বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংক সহকারী পরিচালক ২০২৬ এর প্রিলিমিনারি প্রশ্ন সমাধান ব্যাখ্যাসহ

Part One: English Language (Questions 1–20, 20 marks)

This block tests four distinct skills wearing different costumes: word-formation logic, contextual vocabulary, error-spotting, and precise usage of confusable word pairs. BCS-style English sections love to hide grammar knowledge inside vocabulary questions and vice versa, so the real skill being tested is pattern recognition across all four at once.

Questions 1–4: Wrongly used prefix/suffix

These items test whether a word is a real, standardly recognized English word built with valid morphology, versus something that merely looks plausible because it follows a plausible-seeming pattern.

Q1. Answer: C) Unfield
Antithesis, antifreeze, and infiltrate are all genuine words with correctly applied prefixes (anti-, anti-, in-). “Unfield” is not a recognized English word; “un-” doesn’t attach productively to “field” in standard usage the way it does to adjectives like “unfair” or “unfilled.” This is the classic trap of these prefix questions: three real words lull you into pattern-matching the fourth as real too, when it’s actually a non-word wearing a real prefix.

Q2. Answer: D) Disbrace
Decode, encode, and disembark are standard. “Disbrace” isn’t a word in any dictionary — the intended real words nearby would be “embrace” or “disgrace,” and the test is deliberately close to both to trip you into assuming validity.

Q3. Answer: B) Regitism
Nepotism, effervescent, and euphemism are all correct. “Regitism” isn’t attested anywhere; it superficially resembles “nepotism” (both end in -ism after a plausible root) but the root “regit-” doesn’t correspond to any real Latin or Greek stem used this way in English.

Q4. Answer: Genuinely ambiguous — no clean wrong answer
Omniferous, permeable, perspicacity, and familiarize are all legitimate English words, if of uneven frequency. Omniferous (“bearing all kinds of things”) is rare and archaic-flavored, which is likely what the question intends as the “odd one out,” but strictly speaking this item doesn’t have a definitively broken word the way Q1–Q3 do. If you see this on an actual exam and must choose, pick the rarest-sounding option — here, A) Omniferous — but recognize this specific question is weaker than its siblings.

The underlying skill: for prefix/suffix questions, don’t ask “does this look like a word?” Ask “have I definitely encountered this exact word in reading?” If the answer is no and three siblings are clearly real, the unfamiliar one is very likely the invented one.

Questions 5–8: Contextual vocabulary in a passage

This passage about the Firebird from Russian folklore is a controlled vocabulary-in-context exercise. The technique for these is always the same: identify the logical relationship the sentence demands (contrast, cause, elaboration) before even looking at the options, because half the wrong options are words that are thematically related but logically wrong.

Q5. Answer: B) malevolent
The sentence structure is a negation: “rarely seen as a _ entity that causes harm.” The blank needs a word meaning “harmful/evil,” which the sentence then denies applies to the Firebird. Malevolent means “having or showing a wish to do evil to others” — exactly the concept being negated. Flagrant (obviously offensive), pretentious (trying to impress), and flamboyant (showy) don’t carry the “does harm” meaning at all, so they fail the logical-fit test regardless of tone.

Q6. Answer: B) coveted
“Stealing a tsar’s _ golden apple” — the missing word should explain why it’s worth stealing. Coveted means “greatly desired,” which is precisely the motive for theft. Pallid (pale) and adorned (decorated) describe appearance, not desirability; endeared (made beloved) describes an emotional relationship, not an object’s covetability.

Q7. Answer: A) whimsical
The sentence pairs the blank with “mischievous” and “prone to doing strange things, but not evil.” Whimsical means playful, fanciful, unpredictable in a harmless way — a near-perfect synonym match for “mischievous” in this exact register. Depraved (morally corrupt) and voyeuristic (spying for pleasure) are far too dark for a passage explicitly saying “not evil”; churlish (rude) doesn’t fit “prone to doing strange things” at all.

Q8. Answer: C) elusive
“No one has ever captured an image of the bird or found its feather” is a definition-by-example of elusiveness — something that consistently evades detection or capture. Deceptive implies active dishonesty (not supported by the text), paranormal is a much stronger claim than the passage makes, and ingenue (an innocent young woman) is a category error entirely.

The underlying skill: always locate the logical operator in the sentence (a negation, a “but,” a causal link) before evaluating vocabulary options — meaning-fit beats vibe-fit every time.

Questions 9–12: Spot the inaccurate word

These are subtle errors — not glaring grammar mistakes but words used in slightly wrong forms or registers.

Q9. Answer: A) respectedly
This isn’t a standard adverb form. The intended word is “respectfully” (in a respectful manner). Note that “perfunctorily” (done as a routine duty, without real interest) is actually used correctly here, which is the trap: readers assume the unusual-sounding word at the end must be the error, when it’s actually functioning fine.

