General Science & Ability – Past Papers Analysis

General Science & Ability – Past Papers Analysis (CSS 2016-2020) by Aamir Mahar

PART – I (GENERAL SCIENCE)

I. Physical Sciences

A. Constituents and Structure (Universe, Galaxy, Light Year, Solar System, Sun, Earth,
Astronomical System of Units)

1. Describe different methods to estimate the age of the Universe. (CSS 2018)

B. Process of Nature (Solar and Lunar Eclipses, Rotation and Revolution, Weather
Variables (Global Temperature, Pressure, Circulation, Precipitation, Humidity) and Weather
Variations)

1. (A) Differentiate between the occurrence of Lunar and Solar Eclipse? (B) Briefly
explain what effects are produced due to Rotation & Revolution of Earth? (CSS 2017)
2. Explain the formation of Lunar Eclipse. (CSS 2018)
3. What do you understand by Global Wind and Pressure patterns? Also explain wind and
pressure features at higher altitude. (CSS 2020)

C. Natural Hazards and Disasters (Earth Quake, Volcanic Eruption, Tsunami, Floods,
Avalanche, Travelling Cyclone (Tropical Cyclone, Middle Latitude Cyclone and Tornadoes),
Drought, Wildfire, Urban Fire. Disaster Risk Management)

1. What is tsunami? How the tsunamis generated and what are their characteristics? (b)
What is an earth quake? Discuss Richter Scale in this context. What was the intensity
of the earth quake in Pakistan dated 26 October 2015 and where was the locus? (CSS
2016)
2. Describe different causes of ‘Tsunami’. Is there any difference between a Tsunami and
a tidal wave? Name the worst Tsunami ever recorded. (CSS 2018)
3. What is the most dangerous part of a hurricane and how do cyclones affect humans?
(CSS 2019)
4. On 7th April 2012 an Avalanche hit a Pakistan military base in Gayari sector trapping
140 soldiers and civilians under deep snow. What is Avalanche; describe its four types
with focus on most dangerous type? (CSS 2020)
5. World largest earthquake was assigned a magnitude of 9.5 by the United States
Geological Survey on 22 May 1960 in southern Chile Valdivia. What do you know about

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 General Science & Ability – Past Papers Analysis

earthquake? Also explain shallow-focus and deep focus earthquakes. (CSS 2020)
6. Differentiate between Middle Latitude Cyclones and Tornadoes. (CSS 2020)

D. Energy Resources (Sources of Energy (Renewable i.e. LED Energy, Solar Energy, Wind
Energy and Non-Renewable Energy conservation and its sustainable use)

1. Differentiate between the Renewable and Non-Renewable sources of energy giving

examples of each one of them. (CSS 2019)
2. Differentiate between the renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Briefly
explain Geothermal Energy and Hydro Electricity. (CSS 2020)

E. Atomic Structure, Chemical Bonding, Electromagnetic Radiations.

1. Why do atoms form bonds? Name three major types of chemical bonds. (CSS 2019)

F. Modern Materials/Chemicals (Ceramics, Plastics, Semiconductors. Antibiotics,

Vaccines, Fertilizers, Pesticides).

1. What are vaccines? Classify these and discuss DNA vaccines in detail. (CSS 2016)
2. Why the excessive use of chemical fertilizers should be avoided? (CSS 2019)
3. What’s the difference between vaccines and antibiotics? How do antibiotics and
vaccines contribute to health? (CSS 2019)
4. Why an indiscriminate/casual use of Antibiotics may prove dangerous? (CSS 2019)
5. What are Pesticides? Explain their different types; why persistent pesticides are more
lethal for mankind? (CSS 2020)

II. Biological Sciences

A. The Basis of Life (Cell Structures and Functions (Subcellular Organelles such as
Nucleus, Mitochondria and Ribosomes).

B.Biomolecules (Proteins, Lipids, Carbohydrates and Enzymes)

1. What are carbohydrates? Classify and give detail of each class along with examples.
(CSS 2020)

C. Plant and Animal Kingdom (A brief survey of plant and animal kingdom to pinpoint
similarities and diversities in nature).

