General Knowledge MCQs
Topic Notes: General Knowledge
MCQs and preparation resources for competitive exams, covering important concepts, past papers, and detailed explanations.
Plato
- Biography: Ancient Greek philosopher (427–347 BCE), student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle, founder of the Academy in Athens.
- Important Ideas:
- Theory of Forms
- Philosopher-King
- Ideal State
121
Which term describes a language that has become extinct because it has no remaining native speakers?
Answer:
Extinct language
An **Extinct language** is one that has no surviving native or fluent second-language speakers (e.g., Akkadian). A **Dead language** (like Latin) may still be studied and used in certain contexts but has no native speakers.
122
Which global language is primarily written using the Cyrillic script?
Answer:
Russian
The Cyrillic script is named after St. Cyril and is used for writing various Slavic languages, most notably Russian, as well as several non-Slavic languages in post-Soviet states.
123
What is the national language of Indonesia, a standardized form of Malay?
Answer:
Bahasa Indonesia
Bahasa Indonesia is the national language and lingua franca of Indonesia. It is essentially a standardized dialect of Malay, belonging to the Austronesian language family.
124
The use of **diglossia** in a society refers to:
Answer:
The simultaneous use of two distinct forms of the same language (high and low varieties) in different social contexts.
Diglossia describes a situation where a community uses two functionally distinct variants of the same language: a 'High' form (H) for formal settings (like literature, government) and a 'Low' form (L) for everyday conversation.
125
Which language, official in parts of India, is a **Dravidian** language, genetically distinct from the Indo-Aryan languages of the north?
Answer:
Tamil
Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam are the four major languages of the Dravidian family, spoken predominantly in Southern India. Marathi, Punjabi, and Odia are all Indo-Aryan languages.
126
What kind of script is the Arabic alphabet primarily characterized as?
Answer:
Abjad
An Abjad is a writing system where each character stands for a consonant, and the reader must supply the appropriate vowel sound (though some vowel markings exist). This is typical of Semitic languages like Arabic and Hebrew.
127
Which European language is NOT derived from Latin (i.e., not a Romance language)?
Answer:
German
Italian, Romanian, and French are all Romance languages, evolving directly from Vulgar Latin. German is a Germanic language, which belongs to a different branch of the Indo-European family.
128
The vast majority of Chinese citizens speak a dialect or language belonging to which language family branch?
Answer:
Sino-Tibetan
The major languages of China, including Mandarin, Cantonese, and Wu, all belong to the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family.
129
What is the primary official language of Bangladesh?
Answer:
Bengali (Bangla)
Bengali, or Bangla, is the sole official language of Bangladesh. It is an Indo-Aryan language written in the Bengali script, and its linguistic recognition was central to the country's independence movement.
130
Which language is written in the Arabic script and is the national language of Pakistan?
Answer:
Urdu
Urdu is the national language of Pakistan and is written in an extended form of the Perso-Arabic script known as Nastaliq. It is mutually intelligible with Hindi, but they differ primarily in script and formal vocabulary.