PGDBA-2020 SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Q.1–Q.15: VERBAL ABILITY

Instructions for Questions 1 and 2: In each of the questions a word has

been used in sentences in four different ways. Choose the option
corresponding to the sentence in which the usage of the word is incorrect
or inappropriate.

Q.1. Match
A) “This marriage is a match made in heaven” she gushed.
B) “Please light the match so that I can see the switch” said my friend.
C) It was an even match between the two contestants.
D) This movie sequel is not a match on the original.

Q.2. Accede
A) She was confident that her manager would accede to her earnest
request.
B) It would have been difficult for the teacher to accede to their latest
proposal.
C) The ballerina could not accede to the demands of her hectic tour
schedule.
D) The princess could not accede to the throne vacated by her late father.

Q.3. Arrange the sentences in the most logical order to form a coherent
paragraph. From the given options (A, B, C, D) choose the most
appropriate sequence.
(i) It would secure a 25% increase in overall revenue; and devoted but cash-
strapped supporters would have more opportunities to watch their team.
(ii) The Football Supporters Federation maintains that, under government
regulations about spectator density, safe-standing sections would allow
1.8 people to occupy the same space as one seated match-goer.
(iii) The willingness of the Premier League to consider reintroducing terraces
has less to do with reminiscing, however, than with pragmatism.
(iv) If the Football Supporters Federation‟s is correct, then both clubs and fans
would stand to gain since the teams could offer a reduction on the price of
standing tickets.

A) (ii), (iii), (iv), (i) B) (iv), (ii), (i), (iii)

C) (iii), (ii), (iv), (i) D) (iv), (ii), (iii), (i)
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Q.4. Arrange the sentences in the most logical order to form a coherent
paragraph. From the given options (A, B, C, D) choose the most
appropriate sequence.
(i) In an integrated market one country might specialise in a high-wage
industry with increasing returns to scale and others in areas in which
wages are lower.
(ii) New models of trade do not imply that close economic integration should
cause incomes to converge.
(iii) As freer trade expands the size of the market, producers with initial size
advantages outcompete rivals.
(iv) Firms and places are often subject to economies of scale: they become
more productive as they grow larger.
A) (ii), (iv), (iii), (i) B) (iv), (ii), (i), (iii)
C) (ii), (iv), (i), (iii) D) (iv), (ii), (iii), (i)

Q.5. Arrange the sentences in the most logical order to form a coherent
paragraph. From the given options (A, B, C, D) choose the most
appropriate sequence.
(i) Taken together, these elements enable developers to discover and build on
what works, to jettison what does not work, and, when necessary, to “fail
fast”—before they have expended significant resources or large amounts of
time on a project.
(ii) Over the past few decades, the business world has seen the emergence of
several process and product improvement platforms.
(iii) Both of those platforms emphasize experimentation and rapid iteration,
strong feedback loops that facilitate early and continuous engagement
with end users, and the use of minimally designed prototypes to test
products or processes.
(iv) Examples include human-centred design, a product innovation method
developed by the design firm IDEO, and lean experimentation, an
entrepreneurship method that originated in Silicon Valley.
A) (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) B) (ii), (iv), (iii), (i)
C) (i), (iv), (ii), (iii) D) (ii), (i), (iii), (iv)

Instructions for Questions 6 to 9: Read the passage and answer the

questions that follow.

There are two main kinds of development agency: the one which tries to
introduce specific changes and is mainly interested in material development; and
the other which is primarily interested in people. On the whole the first wants to
“get things done”; the other to develop the people‟s own abilities for leadership,
wise judgement and co-operative action. For agencies of the second kind, the
material result is less important than the way it is achieved.

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Agencies and workers, who themselves decide the specific form

development should take, assume, of course, that they know better than the
people what the people need. Most social development workers and technical
officers have worked on this assumption in the past, and although they were
often right they were not always right, for they sometimes made the mistake of
assuming that what was good within their own culture was certain to be good in
other cultures too. Missionaries, for instance, insisted on their converts wearing
clothes because they were used to them themselves, and they established schools
with syllabuses that suited the missionaries‟ own countries, rather than the
countries where the schools were built.
Agencies and their workers tend to be more careful nowadays, but experts
and specialists trained in Western ways still often make mistakes in cultures
other than their own. Agencies everywhere are now realizing that they are risking
failure if they assume that their own ideas are right in environments and
cultures other than their own. The East African Groundnut Scheme failed
because it did not take the local conditions of soil and climate sufficiently into
account. The West African Anchau Rural Development Scheme illustrates, less
spectacularly, the result of failing to consider the human factor when working in
a different culture.
This Scheme was started in 1937 to eradicate sleeping sickness from a
part of the Zaria province of the Northern Region of Nigeria. The people in charge
made a detailed survey of the area, made detailed studies of the farming
conditions in sample hamlets and made a careful census of the people. Indeed,
they scientifically examined in minute detail every aspect of the situation that
seemed to them important. But it failed because people were thought of as being
there “to be done good to” in the mass, but they were not envisaged as persons,
each with one‟s own small world of hopes and fears, who might in some way be
consulted.