D. A Brief Account of Human Physiology

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 General Science & Ability – Past Papers Analysis

1. Comment, “liver is the chief chemist in human body”. (CSS 2016)

2. (A) Explain in detail the common causes of Heart Attack (C) Draw the structure of
human ear and briefly explain its functions (CSS 2017)
3. People suffering from cardiovascular diseases have a high level of cholesterol in their
blood. This often leads to a buildup of fats on the internal arterial walls. Suggest how
this might be harmful to the heart. (CSS 2019)

E. Common Diseases and Epidemics (Polio, Diarrhea, Malaria, Hepatitis, Dengue their
Causes and Prevention)

1. What are causative organism and vector for dengue, enlist possible ways of prevention
from dengue. (CSS 2016)
2. Describe different causes and preventions of ‘Polio’ (CSS 2018)
3. What do you know about Hepatitis? Describe its types and write down preventive
measures. (CSS 2020)

F. New Model Concept of Producing BIO Fuel Method

1. Define the term ‘Bio-Fuel’. How is it helpful to promote clean energy? (CSS 2018)

III. Environmental Science

A. Environment (The Atmosphere (Layered Structure and Composition), Hydrosphere

(Water Cycle, Major Water Compartments), Biosphere (Major Biomes) and Lithosphere
(Minerals and Rocks, Rock Types, Plate Tectonics).

1. What is hydrological cycle? Discuss its importance. (CSS 2016)

2. What are the factors responsible for environmental pollution? (CSS 2017)
3. Briefly describe the various segments of atmosphere. How these segments are
maintaining the Earth Radiation Balance? (CSS 2020)
4. How the organic particulate matter enters in the atmosphere. Also describe the
sources? (CSS 2020)

B. Atmospheric Pollution (Types, Sources, Causes and effects of major air pollutants
(COx, Particulate Matter, NOx, SOx, Tropospheric Ozone, Volatile Organic Compounds,
Dioxins). Regional and Global air pollution issues (Acid- rain, Ozone Depletion, Greenhouse
Effect and Global Warming). International agreements on air pollution control (Montreal
Protocol and Kyoto Protocol).

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 General Science & Ability – Past Papers Analysis

1. What were the main objectives of Clean Development Mechanism? Also explain the
reasons for the criticism on Koyoto Protocol by the developed countries. (CSS 2016)
2. Comment, Green House Effect is a blessing Also discuss Enhanced Green House Effect
and its relation with global warming. (CSS 2016)
3. What do you mean by Ozone depletion and how we can prevent its depletion? (CSS
2017)
4. What is an Acid Rain and how it is produced. Briefly describe the dangers associated
with it? (CSS 2017)
5. What is ‘Acid Rain’.Describe its causes and how it can be prevented? (CSS 2018)
6. Write a comprehensive note on ‘Smog’. (CSS 2018)
7. Why are scientists worried about the increase of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere?
(CSS 2019)
8. What does Ozone depletion mean and how can we protect the ozone layer? (CSS 2019)

C. Water Pollution (Types, sources, causes and effects of major water pollutants
(Synthetic Organic Chemicals, Oxygen Demanding Wastes, Plant Nutrients, Thermal
Pollution, Infectious Agents, Sediments, Radioactivity, Heavy Metals and Acids). Drinking
water quality and standards.)

1. What is ‘Water Pollution’. Discuss its causes and measurement methods. Name the
countries with the highest and lowest percentage of it. (CSS 2018)
2. What is natural radioactivity? How it is different from the artificial radioactivity? (CSS
2020)

D. Land Pollution (Solid waste management and disposal)

1. Differentiate between Sanitary and Industrial Landfills, also describe the land
selection criteria for Landfills. (CSS 2016)

E. Role of Remote Sensing and GIS in Environmental Science.

1. What do you know about the Remote Sensing Techniques? Explain resolution and
write down the names of its various types? (CSS 2016)

F. Population Planning.

IV. Food Science

A. Concept of Balance Diet (Vitamins, Carbohydrates, Protein, Fats and oil, Minerals,

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 General Science & Ability – Past Papers Analysis

Fiber).

1. What is Cholesterol? Discuss its importance, normal blood level and dangers of
elevated levels with reference to the health and disease in humans. (CSS 2016)
2. What is the significance of Vitamins? Describe the sources, uses and deficiency
symptoms of fat soluble vitamins. (CSS 2017)
3. Define ‘Carbohydrates’. Describe different steps to digest these in the human body.
(CSS 2018)
4. Write a comprehensive note on ‘Balanced Diet’. (CSS 2018)
5. Deficiency of vitamins causes different human diseases some of which are given in the
table below. Choose the correct type of vitamin from the box and write in front of each
disease: Vit. A, Vit. B1, Vit. C, Vit. D, Vit.E, Vit.K.
Disease caused due to lack of which vitamin:
1. Poor night Vision
2. Bleeding Gums
3. Rickets in Children
4. Beri-Beri
5. Anaemia

B. Quality of Food (Bioavailability of Nutrients, Appearance, Texture, Flavor, Quality of

Packed and Frozen Food, Food Additives, Preservatives and Antioxidants)