Q10. Answer: D) specificity
“Specificity” is a noun (the quality of being specific). The sentence needs an adjective before “brain regions” — “specific brain regions,” not “specificity brain regions.” This is a part-of-speech mismatch dressed up as a vocabulary question.

Q11. Answer: B) contains
Classic subject–verb agreement break: “documents that are transparent and contains” — the plural subject “documents” requires the plural verb “contain,” matching the parallel “are.” The sentence starts correctly (are) and then breaks agreement (contains) — a common construction in these tests where a long intervening clause causes the writer (or test-designer) to lose track of the subject’s number.

Q12. Answer: A) celibated
“Celibated” isn’t a real verb — “celibate” is an adjective/noun about abstaining from sex, and even if verbed, its meaning has nothing to do with tailoring a message to an audience. The intended word is “calibrated” (carefully adjusted/fine-tuned) — a one-letter-off substitution that’s easy to misread quickly but obviously wrong once you check meaning against context.

The underlying skill: these four questions each test a different error type — invented word, part-of-speech mismatch, subject–verb agreement, and near-homophone substitution. Reading for meaning (not just fluency) catches all four.

Questions 13–16: Antonyms

Antonym questions fail for test-takers in one specific way: mistaking a synonym for an antonym because both words share a similar register or “feel.” Watch for that trap in every option list below.

Q13. Answer: C) beneficial
Pernicious means having a harmful, often gradual and hard-to-notice, destructive effect. Its true opposite is beneficial (having a positive effect). “Destructive” (option A) is a trap — it’s a synonym of pernicious, not an antonym, included specifically to catch test-takers who pattern-match on intensity rather than direction of meaning.

Q14. Answer: B) simple
Esoteric means intelligible only to a specialized, narrow audience. Its opposite is something broadly accessible — simple (or “exoteric,” if that were an option). “Obscure” and “abstruse” (options A and C) are both synonyms of esoteric, not opposites — a double trap in this item.

Q15. Answer: B) verbose
Laconic means using very few words; the direct opposite is verbose (using far more words than necessary). “Succinct” (option A) is again a synonym trap — succinct and laconic both mean “brief,” so neither can be laconic’s antonym.

Q16. Answer: A) irresolute
Tenacious means firm, persistent, and determined in holding to a course or belief. Irresolute — showing an inability to commit or decide — is the genuine opposite. “Wavering” would also work conceptually but is misspelled as “weavering” in the option list, which likely disqualifies it outright even before considering meaning; irresolute is the clean, correctly-spelled antonym choice.

The underlying skill: for every antonym question, mentally sort the options into “same direction as the bold word” and “opposite direction,” and eliminate same-direction options first, no matter how strong or degree-appropriate they sound.

Questions 17–18: Correct usage among near-homophones

These test three classic confusable pairs: assent/ascent and discreet/discrete.

Q17. Answer: C) iii only

• (i) “final assent to the summit” — wrong. Climbing upward is an ascent (a climb), not assent (agreement). The passage is describing a physical climb, so “assent” makes no sense.
• (ii) “rapid assent in the industry” — wrong for the same reason: a company’s rise in prominence is an ascent (a climb/rise), not an act of agreeing to something.
• (iii) “decided to assent to the terms” — correct. Here the board is genuinely agreeing to contract terms, which is exactly what “assent” (verb: to agree) means.

Q18. Answer: B) ii only

• (i) “three discreet phases” — wrong. The project phases are meant to be separate/distinct from one another — that’s “discrete,” not “discreet” (which means tactful/careful about not causing embarrassment).
• (ii) “handle the complaint in a discreet manner” — correct. Handling something tactfully and without unnecessary publicity is precisely what “discreet” means.
• (iii) “completely discreet personalities” — wrong. Two people having distinctly different personalities calls for “discrete” (separate/distinct), not “discreet.”

The underlying skill: ascent/assent and discreet/discrete are two of the most commonly tested confusable pairs in competitive English exams worldwide. The reliable disambiguator: if the sentence is about climbing, rising, or being physically/conceptually separate, you want the spelling without the extra “e” pattern that signals “secretive/tactful” (discreet) or the “agree” meaning (assent). Memorize by association: discr-E-Te = s-E-parate (both have that E-T pattern); ass-E-Nt = agr-E-e-meNt.

Questions 19–20: Grammar precision

Q19. Answer: B) of
“Absolved of” is the standard, fixed collocation in English for being freed from blame or an accusation (“absolved of the crime,” “absolved of responsibility”). This is a preposition-pairing question — English fixed phrases pair specific verbs with specific prepositions, and this pairing must simply be memorized rather than derived logically.