Q.6. In the passage “development agency” refers to

A) the agenda for development
B) the freedom of people to participate
C) social workers engaged in development activities
D) aid organizations engaged in development work

Q.7. According to the author, development agencies who want to “get things
done” are
A) interested in economic outcomes and progress for the area
B) concerned with initiating specific changes to improve natural
conditions in an area
C) focused on quantifiable benefits to local communities
D) reliant on external experts and consultants for solutions to community
issues

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Q.8. The West African Anchau Rural Development Scheme failed because
A) local conditions were different from those in Western cultures
B) the men heading the project went into too much of detail and forgot the
big picture
C) the project coordinators did not consult or involve local people in the
change initiative
D) the development experts thought they knew better than the locals,
what was required

Q.9. In this passage the main point that the author wants to make is that
A) there are two approaches to bringing about change in a community
B) western experts are successful in their own cultures but make
mistakes in other cultures
C) one cannot have a universal approach to development, it has to be
nuanced
D) involvement and participation of local communities is essential for
implementing change

Instructions for Questions 10 to 15: Read the passage and answer the
questions that follow.

Humans are pretty inventive creatures. That might be cause for optimism about
the future of global change. We‟ve found solutions to lots of problems in the past.
And with a much larger and better-educated population than the world has ever
seen — the supply of good ideas can only increase. So innovation will figure out a
way to sustainable futures.
But what is innovation? The media and companies routinely equate
innovation with shiny new gadgets. In the same spirit, politicians charged with
managing economies frequently talk as if all innovation is good. The history of
almost any technology, however — from farming to applied nuclear physics —
reveals a mixture of good and bad.
The study of the concept of innovation, and of whether it can be steered, is
a relatively recent academic effort. There are three ways that scholars have
thought about innovation. The first was basically linear: science begets invention
that begets innovation. Physics, for instance, gives us lasers, which give us —
eventually — compact discs. Result: Growth! Prosperity! Rising living standards
for all! From this perspective, it‟s assumed that science is the basis for long-term
growth, and that innovation largely involves commercialisation of scientific
discoveries. There is a role for the state, but only in funding the research. The
rest can be left to the private sector.
By the 1970s, economists interested in technology and some policy-
makers were talking about something more complicated: national systems of
innovation competing with each other. Such “systems” included measures to

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promote transfer of technology out of the lab, especially by building links

between centres of discovery and technologists and entrepreneurs.
The key failing of these two approaches is that they treat less desirable
outcomes of innovation as externalities and are blind to the possibility that they
may call for radically different technological priorities. The environmental effects
of energy and materials-intensive industries may turn out to be more destructive
than we can handle.
Radical system change is a third way to think about innovation.
Technological trajectories aren‟t pre-ordained: Some paths are chosen at the
expense of others. And that‟s harder because it needs more than incremental
change. The near future is about transformation. The more complex historical
and social understanding of innovation now emerging leads to a richer concept of
infrastructure, as part of a system with social and technical elements interwoven.
An emphasis on the new, the experimental, the innovative — and on promoting
social and technical solutions to global problems must overcome the sheer inertia
of the systems we have already built — and are often still extending. Aiming for
transformation leads to another take on creative destruction; it isn‟t enough to
promote innovation as creation, the existing system has to be destabilised as
well. System shifts of the radical kind envisaged will call for creation of a new
infrastructure. But that won‟t do the job unless the old systems are deliberately
removed on roughly the same time-scale. Achieving that will call for a lot more
thought about how to if not destroy the old systems, at least set about
dismantling them.

