question 10

Question 11

Question 12

Question 13

Question 14

Question 15

Question 16

Question 17

Question 18

Question 19

Question 20

Question 21

Question 22

Question 23

Question 24

Question 25

Question 26

Question 27

Question 28

Question 29

Question 30

Question 31

Question 32

Question 33

Question 34

Question 35

Question 36

Question 37

Question 38

Question 39

Question 40

Question 41

Question 42

Question 43

Question 44

Question 45

Question 46

Question 47

Question 48

Question 49

Question 50

Paper 2 — English Literature

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

Question 6

Question 7

Question 8

Question 9

Question 10

Question 11

Question 12

Question 13

Question 14

Question 15

Question 16

Question 17

Question 18

Question 19