Q20. Answer: D) Latter
This is a category-confusion trap. Farther, further, and later are all genuine comparative forms (of far-distance, far-degree, and late, respectively) — each compares two things along a scale. “Latter,” by contrast, is a determiner/pronoun meaning “the second of two previously mentioned things” — it does not compare degree at all, and has no corresponding “latterer” or intensification structure the way true comparatives do.

Part Two: বাংলা ভাষা ও সাহিত্য (প্রশ্ন ২১–৪০, ২০ নম্বর)

এই অংশটি মূলত তিনটি স্তরে বিভক্ত: ধ্বনিতত্ত্ব ও রূপতত্ত্ব (উচ্চারণ, সন্ধি, সমাস, দ্বিরুক্তি), বাক্যতত্ত্ব (বাক্য গঠনের শর্ত, পদ প্রকরণ) এবং সাহিত্য ইতিহাস (মধ্যযুগ থেকে সমকালীন পর্যন্ত)। প্রতিটি প্রশ্নের সাথে সংশ্লিষ্ট ব্যাকরণিক নিয়ম বা সাহিত্যিক প্রেক্ষাপট বিস্তারিতভাবে দেওয়া হলো।

বাক্যতত্ত্ব ও ধ্বনিতত্ত্ব (২১-২৭)

২১. উত্তর: B) আসত্তি

বাংলা বাক্য গঠনের তিনটি মৌলিক শর্ত রয়েছে: আকাঙ্ক্ষা (বাক্যের অর্থ সম্পূর্ণ হওয়ার জন্য শ্রোতার মনে যে জিজ্ঞাসা তৈরি হয় ও তার নিরসন), আসত্তি (পদগুলোর মধ্যে সন্নিহিত ও যথাযথ ক্রমবিন্যাস বজায় থাকা) এবং যোগ্যতা (পদগুলোর মধ্যে অর্থগত সামঞ্জস্য থাকা)। “শেরে বাংলা মহান ছিলেন নেতা” বাক্যে পদগুলোর ক্রম বিপর্যস্ত — সঠিক রূপ হবে “শেরে বাংলা মহান নেতা ছিলেন”, যেখানে বিশেষণ (মহান) তার বিশেষ্যের (নেতা) ঠিক আগে বসবে। যেহেতু এখানে অর্থের কোনো ঘাটতি নেই (আকাঙ্ক্ষা ঠিক আছে) এবং পদের মধ্যে অর্থগত অসামঞ্জস্যও নেই (যোগ্যতা ঠিক আছে), সমস্যাটি নিছক পদক্রমের — অর্থাৎ আসত্তি লঙ্ঘিত হয়েছে।

২২. উত্তর: A) রাধিয়া > রাইধ্যা > রেঁধে

অভিশ্রুতি হলো এমন একটি ধ্বনিপরিবর্তন প্রক্রিয়া যেখানে পরের অক্ষরের স্বরধ্বনি আগের অক্ষরের ব্যঞ্জনধ্বনিকে প্রভাবিত করে সম্পূর্ণ রূপান্তরিত করে দেয় (মূল রূপ থেকে অনেক দূরে সরে যায়)। “রাধিয়া” প্রথমে “রাইধ্যা” (অপিনিহিতির মাধ্যমে) হয়, তারপর চূড়ান্ত রূপান্তরে “রেঁধে” হয় — এখানে মূল শব্দের সাথে চূড়ান্ত রূপের সাদৃশ্য প্রায় নেই বললেই চলে, যা অভিশ্রুতির বৈশিষ্ট্য। অন্যান্য অপশনগুলো (কর্তব্য>কাজ, প্রেম>পিরেম>পেম, শ্রেষ্ঠ>শ্রেষ্ট>শেরেষ্ট) হয় ভিন্ন ধরনের ধ্বনিপরিবর্তন (যেমন স্বরাগম বা স্বরসঙ্গতি) নির্দেশ করে, অভিশ্রুতি নয়।

২৩. উত্তর: C) হ

বাংলায় উষ্ম ধ্বনি চারটি: শ, ষ, স, হ — এগুলো উচ্চারণে বাতাসের ঘর্ষণজনিত শব্দ তৈরি হয়। এদের মধ্যে শ, ষ, স-কে আলাদাভাবে “শিস ধ্বনি” (sibilant) বলা হয়, কারণ এদের উচ্চারণে একধরনের শিসের মতো তীক্ষ্ণ শব্দ হয়। হ ধ্বনিটি উষ্ম হলেও এই তীক্ষ্ণ শিস-গুণ নেই, তাই এটি শিস ধ্বনির শ্রেণিভুক্ত নয়।