Q.10. From the passage we can conclude that the author believes
A) science is the only basis for long term growth
B) innovations should focus only on transformation
C) creative destruction is one way of describing innovation
D) science begets invention that begets innovation

Q.11. According to the author, the first two approaches related to the study of
innovation are inadequate because
A) they treat the negative fallouts as unintended outcomes to be managed
separately
B) innovation is neither linear nor confined to national systems of
innovation
C) the priorities of innovation in the first two approaches are
inappropriate
D) all of the above

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Q.12. The key difference between the first and second approaches related to the
study of innovation is
A) in placing science as the basis for inventions and innovation
B) in how they treat the less desirable outcomes of innovations
C) in assuming that all innovation is good
D) in placing a greater emphasis on the role of government and policy in
innovation

Q.13. Which of the following statements best describe the author‟s view on
innovation?
A) Innovation will figure out a way to sustainable futures
B) Given the destructive potential of incremental innovation we need
radical change
C) Innovation largely involves commercialisation of scientific discoveries
D) For innovation to work, the existing system has to be destabilised

Q.14. By the expression, “The media and companies routinely equate innovation
with shiny new gadgets”, the author is
A) making an assertion about media and companies
B) questioning the wisdom of media and companies
C) trying to explain why politicians frequently talk as if all innovation is
good
D) denigrating the commercial approach of media and companies

Q.15. According to the author, radical systems change is primarily about

A) reducing the negative environmental effects of energy and materials-
intensive industries
B) a more complex historical and social understanding of innovation
C) transformation concomitant with the creation of a new infrastructure
D) experimenting to promote social and technical solutions to global
problems

Q.16–Q.20: LOGICAL REASONING

Instructions for Questions 16 to 20. Answer the questions based on the

following information.

Examinations were held during the two weeks of January — Sunday the 3rd to
Saturday the 16th. There was one examination each for the six subjects namely,
Sociology, Psychology, Economics, Political Science, Anthropology and Biology.
There was no more than one examination on any day. No examinations were held
on Saturdays, Sundays and on January 5th, which was a national holiday.
Exactly three examinations were held in each week. The Psychology examination

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was held before the Economics examination, and the Political Science
examination was held the day after the Biology examination. The Economics and
the Political Science examinations were held on the same day of the week.
Similarly, the Sociology and the Psychology examinations were held on the same
day of the week. There were no examinations for three days between the
Sociology examination and the examination prior to it. The Biology and the
Anthropology examinations were held on a Tuesday and a Thursday respectively.

Q.16. On which of the following set of dates were there no examinations?

A) 11th, 14th and 15th January
B) 8th, 14th and 15th January
C) 7th, 14th and 15th January
D) 7th, 8th and 15th January

Q.17. On which of the following dates was the Biology examination held?
A) 5th January B) 6th January
C) 12 January
th D) 13th January

Q.18. Which examination was held on 4th January?

A) Sociology B) Psychology
C) Political Science D) Biology

Q.19. The number of days (including weekends and holidays, if any) between the
Psychology and Anthropology examination is
A) One B) Two
C) Three D) Four

Q.20. Which examinations were held in the first week?

A) Economics, Psychology and Anthropology
B) Economics, Political Science and Psychology
C) Economics, Political Science and Sociology
D) Economics, Political Science and Anthropology

Q. 21 – Q. 25: DATA INTERPRETATION AND DATA VISUALIZATION

Instructions for Questions 21 to 25. Answer the questions based on the

following information.

The following table gives the urban population of a country and the percentages
of total population in rural and urban areas as recorded in the 10-yearly census
during 1901-81.

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Table 1. Urban and rural population: 1901-1981

Urban Percentage of
Year Population Total Population
(in million) Rural Urban
1901 25 90 10
1911 26 90 10
1921 28 89 11
1931 33 88 12
1941 44 86 14
1951 62 82 18
1961 79 82 18
1971 100 80 20
1981 150 75 25

Q.21. The percentage increase in total population of the country between 1901
and 1981 is
A) 500% B) 150% C) 140% D) cannot be determined

Q.22. The percentage increase in density of population in the urban areas

between 1951 and 1981 is
A) about 60% B) about 250%
C) above 500% D) cannot be determined

Q.23. The largest rate of increase in urban population in a decade during 1901-
1981 occurred in
A) 1971-81 B) 1961-71 C) 1951-61 D) 1941-51

Q.24. The rate of urban population growth per year during 1901-81 is about
A) 0.65 million B) 1.56 million
C) 2.65 million D) 15.62 million

Q.25. The smallest rate of increase in urban population in a decade during

1921-1961 occurred in
A) 1951-61 B) 1941-51 C) 1931-41 D) 1921-31

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Q.26–Q.50: QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE

In the following, ℝ will denote the set of real numbers.