1. Discuss importance of preservatives and antioxidants in food. (CSS 2016)

C. Food Deterioration and its Control (Causes of Food Deterioration, Adulteration, Food
Preservation).

1. Discuss different methods of Food preservation. (CSS 2020)

V. Information Technology

A. Computer (Hardware & Software Fundamentals); (I/O Processing and data storage,
Networking & Internet Standards, Application and business Software, Social Media
Websites. Information Systems. Fundamentals of artificial intelligence)

1. Write a short note on artificial intelligence. (CSS 2016)

2. (A) Differentiate between RAM and ROM (B) Name three basic buses employed in a
computer and explain what each is used for. (C) Draw a basic computer block diagram
and briefly explain the function of each part. (D) Describe various types of computers
classified on the basis of size, memory, capacity and speed. (CSS 2017)

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 General Science & Ability – Past Papers Analysis

3. Write a note, how data is stored on a ‘Hard Disk’. (CSS 2018)

4. What is ‘Artificial Intelligence’? How is it helpful for humanity? (CSS 2018)
5. What are the different types of a network? Explain each briefly. (CSS 2019)
6. What is Open System Interconnections (OSI) and describe its layers? (CSS 2020)

B. Telecommunications (Basics of Wireless Communication (Mobile, Satellite,

Surveillance and GPS and Fiber Optic etc).

1. Write short notes on: (i) Four optics (ii) Global Positioning System (CSS 2016)
2. How an ‘Optical Fiber’ is constructed? How is it helpful in transmitting the
electromagnetic radiations? (CSS 2018)
3. Give a brief account of Optic Fibres. What is their importance in present day telecom
system? (CSS 2019)
4. Where and how Fiber Optics are used? Also write down their advantages and
disadvantages. (CSS 2020)
5. What is GPS? How does it work? (CSS 2020)

Past Papers Analysis (CSS 2015-2020)

1. Pakistan Affairs
2. Islamic Studies
3. Criminology
4. Gender Studies
5. Political Science (Paper – I)
6. Political Science (Paper – II)
7. International Relations (Paper – I)
8. International Relations (Paper – II)

PART – II (GENERAL ABILITY)

VI. Quantitative Ability/Reasoning (Basic Mathematical Skills. Concepts and ability to

reasons quantitatively and solve problems in a quantitative setting. Basic Arithmetic,
Algebra and Geometry (Average, Ratios, Rates, Percentage, Angles, Triangles, Sets,
Remainders, Equations, Symbols, Rounding of Numbers Random Sampling)

1. Define and draw the following: (i) Right Angle triangles (ii) Equilateral triangles (CSS
2016)
2. There are nine students in a group having ages 15, 15, 16, 16, 17, 17, 18, 19. Calculate
mean, medium, mode and range of their ages also define the above mentioned terms.

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 General Science & Ability – Past Papers Analysis

(CSS 2016)
3. A distribution company provides households to departmental stores within a 50
kilometers radius. The table below shows how far each departmental store is from the
godown of the distribution company.
Distance from the godown of the distribution company Number of Stores
10 Kilometers or less 03
11 to 20 Kilometers 15
21 to 30 Kilometers 26
31 to 40 Kilometers 20
41 to 50 Kilometers 16

(i) How many stores does the distribution company serve? (ii) What is the most
common distance of stores from the company’s godown? (iii) How many stores are 35
Km or more from the godown? (iv) What percentage of stores are 31 Km or more from
the godown? (CSS 2016)

4. Read the following carefully and answer the following questions: Ahmed , Ali, Akbar,
Nasir and Shehbaz are students of a college having different heights and weights.
Ahmad weighs thrice as much as Ali and Ali weighs 5 times as much as Akbar. Akbar
weighs half as much as Nasir and Nasir weighs half as much as Shehbaz. (i) Who is the
heaviest in weight? (ii) Who is the lightest in weight? (iii) Shehbaz is lighter in weight
than which of the two students? (iv) Shehbaz is heavier than which of the two
students? (v) Show the descending order of weights of the students. (CSS 2016)
5. Y = mX + C is an equation of straight line. Draw a graph showing relationship between
X and Y and relate the equation to the slope and intercept on the graph. (CSS 2016)
6. (A) Differentiate with examples between a “Pictogram” and “Histogram”. (B) The
teachers of a certain school were asked to indicate the average number of hours they
spend on marking students assignments each day. The following set of data was
obtained (C) How many teachers responded to the survey? (D) What the longest
number of hours and most common number of hours are spent? (CSS 2017)
4 3 1 2 2 3 1 4
6
2 5 3 4 5 2 2 3
1
3 1 2 2 3 1 4 2
7. It takes 3 liters of paint to cover an area of 24 square meters. What percentage
increase in the quantity of paint would be required to cover an area of 50.4 square
meters? (CSS 2018)
8. An automobile travels 3 km towards south, 4 km towards west, 5 km towards north

