GATE Ecology and Evolution General Aptitude Syllabus

Do collective nouns like 'team' or 'committee' usually take a singular or plural verb in standard usage?

They normally take a singular verb when treated as a single unit ('The team wins'), though a plural verb is used when emphasizing the individual members.

What is an adverb, and what four things can it modify or describe?

An adverb typically modifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a whole sentence, often answering how, when, where, or to what degree (e.g., 'quickly', 'very', 'yesterday').

What is a pronoun, and give an example of replacing a noun with one.

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun to avoid repetition: 'Maria lost Maria's keys' becomes 'Maria lost her keys', where 'her' is the pronoun.

What is an interjection? Give two examples.

An interjection is a short exclamation expressing sudden emotion, grammatically independent of the sentence, e.g., 'Wow!' or 'Oops!'.

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

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

Define a 'homophone' and give an example pair.

Homophones are words that sound alike but differ in meaning and usually spelling, such as 'their' / 'there' / 'they're' or 'to' / 'too' / 'two'.

What is the difference between the commonly confused words 'affect' and 'effect'?

'Affect' is usually a verb meaning to influence ('It affects me'); 'effect' is usually a noun meaning a result ('The effect was clear').

What is an idiom in English?

An idiom is a fixed expression whose figurative meaning differs from the literal meaning of its individual words, e.g., 'kick the bucket' meaning 'to die'.

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

Something that seems bad or unlucky at first but results in a good outcome later.

What does the idiom 'bite the bullet' mean?

To force oneself to do something unpleasant or difficult that one has been avoiding, enduring it with courage.

What is the difference between a 'phrase' and a 'clause'?

A phrase is a group of related words without both a subject and a finite verb; a clause contains both a subject and a finite verb and may be independent or dependent.

How can the meaning of an unfamiliar word be inferred from 'context' in a reading passage?

By using surrounding clues—definitions, examples, contrasts, synonyms, or the overall tone/logic of the sentence—to deduce the likely meaning without a dictionary.

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

The main idea is the central point the passage conveys; supporting details are the facts, examples, and reasons that develop or back up that main idea.

In reading comprehension, what is an 'inference'?

A logical conclusion the reader draws from evidence in the text combined with reasoning, rather than something stated explicitly.

What is 'narrative sequencing' in an aptitude/verbal test?

Arranging a set of jumbled sentences or events into a coherent, logical order so that the passage reads as a unified, sensible story or argument.

What clues help determine the correct order when sequencing jumbled sentences?

Chronological/time markers, pronoun references and their antecedents, linking/transition words (however, therefore, then), articles (a vs. the for first vs. later mention), and cause-effect logic.

What is 'data interpretation' as a quantitative aptitude topic?

The skill of reading data presented in tables, charts, or graphs and performing calculations or drawing conclusions—such as totals, averages, ratios, and percentage change—from it.

In a pie chart, how is the central angle of a sector related to the percentage it represents?

The angle equals the percentage of the total times $360^{\circ}$, i.e. $\text{angle} = \frac{\text{value}}{\text{total}} \times 360^{\circ}$; for example $25\%$ corresponds to $90^{\circ}$.

What does a pie chart best represent, and what must its sectors sum to?

A pie chart shows the proportion of parts to a whole; all its sectors must sum to $100\%$ (or $360^{\circ}$).

What type of data is a bar graph best suited to display?

A bar graph compares discrete categories using rectangular bars whose lengths/heights are proportional to the values they represent.

What is the difference between a bar graph and a histogram?

A bar graph compares distinct, separate categories (with gaps between bars), while a histogram shows the frequency distribution of continuous data grouped into intervals (with adjacent bars).

What is a line graph most useful for showing?

A line graph shows trends or changes in data over a continuous interval, typically time, by connecting data points with line segments.

State the formula for percentage change between an old value and a new value.

$$\text{Percentage change} = \frac{\text{New value} - \text{Old value}}{\text{Old value}} \times 100\%$$

How is the arithmetic mean (average) of $n$ data values calculated?

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

In data interpretation, how do you express the ratio of a part to the whole as a percentage?

$$\text{Percentage} = \frac{\text{part}}{\text{whole}} \times 100\%$$

What does each axis represent in a standard 2-dimensional Cartesian plot of $y$ versus $x$?

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

How does a 3-dimensional plot differ from a 2-dimensional plot in terms of axes?

A 2D plot uses two perpendicular axes ($x, y$) to locate points in a plane, while a 3D plot adds a third perpendicular axis ($z$) so points are located in space as ordered triples $(x, y, z)$.

In a scatter plot, what does a positive correlation between two variables look like?

The plotted points trend upward from lower-left to upper-right, meaning that as one variable increases the other tends to increase as well.

On a map, what is a 'scale' and what does it tell you?

A map scale is the ratio between a distance on the map and the corresponding real-world distance (e.g., $1:50{,}000$), letting you convert measured map distances into actual ground distances.

In a data table, what is the difference between a 'row' and a 'column', and what is found at their intersection?

Rows run horizontally and columns run vertically; the value at the intersection of a specific row and column is the data entry (cell) corresponding to that pair of categories.