Q.26. If 𝑎 ∈ ℝ, then the equations 𝑥 2 + 𝑥 + 𝑎 = 0 and 𝑥 2 + 𝑎𝑥 + 1 = 0 have a

common real root for
A) no value of a
B) exactly one value of a in the interval [0, 2]
C) exactly one value of a in the interval [−3, −1]
D) exactly two values of a

Q.27. A man standing 𝑥 metres north of a tower finds the angle of elevation of its
top to be 30°. He then starts walking towards the tower. After walking a
distance of x/2 metres, he turns east and walks another x/2 metres. Then
he turns south and walks another x/2 metres. The angle of elevation of
the top of the tower from his new position is
2 2
A) 15° B) 60° C) tan−1 D) tan−1
3 3
Q.28. Let the equations of two circles 𝐶1 and 𝐶2 be given by 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 − 4𝑥 − 4𝑦 +
6 = 0 and 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 − 10𝑥 − 10𝑦 + 𝑘 = 0 respectively, where 𝑘 is a constant.
Suppose that 𝐶1 and 𝐶2 have exactly two common tangents. Then possible
values of 𝑘 are
A) 0 < 𝑘 < 18 B) 18 < 𝑘 < 42
C) 42 < 𝑘 < 50 D) None of the above

Q.29. Consider the function

2𝑥 − 1 if 𝑥 < −1
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 2 + 1 if −1 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 1
𝑥 + 1 if 𝑥 > 1.
Then
A) 𝑓 is continuous everywhere
B) 𝑓 is continuous everywhere except 𝑥 = −1 and 𝑥 = 1
C) 𝑓 is continuous everywhere except 𝑥 = −1
D) 𝑓 is continuous everywhere except 𝑥 = 1

Q.30. If
1 ∙ 2 ∙ 3 + 2 ∙ 3 ∙ 4 + 3 ∙ 4 ∙ 5 + ⋯ upto 𝑛 terms
𝐴𝑛 =
𝑛 1 ∙ 2 + 2 ∙ 3 + 3 ∙ 4 + ⋯ upto 𝑛 terms

then lim𝑛→∞ 𝐴𝑛 is
3 1 1 5
A) B) C) 𝐷)
4 4 2 4

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Q.31. The sum of the first 50 terms of the series: 3 + 7 + 13 + 21 + 31 + 43 + ⋯ is

A) 50 × 870 B) 50 × 875 C) 50 × 880 D) 50 × 885

Q.32. The function 𝑓: ℝ → ℝ, defined by 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 3 − 3𝑥 2 + 6𝑥 − 5, is

A) one-to-one, but not onto B) one-to-one and onto
C) onto, but not one-to-one D) neither one-to-one nor onto

Q.33. The number of distinct words that can be formed using the consonants of
the word „PROBABILITY‟ is
9! 11!
A) 2520 B) 5040 C) D)
2! 4

Q.34. The area enclosed between the curves 𝑦 = 2𝑥 2 and 𝑦 = 6 is

A) 2 3 B) 4 3 C) 6 3 D) 8 3

Q.35. The value of

sin 𝑥 2
lim
𝑥→0 𝑥 sin 𝑥
is
A) 0 B) 1 C) 2 D) ∞

Q.36. The value of

30 30 30 30
𝐶1 𝐶3 𝐶5 𝐶29
+ + + ⋯+
2 4 6 30
is
231 230 231 − 1 230 − 1
A) B) C) D)
30 31 31 31

Q.37. In the quadrilateral 𝐴𝐵𝐶𝐷 below, ∠𝐷𝐴𝐵 = 90° and 𝐴𝐵 = 24 cm, 𝐵𝐶 = 40

cm, 𝐶𝐷 = 50 cm and 𝐴𝐷 = 18 cm (The diagram is not drawn to scale).
Find the area of the quadrilateral.