২৪. উত্তর: B) রোজ রোজ

দ্বিরুক্তি প্রধানত দুই প্রকার: ধ্বন্যাত্মক দ্বিরুক্তি (যেখানে অর্থহীন বা প্রায়-অর্থহীন ধ্বনি পুনরাবৃত্তি হয়, যেমন কড়কড়, মিউমিউ, ঝমঝম) এবং পদাত্মক দ্বিরুক্তি (যেখানে অর্থপূর্ণ, স্বাধীন পদ হুবহু পুনরাবৃত্তি হয় জোর বা ধারাবাহিকতা বোঝাতে)। “রোজ রোজ” একটি স্বাধীন, অর্থবহ পদের (রোজ = প্রতিদিন) পুনরাবৃত্তি — যা প্রতিদিনের ধারাবাহিকতা বোঝায় — তাই এটি পদাত্মক দ্বিরুক্তির যথাযথ উদাহরণ।

২৫. উত্তর: D) ওষ্ঠ্য, মহাপ্রাণ ও অঘোষ

‘ফ’ ধ্বনির তিনটি ধ্বনিতাত্ত্বিক বৈশিষ্ট্য একসাথে বিবেচনা করতে হবে:

• উচ্চারণস্থান: দুই ঠোঁটের সাহায্যে উচ্চারিত বলে এটি ওষ্ঠ্য।
• প্রাণত্ব: উচ্চারণে শ্বাসবায়ুর প্রাবল্য বেশি বলে এটি মহাপ্রাণ (তুলনা করুন: প = অল্পপ্রাণ, ফ = মহাপ্রাণ — একই বর্গের মধ্যে জোড়া তুলনা করলেই এই পার্থক্য স্পষ্ট হয়)।
• ঘোষত্ব: স্বরতন্ত্রী না কাঁপিয়ে উচ্চারিত বলে এটি অঘোষ।

সুতরাং সঠিক সমন্বয়: ওষ্ঠ্য + মহাপ্রাণ + অঘোষ।

২৬. উত্তর: D) দুই বা তার অধিকের মিলন

“সম্পৃক্ত” শব্দের ব্যুৎপত্তিগত অর্থ হলো “গভীরভাবে যুক্ত/জড়িত”। এটি সবসময় দুই বা ততোধিক পক্ষ/বিষয়ের মধ্যকার সংযোগ বোঝাতে ব্যবহৃত হয় — যেমন “সে বিষয়টির সাথে সম্পৃক্ত” মানে সে ও বিষয়টি একসাথে জড়িত। এটি নিছক “সংযুক্ত” (option A) থেকে ভিন্ন এই অর্থে যে সম্পৃক্ততা সাধারণত গভীরতর ও বহুমুখী সম্পর্ক বোঝায়।

২৭. উত্তর: D) আমার খাওয়া হলো না

সংযোগমূলক ধাতু (copulative/linking verb) হলো এমন ক্রিয়া যা কর্তা ও বিধেয়র (বা কর্তা ও তার অবস্থার) মধ্যে সংযোগ স্থাপন করে, নিজে কোনো সরাসরি কাজ প্রকাশ করে না। “হওয়া” ধাতু এই কাজটি করে — “আমার খাওয়া হলো না” বাক্যে “হলো না” ক্রিয়াটি কর্তার (আমি) অবস্থা (“খাওয়া” সম্পন্ন না হওয়া) প্রকাশ করছে, সরাসরি কোনো কাজ বর্ণনা করছে না — এটিই সংযোগমূলক ধাতুর বৈশিষ্ট্য।

সাহিত্য ইতিহাস (২৮-৩২)

২৮. উত্তর: A) অনন্ত

মধ্যযুগীয় বাংলা সাহিত্যের অন্যতম গুরুত্বপূর্ণ কাব্য ‘শ্রীকৃষ্ণকীর্তন’ রচনা করেন বড়ু চণ্ডীদাস নামে পরিচিত এক কবি। সাহিত্য-ঐতিহাসিকদের গবেষণা অনুযায়ী তাঁর প্রকৃত নাম ছিল অনন্ত (“বড়ু” একটি উপাধি/বিশেষণ, “চণ্ডীদাস” একটি সাধারণ কবি-উপনাম যা মধ্যযুগে একাধিক কবি ব্যবহার করতেন — তথাকথিত “চণ্ডীদাস সমস্যা”)।

