SAMPLE QUESTIONS (MCQ -TYPE)

1. The highest power of 7 that divides 100! is

(A) 14 (B) 15 (C) 16 (D) 18.

2. The number of 6-digit positive integers whose sum of the digits is at

least 52 is

(A) 21 (B) 22 (C) 27 (D) 28.

3. The sum of all 3-digit numbers that leave a remainder of 2 when di-
vided by 3 is

(A) 189700 (B) 164850 (C) 164750 (D) 149700.

4. Suppose that 6-digit numbers are formed using each of the digits
1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9 exactly once. The number of such 6-digit numbers that
are divisible by 6 but not divisible by 9 is equal to

(A) 120 (B) 180 (C) 240 (D) 360.

5. The solution of the differential equation

dy 2xy
= 2
dx x − y2
is

(A) x2 + y 2 = cy, where c is a constant

(B) x2 + y 2 = cx, where c is a constant
(C) x2 − y 2 = cy, where c is a constant
(D) x2 − y 2 = cx, where c is a constant.

6. If f (a) = 2, f � (a) = 1, g(a) = −1 and g � (a) = 2, then the value of

g(x)f (a) − f (x)g(a)

lim
x→a x−a
is

(A) −5 (B) −3 (C) 3 (D) 5.

1
 7. (cos 100◦ + i sin 100◦ )(cos 110◦ + i sin 110◦ ) is equal to

1 √ 1 √ 1 √ 1 √
(A) ( 3 − i) (B) (− 3 − i) (C) (− 3 + i) (D) ( 3 + i).
2 2 2 2

1
8. The value of − 2 sin 70◦ is
2 sin 10◦

1 1
(A) − (B) −1 (C) (D) 1.
2 2

9. For 0 ≤ x < 2π, the number of solutions of the equation

sin2 x + 2 cos2 x + 3 sin x cos x = 0

is

(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4.

10. The chance of a student getting admitted to colleges A and B are 60%
and 40%, respectively. Assume that the colleges admit students inde-
pendently. If the student is told that he has been admitted to at least
one of these colleges, what is the probability that he has got admitted
to college A?

(A) 3/5 (B) 5/7 (C) 10/13 (D) 15/19.

11. Given a positive integer m, we define f (m) as the highest power of 2

that divides m. If n is a prime number greater than 3, then

(A) f (n3 − 1) = f (n − 1)
(B) f (n3 − 1) = f (n − 1) + 1
(C) f (n3 − 1) = 2f (n − 1)
(D) none of the above is necessarily true.

12. How many triplets of real numbers (x, y, z) are simultaneous solu-
tions of the equations x + y = 2 and xy − z 2 = 1?

(A) 0 (B) 1 (C) 2 (D) infinitely many.

2
13. Let V be the vector space of all 4 × 4 matrices such that the sum of the
elements in any row or any column is the same. Then the dimension
of V is

(A) 8 (B) 10 (C) 12 (D) 14.

14. If the system of equations

ax + y + z = 0
x + by + z = 0
x + y + cz = 0

with a, b, c �= 1 has a non-trivial solution, the value of

1 1 1
+ +
1−a 1−b 1−c
is

(A) 1 (B) −1 (C) 3 (D) −3.

 
0 1 t
 
15. The rank of the matrix 
 2 t −1 
 equals
2 2 0

(A) 3 for any real number t

(B) 2 for any real number t
(C) 2 or 3 depending on the value of t
(D) 1, 2 or 3 depending on the value of t.

16. If S and S � are the foci of the ellipse 3x2 + 4y 2 = 12 and P is a point
on the ellipse, then the perimeter of the triangle P SS � is

(A) 4 (B) 6 (C) 8 (D) dependent on the coordinates of P .

17. The reflection of the the point (1, 2) with respect to the line x+2y = 15
is

(A) (3, 6) (B) (6, 3) (C) (5, 10) (D) (10, 5).