A) 1089 cm2 B) 914 cm2 C) 816 cm2 D) 726 cm2

Q.38. Let 𝑥 = 𝜋/40. Then the value of cot 𝑥 cot 2𝑥 cot 3𝑥 ⋯ cot 19𝑥 is
A) 1 B) −1 C) 0 D) ∞

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Q.39. Consider the function: 𝑓 𝑥 = 2 − 𝑥 − 1 for all 𝑥 ∈ ℝ. Then the value of

𝑓 ′ −2 + 𝑓 ′ 0 + 𝑓 ′ 2 + 𝑓 ′ 4 is
A) −2 B) 0 C) 1 D) 2

Q.40. Let
𝑎 𝑏 0
𝑃 = −1 2 1
2 −3 −2

with det(𝑃) = −2. Then the minor 𝑀22 of 𝑃 is

A) −4 B) −2 C) 2 D) 4

Q.41. If 𝛼 and 𝛽 are two roots of the equation

𝑥 2 + 𝑥 + 1 = 0,
then the value of 𝛼 2017 + 𝛽 2017 is
A) 0 B) 1 C) −1 D) 2

Q.42. The number of different solutions (𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) of the equation 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 10,

where 𝑥, 𝑦 and 𝑧 are positive integers, is
A) 36 B) 121 C) 990 D) 75

Q.43. The equation 𝑥 2 − 𝑦 2 = 2𝑦 + 1 represents a

A) parabola B) hyperbola
C) point D) pair of straight lines

Q.44. There are 100 students in a class. In an examination, 50 of them failed in

Mathematics, 45 failed in Physics and 40 failed in Biology. 32 failed in
exactly two of the three subjects. Only one student passed in all the
subjects. The number of students failing in all the three subjects is
A) 12 B) 4 C) 2 D) cannot be determined

Q.45. The point 𝑅 (4, 10) lies on the curve 𝐶 ∶ 𝑦 = 𝑥 2 − 6𝑥 + 18. The tangent and
normal to 𝐶 at 𝑅 meets the 𝑌-axis at points 𝑃 and 𝑄 respectively. A circle
passes through the points 𝑃, 𝑄 and 𝑅. The radius of this circle is
A) 3 B) 4 C) 5 D) 6

Q.46. An equilateral triangle, having each side as a , has its corners cut away so
as to form a regular hexagon. The area of the hexagon is
3𝑎2 2 3𝑎2 3𝑎2 3𝑎2
A) B) C) D)
6 3 12 4

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Q.47. Let 𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑎0 + 𝑎1 𝑥 + 𝑎2 𝑥 2 + 𝑎3 𝑥 3 , where 𝑎0 , 𝑎1 , 𝑎2 and 𝑎3 are constants.

Which of the following statements is correct?
A) 𝑓(𝑥) is differentiable at 𝑥 = 0 for any choice of 𝑎0 , 𝑎1 , 𝑎2 and 𝑎3
B) 𝑓(𝑥) is not differentiable at 𝑥 = 0 for any choice of 𝑎0 , 𝑎1 , 𝑎2 and 𝑎3
C) If 𝑓(𝑥) is differentiable at 𝑥 = 0, then 𝑎1 = 0
D) If 𝑓(𝑥) is differentiable at 𝑥 = 0, then 𝑎1 = 0 and 𝑎3 = 0

Q.48. If
𝑎 𝑏 𝑐 −𝑥 𝑎 −𝑝
𝑃= 𝑥 𝑦 𝑧 and Q = 𝑦 −𝑏 𝑞
𝑝 𝑞 𝑟 𝑧 −𝑐 𝑟
then
A) det 𝑃 = det 𝑄 B) det 𝑃 = 2det 𝑄
C) 2det 𝑃 = det 𝑄 D) det 𝑃 = − det 𝑄

Q.49. Let 𝑆 = {1, 2, … , 100}. The number of nonempty subsets T of S such that the
product of numbers in T is even is
A) 250 250 − 1 B) 2100 − 1 C) 250 − 1 D) 251 − 1

Q.50. What is the sum of the interior angles at the vertices of a 5-pointed star as
shown below? The star need not have sides of the same length.

A) 120° B) 180°
C) 540° D) depends on the sides of the star.

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KEYS

Q1 D Q14 A Q27 D Q40 A

Q2 C Q15 C Q28 B Q41 C
Q3 C Q16 B Q29 C Q42 A
Q4 A Q17 C Q30 A Q43 D
Q5 B Q18 B Q31 D Q44 C
Q6 D Q19 B Q32 B Q45 C
Q7 B Q20 A Q33 A Q46 A
Q8 C Q21 C Q34 D Q47 C
Q9 D Q22 D Q35 B Q48 D
Q10 C Q23 A Q36 D Q49 A
Q11 A Q24 B Q37 C Q50 B
Q12 D Q25 D Q38 A
Q13 B Q26 C Q39 B

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