CUET UG Arts Practice Set 1

Explanation: Lothal is located in Gujarat. It was one of the most prominent cities of the Indus Valley Civilisation and is known for having the earliest known dock in the world, indicating its role as a major maritime trade centre.

Explanation: Emperor Ashoka, after embracing Buddhism following the Kalinga War, sent missionaries to various regions including Sri Lanka (where his son Mahinda and daughter Sanghamitra went), Central Asia, and parts of Southeast Asia to spread the teachings of the Buddha.

Explanation: The Manusmriti prescribed the varna system based on birth (hereditary occupation). It codified the four-fold division of society — Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras — and assigned duties and privileges based on the varna one was born into.

Explanation: Kabir's dohas emphasised the unity of God and rejected the distinctions between Hinduism and Islam. He criticised empty ritualism, caste discrimination, and the authority of priests and mullahs, advocating instead for a personal, formless devotion to the divine.

Explanation: The Dandi March (Salt March) was a direct-action campaign of tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British monopoly on salt production and the salt tax. Gandhi walked 388 km from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi on the Gujarat coast to make salt from seawater.

Explanation: Dr Rajendra Prasad was the President of the Constituent Assembly, which held its first session on 9 December 1946. Dr B.R. Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee, but the overall Assembly was presided over by Dr Rajendra Prasad, who later became India's first President.

Explanation: The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 followed widespread demands for linguistically organized states. The movement gained momentum after Potti Sriramulu's fast unto death for a separate Telugu-speaking state (Andhra Pradesh) in 1952. The States Reorganisation Commission (Fazl Ali Commission) then recommended reorganisation on linguistic lines.

Explanation: The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over the placement of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. It is generally regarded as the closest the Cold War came to escalating into full-scale nuclear war.

Explanation: The Chipko Movement began in 1973 in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand (then part of Uttar Pradesh). Villagers, led by Sunderlal Bahuguna and Chandi Prasad Bhatt among others, hugged trees to prevent contractors from felling them, making it one of India's most significant ecological movements.

Explanation: Option C is correct because 'either...or' takes a verb that agrees with the nearer subject ('the students'), which requires the plural 'have'. Option A has a subject-verb agreement error, B misuses the past perfect, and D has a dangling modifier.

Explanation: 'Magnanimous' means generous or forgiving, especially toward a rival or less powerful person. Its antonym is 'petty', meaning small-minded or ungenerous. 'Benevolent' is a synonym, while 'cautious' and 'eloquent' are unrelated.

Explanation: The sentence requires the simple past tense 'announced' to describe a completed past action. 'Committee' is a collective noun treated as singular in British English, so 'announced' (which is the same for singular and plural) fits correctly. The other options create tense inconsistencies.

Explanation: Asia has the highest population density among all continents, with approximately 150 people per square kilometre. It is home to the two most populous countries in the world — India and China — and contains densely populated regions in South, East, and Southeast Asia.

Explanation: Shifting cultivation (jhum) is practised in tropical forested highlands, particularly in the northeastern states of India and in parts of Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America. It involves clearing a patch of forest by burning, cultivating it for a few years, and then moving on to a new patch.

Explanation: The Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) plant at Jamshedpur, established in 1907 by Jamsetji Tata, was the first integrated steel plant in India and Asia. It marked the beginning of modern industrialisation in India.

Explanation: The law of demand states that, ceteris paribus (all else equal), there is an inverse relationship between the price of a good and the quantity demanded. When the price falls, consumers are willing and able to buy more of the good, so the quantity demanded increases.

Explanation: Collecting direct taxes (income tax, corporate tax) is the function of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) under the Ministry of Finance, not the RBI. The RBI issues currency, acts as banker to the government, regulates commercial banks, and manages the country's monetary policy.

Explanation: GDP at market price includes indirect taxes and excludes subsidies. When we subtract net indirect taxes (indirect taxes minus subsidies) from GDP at market price, we arrive at GDP at factor cost, which measures the income earned by factors of production.

Explanation: Fiscal deficit is defined as total expenditure minus total receipts excluding borrowings. It indicates the total borrowing requirements of the government and is a key indicator of the health of public finances.

Explanation: In the standard IQ distribution (Wechsler scale), the mean IQ is set at 100 with a standard deviation of 15. A score of 100 represents average intelligence and falls at the exact centre of the bell curve.

Explanation: Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder characterised by disturbances in thought, perception, and behaviour. It involves symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, and disorganised thinking, distinguishing it from neurotic disorders (like anxiety) or personality disorders.

Explanation: Impression formation is the process by which we form overall judgements about other people based on limited cues such as appearance, body language, or initial interactions. It plays a central role in social cognition and interpersonal relationships.

Explanation: The decline in India's TFR below replacement level (confirmed by NFHS-5 at 2.0) is primarily attributed to increased female literacy, wider access to family planning, urbanisation, delayed marriages, and greater women's empowerment. These factors collectively reduced desired family size.

Explanation: Untouchability is an extreme form of social exclusion rooted in the caste system, where entire communities were denied access to public spaces, wells, temples, and social interaction based on their birth into castes considered 'impure'. It was abolished under Article 17 of the Indian Constitution.

Explanation: India's balance of payments crisis of 1991, triggered partly by the Gulf War (1990-91) and the resulting spike in oil prices, served as the immediate catalyst for economic liberalisation. The crisis forced India to approach the IMF, which conditioned its loan on structural reforms including opening up the economy.

Explanation: The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992 gave constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj institutions. It added Part IX to the Constitution and made it mandatory for states to establish a three-tier system of panchayats at the village, intermediate, and district levels.

Explanation: The Tropic of Cancer (23.5 degrees N latitude) passes through eight states of India: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura, and Mizoram. It roughly divides India into the tropical and subtropical zones.

Explanation: The letters of EXAMINATION are: A, A, E, I, I, M, N, N, O, T, X (11 letters). Arranged alphabetically: A, A, E, I, I, M, N, N, O, T, X. The 6th letter is M.

Explanation: The series follows the pattern n(n+1): 1x2=2, 2x3=6, 3x4=12, 4x5=20, 5x6=30. The next term is 6x7 = 42. Alternatively, the differences are 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 — each increasing by 2.

Explanation: The ratio of Arts to Commerce = 450:520. Simplifying by dividing both by 10 gives 45:52. This cannot be simplified further as 45 and 52 share no common factor.