২৯. উত্তর: D) কাঠুরে ও দাঁড়কাক

শহীদুল জহির (১৯৫৩-২০০৮) বাংলা সাহিত্যে জাদুবাস্তবতার (ম্যাজিক রিয়ালিজম) অন্যতম প্রধান রূপকার হিসেবে বিবেচিত হন — লাতিন আমেরিকার গার্সিয়া মার্কেসীয় ঘরানার সাথে তুলনীয়, যদিও তাঁর নিজস্ব একটি স্বতন্ত্র বাংলাদেশি-নাগরিক-মহল্লা-কেন্দ্রিক রীতি আছে। তাঁর ১৯৯২ সালে প্রকাশিত গল্প ‘কাঠুরে ও দাঁড়কাক’ সাহিত্য-সমালোচনায় নির্দিষ্টভাবে জাদুবাস্তবতার আদর্শ উদাহরণ হিসেবে বহুবার আলোচিত হয়েছে — এই গল্পের ওপর পৃথক পৃথক সমালোচনামূলক প্রবন্ধও রচিত হয়েছে। লক্ষণীয়, ‘পারাপার’ তাঁর একটি গল্পগ্রন্থের নাম (এবং সেই গ্রন্থে অন্তর্ভুক্ত একটি গল্পও), কিন্তু জাদুবাস্তবতার সুনির্দিষ্ট পাঠ্য-উদাহরণ হিসেবে সমালোচনা-সাহিত্যে কাঠুরে ও দাঁড়কাক-ই বেশি সুনির্দিষ্টভাবে চিহ্নিত হয়।

৩০. উত্তর: A) জমিলা

সৈয়দ ওয়ালীউল্লাহর ‘লালসালু’ (১৯৪৮) উপন্যাসের কেন্দ্রীয় চরিত্র মজিদ — একজন ভণ্ড পীর যে ধর্মকে ব্যক্তিস্বার্থে ব্যবহার করে। তার দুই স্ত্রী: রহিমা (প্রথম স্ত্রী, নম্র-অনুগত) এবং জমিলা (দ্বিতীয় স্ত্রী, চঞ্চল ও বিদ্রোহী প্রকৃতির)। জমিলা উপন্যাসের সবচেয়ে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ নারী চরিত্র, কারণ তার অবাধ্যতা ও প্রশ্ন তোলার প্রবণতাই মজিদের কর্তৃত্বকে সরাসরি চ্যালেঞ্জ করে এবং উপন্যাসের মূল দ্বন্দ্বের কেন্দ্রবিন্দু তৈরি করে — নারী জাগরণ ও অন্ধবিশ্বাসের সংঘাতের প্রতীক হিসেবে সমালোচকরা তাকে বিশ্লেষণ করেন।

৩১. উত্তর: A) বঙ্কিমচন্দ্রের ‘রাধারাণী’

বাংলা সাহিত্যে “প্রথম সার্থক ছোটগল্প” কোনটি — এই প্রশ্নটি সাহিত্য-ইতিহাসে প্রকৃতপক্ষে বিতর্কিত। প্রচলিত পাঠ্যক্রমে সাধারণত রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুরের ‘পোস্টমাস্টার’ বা ‘দেনা-পাওনা’-কে (হিতবাদী পত্রিকায় প্রকাশিত, ১৮৯১) আধুনিক অর্থে “সার্থক” ছোটগল্পের প্রথম উদাহরণ ধরা হয়, কারণ রবীন্দ্রনাথের গল্পে আধুনিক ছোটগল্পের প্রধান বৈশিষ্ট্য — জীবনের একটি খণ্ডচিত্র, চরিত্র-মনস্তত্ত্বের গভীরতা, এবং ইঙ্গিতময় সমাপ্তি — স্পষ্টভাবে বিদ্যমান। তবে বঙ্কিমচন্দ্র চট্টোপাধ্যায়ের ‘রাধারাণী’ কালানুক্রমে আরও আগে রচিত এবং কিছু সাহিত্য-ঐতিহাসিক একে বাংলা ছোটগল্পের আদি প্রচেষ্টা হিসেবে চিহ্নিত করেন। এই ধরনের প্রশ্নে সবসময় প্রশ্নকর্তার নির্দিষ্ট পাঠ্যসূত্র অনুসরণ করাই বিচক্ষণতা — বিভিন্ন পরীক্ষায় ভিন্ন প্রমিত উত্তর থাকতে পারে, তাই উভয় নাম মনে রাখা প্রয়োজনীয়।

৩২. উত্তর: B) জ্যোৎস্না রৌদ্রের চিকিৎসা

আব্দুল মান্নান সৈয়দ (১৯৪৩-২০১০) বাংলাদেশের পরাবাস্তববাদী (সুররিয়ালিস্ট) কবিতা ও সাহিত্য-সমালোচনার এক গুরুত্বপূর্ণ নাম। তাঁর ‘জ্যোৎস্না রৌদ্রের চিকিৎসা’ কাব্যগ্রন্থটি তাঁর পরাবাস্তববাদী কাব্যভাষার সবচেয়ে সুপরিচিত উদাহরণ — শিরোনামেই একটি স্ববিরোধী (জ্যোৎস্না বনাম রৌদ্র) চিত্রকল্প তৈরি হয়েছে, যা পরাবাস্তববাদী কাব্যরীতির বৈশিষ্ট্যপূর্ণ যুক্তিবিরুদ্ধ সংযোজনের একটি ভালো উদাহরণ।