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 General Science & Ability – Past Papers Analysis

and 2 km towards south-east. How far is it from its starting position? (CSS 2018)
9. Tahir started a business with a capital of Rs. 15,000. After 5 months Umar also joined
him with an investment of Rs. 30,000. At the start of 9th month, Usman joined them by
investing Rs. 45,000. At the end of the year they earned a profit of Rs. 406,000. Find
the share of each one. (CSS 2018)
10. A man left his property of Rs. 640,000. A debt of Rs. 40,000 was due to him and Rs.
5,000 was spent on his burial. Distribute the amount between his widow, one daughter
and two sons according to the Islamic Law. (CSS 2018)
11. Police officers are in pursuit of a stolen vehicle. Officer Baker is directly behind the
stolen car. Officer Lopez is behind Baker; Officer O’Malley is behind Lopez. Officer
Reinhart is ahead of the stolen car and coming from the opposite direction. Officer
Reinhart makes a U-turn and joins the pursuit. He pulls in behind Officer Lopez.
Officer Baker pulls up on the driver’s side of the stolen vehicle and Officer Lopez pulls
up on the other side. Which officer is directly behind the vehicle? (CSS 2018)
12. Define a Histogram. How is it constructed? What information may be deduced from it?
(CSS 2018)
13. Look at this series: F2, __, D8, C16, B32, What number should fill the blank? (CSS
2018)
14. In a certain code language LANDMINE is written as PYRBQGRC. How will
HOMEMADE be written in that code language? (CSS 2018)
15. Tariq can do a tailoring job in 6 hours. Sajid does the same job in 4 hours. Irfan does it
in 8 hours. Tariq and Sajid start doing the work. Sajid leaves after two hours and Irfan
replaces him. How long would it take to complete the work? (CSS 2020)
16. Find the missing number to complete each sum (CSS 2020).
(a) 9 + 8 – 5 = 2 × ____
(b) 3 × 9 – 14 = 24 – ____
(c) 15 ÷ 3 × 12 = 41 + ____
(d) 24 ÷ 4 + 5 = 66 ÷ ____
(e) 8 × 6 – 13 + 3 = 7 × 6 – ____
17. There are seven students in a group having ages 17,17,18,18,18,19,19. Calculate
mean, median, mode and range of their ages. Also define these mentioned terms.
(CSS 2020)
18. How does mental ability scales differ from IQ test? (CSS 2020)

VII. Logical Reasoning and Analytical Reasoning/ Ability

1. Classification of blood groups is based on the presence or absence of inherited

antigenic substances on the surface of red blood cells in a survey of British population
the blood group distribution among 1000 people was as follows: 300 had blood group

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 General Science & Ability – Past Papers Analysis

A, 325 had blood group B, 250 had O and 125 AB. Out of this group a person was
selected at random, calculate his probability of having blood group AB. (CSS 2016)
2. Five friends Ahmad, Ali, Akbar, Nasir and Shehbaz went on summer vacation to five
cities namely V, W, X, Y and Z by five different modes of transport, that is by bus,
train, aeroplane, car and boat from point A. Akbar went to Y by car and Ali went to X
by air. Nasir travelled by boat whereas Shehbaz went by train. For X and W, there is
no bus service. The person who went to X did not use boat to travel. Now answer the
following questions. (i) How did Ahmad travel and where did he go? (ii) Which mode of
transport was used by the person who travelled to X city? (CSS 2016)
3. Differentiate between primary and secondary mental abilities. How the general mental
ability scales differ from IQ test. (CSS 2016)
4. Divide Rs.500 between Arham, Mariam and Sarim so that Arham gets 2/3 of what
Mariam gets and Mariam gets ¼ of what Sarim gets. Find the share of each. (CSS
2018)
5. A school has enough provision of food for 52 days. After 20 days a group of 400
students arrives and the food would have last for 24 days only. How many students are
there in the school actually? (CSS 2018)
6. A man walks 2km towards North. Then he turns to East and walks 10km. After this he
turns to North and walks 3km. Again he turns towards East and walks 2km. How far is
he from the starting point? (CSS 2018)
7. In a certain code language COMPUTER is written as RFUVQNPC. How will MEDICINE
be written in that code language? (CSS 2018)
8. Moiz was trying to sleep at one night but there was too much noise around him. His
clock ticked every 5 second: a tap was dipping every 7 second and a pet dog snored
every 12second. He noticed on his clock that all three things happened together on the
stroke of mid night. Find after how many seconds all three things happened together
again? (CSS 2019)
9. One pipe can fill a pool 1.25 times as fast as a second pipe. When both pipes are
opened they fill the pool in five hours. How long would it take to fill the pool if only the
slower pipe is used? (CSS 2019)
10. The cost for hiring a car for 2 days in 2018 was Rs 264 which was 20% more than in
2013. What was the cost of hiring a car for 2 days in 2013? (CSS 2019)
11. What do you understand by measure of central tendency? State its types. (CSS 2019)
12. Moiz and Mair share a lottery win of Rs 2000 in the ratio 1:4. Moiz then share his part
between himself, his wife and their son in the ratio 4:5:1. How much more does his
wife get over their son. (CSS 2019)
13. A farmer keeps hens and rabbits on his farm. One day, he counted a total of 70 heads
and 196 legs. How many more hens than rabbits does he have? (CSS 2019)