3
18. For the differential equation

dy
+ xe−y + 2x = 0,
dx

it is given that y = 0 when x = 0. When x = 1, y is given by

� � � �
3 1 3e 1
(A) ln − (B) ln −
2e 2 2 4
� � � �
3 1 3 1
(C) ln − (D) ln − .
e 2 2e 4

19. Let G = {a1 , a2 , . . . , a

�1212} be�an Abelian group of order 12. Then the
�
order of the element ai is
i=1

(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 6 (D) 12.

20. A function f : R2 → R is called degenerate on xi if f (x1 , x2 ) remains

constant when xi varies (i = 1, 2). Define
� � x2
� �
f (x1 , x2 ) = �2πi/x1 � for x1 �= 0,
√
where i = −1. Then which of the following statements is true?

(A) f is degenerate on both x1 and x2

(B) f is degenerate on x1 but not on and x2

(C) f is degenerate on x2 but not on and x1

(D) f is neither degenerate on x1 nor on x2 .

21. Suppose that the number plate of a vehicle contains two vowels fol-
lowed by four digits. However to avoid confusion, the letter ‘O’ and
the digit ‘0’ are not used in the same number plate. How many such
number plates can be formed?

(A) 164025 (B) 190951 (C) 194976 (D) 219049.

4
22. A coin, with probability p (0 < p < 1) of getting head, is tossed until
a head appears for the first time. If the probability that the number of
tosses required is even is 2/5, then the value of p is

(A) 2/7 (B) 1/3 (C) 5/7 (D) 2/3.

23. Let A be a 2 × 2 matrix with real entries. Now consider the function
fA (x) = Ax. If the image of every circle under fA is a circle of the
same radius, then

(A) A must be an orthogonal matrix

(B) A must be a symmetric matrix
(C) A must be a skew-symmetric matrix
(D) none of the above must necessarily hold.

24. Let f : R → R be a continuous function such that lim f n (x) exists for
n→∞
every x ∈ R, where f n (x) = f ◦ f n−1 (x) for n ≥ 2. Define
� �
S = lim f n (x) : x ∈ R and T = {x ∈ R : f (x) = x} .
n→∞

Then which of the following is necessarily true?

(A) S ⊂ T (B) T ⊂ S

(C) S = T (D) None of the above.

25. Let a, b, c be non-zero real numbers such that

� 1 � 2
8 2
(1 + cos x)(ax + bx + c)dx = (1 + cos8 x)(ax2 + bx + c)dx = 0.
0 0

Then the quadratic equation ax2 + bx + c = 0 has

(A) no roots in (0, 2)

(B) one root in (0, 2) and one root outside this interval
(C) one repeated root in (0, 2)
(D) two distinct real roots in (0, 2).

5
 � �
200
26. If t = /4100 , then
100

1 1 1 1 2 2
(A) t < (B) <t< (C) <t< (D) < t < 1.
3 3 2 2 3 3

27. A general election is to be scheduled on 5 days in May such that it is

not scheduled on two consecutive days. In how many ways can the 5
days be chosen to hold the election?
� � � � � � � �
26 27 30 31
(A) (B) (C) (D) .
5 5 5 5

28. Consider the functions f, g : [0, 1] → [0, 1] given by

1 1
f (x) = x(x + 1) and g(x) = x2 (x + 1).
2 2
Then the area enclosed between the graphs of f −1 and g −1 is

(A) 1/4 (B) 1/6 (C) 1/8 (D) 1/24.

29. Let ψ : R → R be a continuous function with ψ(y) = 0 for all y ∈

/ [0, 1]
� 1
and ψ(y)dy = 1. Let f : R → R be a twice differentiable function.
0
Then the value of � 100
lim n f (x)ψ(nx)dx
n→∞ 0
is

(A) f (0) (B) f � (0) (C) f �� (0) (D) f (100).

30. Consider the function h defined on {0, 1, . . . , 10} with h(0) = 0,

h(10) = 10 and

2[h(i) − h(i − 1)] = h(i + 1) − h(i) for i = 1, 2, . . . , 9.

Then the value of h(1) is

1 10 10 1
(A) (B) (C) (D) .
29 −1 29+1 210 −1 210 +1