শব্দতত্ত্ব, সমাস, সন্ধি ও পদ প্রকরণ (৩৩-৪০)

৩৩. উত্তর: C) ফারসি

বাংলা ভাষায় বহু পারিবারিক-সম্পর্কবাচক ও দৈনন্দিন শব্দ ফারসি থেকে ধার করা — ‘বাবা’ তার একটি। মুঘল ও পরবর্তী মুসলিম শাসনামলে ফারসি বহুদিন রাজভাষা ও প্রশাসনিক ভাষা ছিল, যার ফলে প্রচুর ফারসি শব্দ বাংলার দৈনন্দিন শব্দভাণ্ডারে স্থায়ীভাবে প্রবেশ করেছে (যেমন: দরজা, রোজ, খবর, বাবা)। বাংলা একাডেমী অভিধানসহ প্রমিত ভাষাতাত্ত্বিক সূত্রে ‘বাবা’ শব্দটি ফারসি উৎস হিসেবে নথিভুক্ত।

৩৪. উত্তর: B) অলুক সমাস

সমাসে সাধারণত পূর্বপদের বিভক্তি লোপ পায় (যেমন: রাজার পুত্র > রাজপুত্র, এখানে “রাজার”-এর “র” বিভক্তি লোপ পেয়েছে)। কিন্তু যেসব সমাসে এই বিভক্তি লোপ পায় না, বরং অক্ষুণ্ণ থাকে, তাদের অলুক সমাস বলে (উদাহরণ: হাতেখড়ি — এখানে “হাতে”-র “এ” বিভক্তি সমাসবদ্ধ পদেও রয়ে গেছে)।

৩৫. উত্তর: A) জ্ঞান

বাংলায় ‘এ’ ধ্বনির উচ্চারণ প্রসঙ্গ-নির্ভর — কখনো এটি “এ্যা”-এর কাছাকাছি (বিবৃত), কখনো সংবৃত। “স্বতন্ত্র এ” বলতে বোঝানো হয় এমন এ-ধ্বনি যা যুক্তাক্ষর বা বিশেষ ধ্বনিগত পরিবেশে নিজস্ব, প্রত্যাশিত-নয় এমন একটি উচ্চারণ রূপ নেয়। ‘জ্ঞান’ শব্দে যুক্তাক্ষর ‘জ্ঞ’-এর পরবর্তী স্বরধ্বনির উচ্চারণ প্রমিত ব্যাকরণ-নির্দেশিকায় এই স্বতন্ত্র রূপ হিসেবে চিহ্নিত করা হয়।

৩৬. উত্তর: A) কত + আক

সন্ধি বিচ্ছেদের নিয়মে মূল শব্দের ধ্বনিগত উপাদানগুলো পুনরুদ্ধার করতে হয়। ‘কতক’ শব্দটি “কত” (মূল শব্দ) এবং “আক” (প্রত্যয়) দুটি অংশে বিভক্ত করা যায় — স্বরসন্ধির নিয়মে অ-কারান্ত “কত”-এর সাথে “আক” যুক্ত হলে অ + আ মিলে আ-ধ্বনি হয়ে “কতক” রূপ পায়।

৩৭. উত্তর: A) পরিমাণবাচক বিশেষণ

“সামান্য একটু দুধ দাও” বাক্যে ‘একটু’ পদটি বিশেষ্য ‘দুধ’-এর পরিমাণ নির্দেশ করছে — কতটুকু দুধ চাওয়া হচ্ছে তা বোঝাচ্ছে। যে বিশেষণ কোনো বিশেষ্যের পরিমাণ/মাত্রা প্রকাশ করে তাকে পরিমাণবাচক বিশেষণ বলে। এটিই এই পদের প্রধান ব্যাকরণিক ভূমিকা, যদিও “সামান্য” শব্দটি এর আগে বসে একে আরও সীমিত করছে বলে কিছুটা বিভ্রান্তি তৈরি হতে পারে — তবে মূল প্রশ্নে যেহেতু ‘একটু’ পদটির শ্রেণি জিজ্ঞাসা করা হয়েছে, তার প্রধান কাজ (দুধের পরিমাণ নির্দেশ) অনুসারেই উত্তর নির্ধারিত হবে।

৩৮. উত্তর: A) তেহাই

বাংলায় ভগ্নাংশ প্রকাশের জন্য নির্দিষ্ট পরিভাষা আছে: অর্ধেক (১/২), তেহাই (১/৩), সিকি (১/৪), পোয়া (১/৪, বিশেষত ওজনের ক্ষেত্রে)। “এক এককের তিন ভাগের এক ভাগ” মানে ১/৩ অংশ — এর বাংলা পরিভাষা তেহাই।

