GATE Geomatics Engineering General Aptitude Flashcards

24 sample cards from the General Aptitude deck

Sampled from the end of the deck, so these are different cards from the ones shown on the syllabus page.

1. What is the difference between a phrase and a clause?

   A phrase is a group of related words lacking a subject-verb pair and cannot stand alone as a sentence; a clause contains a subject and a predicate (verb) and may be independent or dependent.

2. 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; a supporting detail is a fact, example, or reason that explains or backs up the main idea.

3. In reading comprehension, what does it mean to infer something from a passage?

   To infer is to draw a logical conclusion based on evidence and reasoning in the text, rather than from information stated explicitly.

4. What is narrative sequencing in verbal aptitude?

   It is the task of arranging a set of jumbled sentences or events into a logical, coherent order to form a meaningful paragraph or story, using cues like time markers, pronoun references, and connectives.

5. Which textual clues help in ordering jumbled sentences during narrative sequencing?

   Linking words (however, therefore, then), pronoun references (it, this, they pointing back), articles ('a' for first mention vs 'the' for later), time/sequence markers, and the topic sentence that introduces the subject.

6. What is data interpretation in quantitative aptitude?

   Data interpretation is the process of analyzing data presented in tables, graphs, or charts and using it to compute values, draw comparisons, and answer numerical or logical questions.

7. In a pie chart, what total angle represents the whole, and what formula converts a percentage share into degrees?

   The whole is $360^{\circ}$. A percentage share is converted to degrees by $\theta = \frac{\text{percentage}}{100} \times 360^{\circ}$.

8. In a pie chart, if a sector represents 25% of the data, what is its central angle?

   $\theta = \frac{25}{100} \times 360^{\circ} = 90^{\circ}$.

9. What type of data is best displayed using a bar graph?

   A bar graph is best for comparing discrete categories or groups, where the length/height of each bar is proportional to the value it represents.

10. What is the key difference between a bar graph and a histogram?

    A bar graph compares discrete, separate categories (bars have gaps), whereas a histogram shows the frequency distribution of continuous data grouped into intervals (bars are adjacent with no gaps).

11. What does a line graph best represent in data interpretation?

    A line graph best shows trends or changes in a quantity over a continuous variable such as time, connecting data points to reveal increase, decrease, or fluctuation.

12. What is the formula for percentage change between an old value and a new value?

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

13. How do you compute the arithmetic mean (average) of $n$ data values?

    $\text{Mean} = \frac{\sum_{i=1}^{n} x_i}{n}$, the sum of all values divided by the number of values.

14. If sales rise from 200 units to 250 units, what is the percentage increase?

    $\frac{250 - 200}{200} \times 100\% = \frac{50}{200} \times 100\% = 25\%$.

15. What does a scatter plot display, and what does it help identify?

    A scatter plot displays paired values as points on a 2-dimensional plane (x, y), helping identify correlation, clustering, or trends between two variables.

16. What distinguishes a 2-dimensional plot from a 3-dimensional plot?

    A 2D plot uses two axes (x, y) to show the relation between two variables on a plane; a 3D plot uses three axes (x, y, z) to represent a relation among three variables in space, often as a surface or scatter of points.

17. In a 3-dimensional Cartesian plot, what does each of the three axes typically represent?

    The x-axis and y-axis define a horizontal plane (two independent variables), and the z-axis represents the third dimension (often the dependent variable or height), giving each point coordinates $(x, y, z)$.

18. On a map, what is the scale, and what does a scale of 1:50000 mean?

    The scale relates map distance to actual ground distance. A scale of 1:50000 means 1 unit on the map equals 50000 of the same units on the ground (e.g., 1 cm represents 50000 cm = 0.5 km).

19. 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 is located at the intersection (cell) of a particular row and column, read against their respective headers.

20. What is a stacked bar graph used to show?

    A stacked bar graph shows both the total of each category and the contribution of sub-components within it, by stacking segments on top of one another within each bar.

21. Convert the fraction $\frac{3}{8}$ of a data set into a pie-chart central angle.

    $\theta = \frac{3}{8} \times 360^{\circ} = 135^{\circ}$.

22. What is the median of a data set, and how is it found?

    The median is the middle value when the data is arranged in ascending order. For an odd count it is the central value; for an even count it is the average of the two central values: $\frac{x_{n/2} + x_{n/2+1}}{2}$.

23. What does the idiom 'to read between the lines' mean, and why is it relevant to comprehension?

    It means to understand an implied or hidden meaning that is not directly stated. It is relevant because comprehension often requires inferring such implicit meaning from the text.

24. In data interpretation, how do you express one quantity as a ratio of another, e.g., 60 to 90?

    Form the ratio and reduce to lowest terms: $60 : 90 = \frac{60}{90} = \frac{2}{3}$, i.e., $2 : 3$.

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