GATE Chemical Engineering General Aptitude Syllabus

What is an idiom in English?

An idiom is a fixed expression whose meaning cannot be deduced from the literal meanings of its individual words, e.g., "kick the bucket" means to die.

What does the idiom "a blessing in disguise" mean?

Something that seems bad or unlucky at first but results in something good.

What does the idiom "once in a blue moon" mean?

Something that happens very rarely.

What does the idiom "to bite the bullet" mean?

To force oneself to endure or do something difficult or unpleasant that is unavoidable.

What does the idiom "the ball is in your court" mean?

It is your turn to take action or make the next decision.

In vocabulary, what is the difference between a synonym and an antonym?

A synonym is a word with the same or similar meaning (happy/joyful); an antonym is a word with the opposite meaning (happy/sad).

What is a homophone? Give an example.

A homophone is a word that sounds the same as another but differs in meaning and usually spelling, e.g., "their / there / they're" or "to / two / too."

What does the word "ubiquitous" mean?

Present, appearing, or found everywhere; omnipresent.

What does the word "meticulous" mean?

Showing great attention to detail; very careful and precise.

What is the antonym of "benevolent"?

Malevolent (wishing harm to others); benevolent means kind and well-meaning.

In reading comprehension, what is the difference between the main idea and a supporting detail?

The main idea is the central point the author makes about the topic; supporting details are facts, examples, or reasons that explain or back up the main idea.

What is the difference between an inference and a directly stated fact in reading comprehension?

A directly stated fact is explicitly written in the text; an inference is a conclusion the reader draws using clues in the text plus reasoning, not stated outright.

In reading comprehension, what is meant by the "tone" of a passage?

Tone is the author's attitude toward the subject, conveyed through word choice (e.g., critical, optimistic, ironic, neutral, sarcastic).

What is narrative sequencing in verbal aptitude (para-jumbles)?

Arranging a set of jumbled sentences into a logical, coherent order to form a meaningful paragraph, using transition words, pronoun references, and chronological/cause-effect links.

What clues help determine the opening sentence in a sentence-rearrangement (para-jumble) question?

The opening sentence usually introduces the topic independently, contains a full noun (not a pronoun referring back), and has no connecting words like "however," "therefore," or "this" that depend on prior context.

What is data interpretation (DI)?

The process of extracting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data presented in tables, graphs, or charts to answer quantitative questions.

What does a bar graph represent, and when is it best used?

A bar graph uses rectangular bars whose lengths are proportional to the values they represent. It is best for comparing discrete categories or showing changes across groups.

What does a pie chart represent, and what does the whole circle equal?

A pie chart shows parts of a whole as sectors of a circle; each sector's angle is proportional to its share. The whole circle represents 100%, equal to $360^{\circ}$.

In a pie chart, how do you convert a category's percentage into its sector angle?

Multiply the fraction of the total by $360^{\circ}$: $\text{angle} = \frac{\text{value}}{\text{total}} \times 360^{\circ}$. For example, 25% corresponds to $0.25 \times 360^{\circ} = 90^{\circ}$.

In a pie chart, what angle corresponds to 1% of the data?

$\frac{360^{\circ}}{100} = 3.6^{\circ}$ per 1%.

What is a line graph best suited to display?

A line graph displays data points connected by lines and is best for showing trends or changes in a quantity over a continuous variable such as time.

In data interpretation, what is the formula for percentage change between an old and a new value?

$$\text{percentage change} = \frac{\text{new value} - \text{old value}}{\text{old value}} \times 100\%$$ A positive result is an increase, a negative result a decrease.

How do you calculate the arithmetic mean (average) of a set of $n$ data values?

$$\bar{x} = \frac{1}{n}\sum_{i=1}^{n} x_i = \frac{\text{sum of all values}}{\text{number of values}}$$

In a histogram versus a bar graph, what is the key difference?

A bar graph compares discrete categories with gaps between bars, while a histogram shows the frequency distribution of continuous data in adjacent intervals (bins) with no gaps between bars.

In data interpretation, what is a ratio and how is it expressed?

A ratio compares two quantities of the same kind by division, expressed as $a:b$ or $\frac{a}{b}$, indicating how many times one value contains the other.

What is a scatter plot (2-dimensional plot) used to show?

A scatter plot displays individual data points on two axes ($x$ and $y$) to reveal the relationship or correlation between two variables.

In a coordinate plot, what do the $x$-axis and $y$-axis represent?

The $x$-axis is the horizontal axis (typically the independent variable) and the $y$-axis is the vertical axis (typically the dependent variable); a point is written as $(x, y)$.

What does a 3-dimensional plot represent compared to a 2-D plot?

A 3-D plot displays data over three axes ($x$, $y$, $z$), representing a relationship among three variables or a surface, whereas a 2-D plot uses only two axes.

On a map, what is the scale and what does it indicate?

A map scale is the ratio between a distance on the map and the corresponding actual distance on the ground, e.g., $1:50000$ means 1 unit on the map equals 50,000 units in reality.

In a data table, what is the difference between a row and a column, and how is a specific value located?

Rows run horizontally and columns run vertically; a specific value (cell) is located at the intersection of a particular row and a particular column, identified by their respective labels.