৩৯. উত্তর: C) উপরোক্ত বাক্যটি শুদ্ধ নয়

এই প্রশ্নটি একটু ভিন্নধর্মী — এখানে প্রতিটি অপশনকে যাচাই করতে হবে:

• (A) “এ কথা প্রমাণ হয়েছে” — এখানে “প্রমাণ” বিশেষ্য, কিন্তু “হয়েছে” ক্রিয়ার সাথে সরাসরি বসানো ব্যাকরণগতভাবে অসম্পূর্ণ; শুদ্ধ রূপ হবে “প্রমাণিত হয়েছে” (প্রমাণিত = প্রমাণ + ইত, একটি পূর্ণাঙ্গ বিশেষণ/ক্রিয়াবাচক রূপ)।
• (B) “লজ্জাস্কর” ভুল বানান — শুদ্ধ রূপ “লজ্জাকর”।
• (D) যদিও এই বাক্যটি নিজে ব্যাকরণগতভাবে সঠিক মনে হতে পারে, প্রশ্নের কাঠামোয় একমাত্র স্ব-সামঞ্জস্যপূর্ণ উত্তর, যেটি বাকি সবগুলোর ভুল নির্দেশ করে এবং নিজে কোনো নতুন দাবি করে না, তা হলো (C)।

৪০. উত্তর: C) অধ্যাস

দর্শনশাস্ত্র ও ভাষাতত্ত্বে “অধ্যাস” শব্দটি একটি নির্দিষ্ট প্রযুক্তিগত অর্থ বহন করে — এক বস্তুতে অন্য বস্তুর কাল্পনিক আরোপ বা ভ্রান্ত প্রতিস্থাপন (ধ্রুপদী উদাহরণ: অন্ধকারে দড়িকে সাপ বলে ভ্রম করা)। এটি বেদান্ত দর্শন থেকে উদ্ভূত একটি পরিভাষা যা পরবর্তীতে সাধারণ ভাষাতেও ব্যবহৃত হয়।

Part Three: Quantitative Aptitude (Questions 41–73, 33 marks) — Full Worked Solutions

This is the largest and highest-stakes block. The strategy for every quantitative question below is the same: identify what type of problem it is (rate, ratio, sequence, geometry, number theory, coding, logic), write the governing equation explicitly, and solve algebraically rather than guessing from the options. Every solution below is shown in full.

Q41. Answer: C) 30 minutes

Two filling pipes and one draining pipe working together on a half-full tank:

Pipe 1 rate = 1/20 tank per minute
Pipe 2 rate = 1/30 tank per minute
Drain rate  = 1/15 tank per minute (working against the fill)

Combined net rate = 1/20 + 1/30 − 1/15
                   = 3/60 + 2/60 − 4/60
                   = 1/60 tank per minute

The tank needs to go from half-full to full, i.e., fill the remaining 1/2:

Time = (1/2) ÷ (1/60) = 30 minutes

The trap here is forgetting the tank starts half full, not empty — many test-takers solve for a full empty-to-full fill (60 minutes) and then don’t halve it correctly, or halve the wrong quantity.

Q42. Answer: A) 33

This is a recurrence relation: each term equals twice the previous term minus one, i.e., Tₙ = 2Tₙ₋₁ − 1.

T1 = 3
T2 = 2(3) − 1 = 5
T3 = 2(5) − 1 = 9
T4 = 2(9) − 1 = 17
T5 = 2(17) − 1 = 33

The 5th term is 33. This kind of doubling-minus-a-constant sequence grows almost geometrically, so a quick sanity check (roughly doubling each time) confirms the answer is in the right ballpark before you even finish the arithmetic.

Q43. Answer: B) 900

This problem layers two conditions: the number of plants must be divisible by 12, 15, and 18 (so it can be arranged in exactly that many equal rows each way), AND it must be arrangeable in a square grid (equal rows and columns), meaning it must be a perfect square.

Step 1 — find the LCM of 12, 15, 18:

12 = 2² × 3
15 = 3 × 5
18 = 2 × 3²
LCM = 2² × 3² × 5 = 180

Step 2 — check if 180 is already a perfect square. Its prime factorization is 2²×3²×5¹ — the exponent on 5 is odd, so 180 is not a perfect square. To make it one, multiply by the “missing” prime factor needed to make every exponent even — here, another factor of 5:

180 × 5 = 900 = 30²

900 is the smallest number that is both a multiple of 180 and a perfect square.

Q44. Answer: C) 50

The lift covers floors 1 to 16 — that’s 15 intervals between floors (not 16), a classic “fencepost” counting trap.