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 General Science & Ability – Past Papers Analysis

14. What is polygon? Describe different types of regular polygon. (CSS 2019)
15. In a certain code, computer is written as RFUVQNPC. How will MEDICINE be written
in code language? (CSS 2019)
16. Mushtaq, Pervaiz, Ehsan, Umair and Saleem are friends having different heights and
weights. Mushtaq weighs four times as much as Pervaiz and Pervaiz weighs double
than Ehsan, Ehsan weighs half as much as Umair and Umair weighs half as much as
Saleem. (i) Who is the heaviest among five friends? (ii) Who is the second heaviest? (iii)
Who has lowest weight? (iv) Who are equal in weight? (v) Mention the descending
order (CSS 2020)
17. A farmer needs to build a boundary wall around his farm. If the area of farm is 484 m2,
what will be the total area of the wall if it is two meters high on three sides and three
meters high on one side? (CSS 2020)
18. Five girls A,B,C,D,E and four boys W,X,Y,Z have to go to a trip in three cars,
car-1,car-2 and car-3. The following restrictions for seating in car are to be observed:
(i) Only three persons can sit in one car (ii) At least one boy and one girl must be in
each car (iii) A and D should remain together (iv) Z cannot sit with B or C in the same
car Distribute boys and girls in three cars. (CSS 2020)
19. What are social skills? Describe four causes of weak social skills (CSS 2020)
20. What do you understand by systematic sampling? Discuss its types. (CSS 2020)
21. Blood groups of inhabitants of a village were checked. It was found that 600 people
possessed blood group A, 650 possessed blood group B, 550 had blood group AB and
200 have blood group O. Calculate the probability of having blood group B. (ii)
Calculate the probability of having blood group O. (CSS 2020)
22. A group of 50 men can construct 20 kilometer road in 40 days. How long will 70 men
take to complete same length of road? (CSS 2020)
23. Zahid left a property worth Rs 1750,000/. His family had to pay off a debt of Rs
150,000/. The rest of money was distributed between a son and a daughter. How much
did each child receive if share of a son was double than that of a daughter? (CSS
2020)

VIII. Mental Abilities (Mental Abilities VIII Scales that measures specific constructs such
as verbal, mechanical, numerical and social ability)

IX. Out of Syllabus

1. Explain the shape of water molecule with the help of Molecular Orbital Theory, also
draw its orbital diagram. (CSS 2016)
2. What are the gamma rays? Explain their applications. (CSS 2016)
3. Briefly explain the main reasons of water-logging in Pakistan. (CSS 2017)

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 General Science & Ability – Past Papers Analysis

4. Differentiate between drug addiction and drug abuse. (CSS 2017)

5. What is a mirage? Describe in detail the creation of mirage. (CSS 2017)
6. Most of the household appliances utilize ‘DC’ then why we generate ‘AC’ at power
stations? (CSS 2017)
7. Explain the terms Dark Energy and Dark Matter. (CSS 2018)
8. Define the term Black Hole. What’s expected inside it? (CSS 2018)
9. Give a brief account of Biotechnology. (CSS 2019)
10. Do the mammals also lay eggs? If yes, where in the world do they live? Write the name
of some of them. (CSS 2019)
11. How can the Sun have such a strong gravitational field if it’s made of gases? (CSS
2019)
12. What are the Fossils? Discuss the importance of paleontology. (CSS 2020)

Past Papers Analysis (CSS 2015-2020)

1. Pakistan Affairs
2. Islamic Studies
3. Criminology
4. Gender Studies
5. Political Science (Paper – I)
6. Political Science (Paper – II)
7. International Relations (Paper – I)
8. International Relations (Paper – II)

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