Consider the following types of vehicles:
I. Full battery electric vehicles
II. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles
III. Fuel cell-electric hybrid vehicles
How many of the above are considered as alternative powertrain vehicles?
- (a) Only one
- (b) Only two
- (c) All the three
- (d) None
ANSWER: C
The Hidden Logic: A "powertrain" is the system that generates power and delivers it to the road. For a century, the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) was the standard. Any system that abandons or significantly alters the ICE—such as Battery Electric (BEV), Hydrogen Fuel Cells (FCEV), or Fuel Cell-Electric Hybrids—is classified by automotive engineering as an "Alternative Powertrain." All three qualify.
With reference to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), consider the following statements:
I. All types of UAVs can do vertical landing.
II. All types of UAVs can do automated hovering.
III. All types of UAVs can use battery only as a source of power supply.
- (a) Only one
- (b) Only two
- (c) All the three
- (d) None
ANSWER: D
The Absolute Trap: The word "All" makes every statement factually incorrect. Fixed-wing UAVs (like the Predator or Heron) operate like airplanes; they require a runway to land horizontally (I is false) and must maintain forward momentum to stay aloft, meaning they cannot hover (II is false). Furthermore, large military and high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) UAVs use internal combustion engines or jet turbines fueled by aviation fuel, not just batteries (III is false).
In the context of electric vehicle batteries, consider the following elements:
I. Cobalt
II. Graphite
III. Lithium
IV. Nickel
How many of the above usually make up battery cathodes?
- (a) Only one
- (b) Only two
- (c) Only three
- (d) All the four
ANSWER: C
The Chemical Division: In standard Lithium-ion batteries (NMC type), the Cathode (positive electrode) is made of a metal oxide comprising Lithium, Nickel, Manganese, and Cobalt. The Anode (negative electrode) is almost universally made of Graphite. Since Graphite is the anode material, exactly three elements (Cobalt, Lithium, Nickel) belong to the cathode.
Consider the following:
I. Cigarette butts
II. Eyeglass lenses
III. Car tyres
How many of them contain plastic?
- (a) Only one
- (b) Only two
- (c) All the three
- (d) None
Cellulose Acetate
Polycarbonate (CR-39)
Synthetic Rubber
ANSWER: C
The Material Science: (1) Cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, a type of plastic that takes years to degrade, causing massive microplastic ocean pollution. (2) Modern eyeglass lenses are rarely glass; they are made of plastics like CR-39 or polycarbonate for shatter-resistance. (3) Car tyres are made of roughly 24% synthetic rubber (a plastic polymer derived from petroleum). All three contain plastics.
Consider the following substances:
I. Ethanol
II. Nitroglycerine
III. Urea
Coal gasification technology can be used in the production of how many of them?
- (a) Only one
- (b) Only two
- (c) All the three
- (d) None
ANSWER: B
The Chemical Breakdown: Coal gasification converts solid coal into synthetic gas ("syngas", a mix of CO and H2). Syngas is the primary building block to manufacture ammonia (which is used to make Urea - III). Syngas can also be catalytically converted or fermented (using specialized bacteria like Clostridium autoethanogenum) into Ethanol/Methanol (I). Nitroglycerine (II) is an explosive made by treating glycerol with nitric and sulfuric acids; it is not a downstream product of syngas.
What is the common characteristic of the chemical substances generally known as CL-20, HMX and LLM-105, which are sometimes talked about in media?
- (a) These are alternatives to hydro-fluorocarbon refrigerants
- (b) These are explosives in military weapons
- (c) These are high-energy fuels for cruise missiles
- (d) These are fuels for rocket propulsion
ANSWER: B
Current Affairs Reality: CL-20 (China Lake compound 20), HMX (High Melting Explosive), and LLM-105 are exceptionally powerful, advanced energetic materials (explosives) used in military warheads and penetrators. CL-20 gained recent media attention because it is vastly more destructive than traditional RDX, and intelligence reports indicated rival militaries (like China) had achieved mass production of it for their missile warheads.
Consider the following statements:
I. It is expected that Majorana 1 chip will enable quantum computing.
II. Majorana 1 chip has been introduced by Amazon Web Services (AWS).
III. Deep learning is a subset of machine learning.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
- (a) I and II only
- (b) II and III only
- (c) I and III only
- (d) I, II and III
ANSWER: C
Tech Realities: The "Majorana 1" chip is a massive breakthrough in topological quantum computing (Statement I), but it is the flagship project of Microsoft (Azure Quantum), relying on Majorana zero modes to create stable qubits, NOT Amazon Web Services (AWS) (Statement II is false). Deep Learning (DL), which uses multi-layered neural networks, is universally defined as a specific subset of Machine Learning (ML) (Statement III is true).
With reference to monoclonal antibodies, consider the following statements:
I. They are man-made proteins.
II. They stimulate immunological function due to their ability to bind to specific antigens.
III. They are used in treating viral infections like that of Nipah virus.
- (a) I and II only
- (b) II and III only
- (c) I and III only
- (d) I, II and III
ANSWER: D
The Medical Fact: Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are essentially synthetic, lab-produced proteins designed to mimic the immune system's attack mechanisms (Statement I). They are cloned from a single parent cell to target and bind to one extremely specific antigen—like a spike protein on a virus (Statement II). During the Nipah virus outbreaks in Kerala, India famously imported the m102.4 monoclonal antibody (developed in Australia) on a compassionate use basis for treatment (Statement III).
Consider the following statements:
I. No virus can survive in ocean waters.
II. No virus can infect bacteria.
III. No virus can change the cellular transcriptional activity in host cells.
How many are correct?
- (a) Only one
- (b) Only two
- (c) All the three
- (d) None
ANSWER: D
The Absolute Trap: Again, absolute statements ("No virus...") are usually false. (I) The oceans contain more viruses than any other biological entity on Earth (millions in a single drop of seawater). (II) Bacteriophages are a massive category of viruses that specifically infect and kill bacteria. (III) The very definition of a viral infection (especially retroviruses like HIV) involves inserting viral genetic material into the host, thereby completely changing the host cell's transcriptional activity to pump out more viruses. All statements are entirely false.
Statement I: Activated carbon is a good and an attractive tool to remove pollutants from effluent streams and to remediate contaminants from various industries.
Statement II: Activated carbon exhibits a large surface area and a strong potential for adsorbing heavy metals.
Statement III: Activated carbon can be easily synthesized from environmental wastes with high carbon content.
- (a) Both II and III are correct and both explain I
- (b) Both II and III are correct but only one explains I
- (c) Only one of II and III is correct and explains I
- (d) Neither II nor III is correct
ANSWER: A
The Remediation Logic: Why is activated carbon such an "attractive and good tool" for cleaning industrial waste (Statement I)? Two reasons: First, mechanically, it has a massive, highly porous internal surface area that physically traps (adsorbs) toxins and heavy metals like mercury and lead (Statement II). Second, economically and sustainably, it doesn't require expensive virgin materials; it can be synthesized cheaply from abundant carbon-rich agricultural or environmental waste like coconut shells or rice husks (Statement III). Therefore, both II (efficacy) and III (feasibility/attractiveness) jointly explain Statement I.