One-way travel time = 15 intervals × 12 sec/interval = 180 sec
Round trip = 180 (up) + 48 (wait at top) + 180 (down) + 48 (wait at bottom) = 456 sec

Total operating window: 9:00 AM to 3:20 PM = 6 hours 20 minutes = 380 minutes = 22,800 seconds

Number of round trips = 22,800 ÷ 456 = 50 exactly

The clean division (no remainder) is a good sign you’ve set up the problem correctly — most well-designed exam questions of this type resolve to whole numbers.

Q45. Answer: C) 1:10

This is an alligation (weighted average) problem. Selling price is Tk 60/kg with 10% profit, so:

Cost price = Selling price ÷ (1 + profit%) = 60 ÷ 1.10 = 54.545... (= 600/11)

Using the alligation rule — the ratio of the two ingredients is inversely proportional to how far each one’s price is from the mean cost price:

Ratio (Tk50 sugar) : (Tk55 sugar) = (55 − CP) : (CP − 50)
                                  = (55 − 54.545) : (54.545 − 50)
                                  = 0.4545 : 4.5454
                                  = 1 : 10

Sanity check: since the target cost (54.545) is very close to 55 and far from 50, the mixture should be dominated by the cheaper sugar (Tk50) in a large ratio — and indeed the answer says 1 part of the Tk55 sugar for every 10 parts of the Tk50 sugar… wait, more precisely: the ratio 1:10 pairs with (cheaper : dearer), meaning the cheaper ingredient (Tk50) makes up the larger share, which is exactly what we’d expect since the target cost sits much closer to the Tk55 price mathematically inverted — the alligation rule always assigns the larger portion to whichever ingredient is farther from the target price in absolute terms being smaller, i.e., closer prices get larger shares. Here Tk55 is closer to the CP (54.545), so Tk55-sugar should dominate — meaning the ratio Tk50:Tk55 = 1:10 confirms Tk55 sugar is used ten times more than Tk50 sugar, consistent with the blend price landing so close to 55.

Q46. Answer: D) 45°

This is a classic circle-geometry / angle-bisector theorem question. For any triangle ABC, if you bisect the external angles at B and C and let them meet at point O, there’s a fixed relationship:

∠BOC = 90° − (∠A)/2

(This is different from the internal bisector version, where ∠BOC = 90° + ∠A/2 — mixing these two formulas up is the single most common error on this question type.)

With ∠A = 90°:

∠BOC = 90° − 45° = 45°

Q47. Answer: B) 176

A four-factor irrational expression that simplifies cleanly if you pair factors smartly rather than multiplying left to right:

Expression: (√3+1)(10+√12)(√12−2)(5−√3)
Note √12 = 2√3, so rewrite: (√3+1)(10+2√3)(2√3−2)(5−√3)

Pair 1: (√3+1)(5−√3) = 5√3 − 3 + 5 − √3 = 4√3 + 2
Pair 2: (10+2√3)(2√3−2) = 20√3 − 20 + 12 − 4√3 = 16√3 − 8

Multiply the two results:
(4√3+2)(16√3−8) = 4√3×16√3 + 4√3×(−8) + 2×16√3 + 2×(−8)
                 = 192 − 32√3 + 32√3 − 16
                 = 192 − 16 = 176

Notice the √3 terms cancel perfectly in the final step — that’s the designed “aha” of this problem, confirming the pairing strategy was correct.

Q48. Answer: B) 3

For a right triangle with legs a and b and hypotenuse c, the inradius has a clean closed form:

r = (a + b − c) / 2

With legs 9 and 12:

c = √(9² + 12²) = √(81+144) = √225 = 15  (a 9-12-15 triangle, a scaled-up 3-4-5)
r = (9 + 12 − 15) / 2 = 6/2 = 3

Q49. Answer: B) 765

In a geometric progression with first term a and common ratio r, the nth term is a·rⁿ⁻¹.

3rd term: a·r² = 12
6th term: a·r⁵ = 96

Divide: r³ = 96/12 = 8 → r = 2
Then: a = 12/r² = 12/4 = 3

Sum of first 8 terms: S8 = a(r⁸−1)/(r−1) = 3(256−1)/1 = 3 × 255 = 765

Q50. Answer: A) 45 years

Set father’s age = 7x, son’s age = 2x (matching the given 7:2 ratio).

Five years ago: (7x−5)/(2x−5) = 6/1
7x − 5 = 6(2x−5) = 12x − 30
−5 + 30 = 12x − 7x
25 = 5x → x = 5

Present ages: father = 35, son = 10
Sum = 45 years

Q51. Answer: C) 12

7200 factors as 2⁵ × 3² × 5². A divisor of 7200 is a perfect square only if every prime’s exponent in the divisor is even.

For 2⁵: even exponents available are 0, 2, 4 → 3 choices
For 3²: even exponents available are 0, 2 → 2 choices
For 5²: even exponents available are 0, 2 → 2 choices

Total perfect-square divisors = 3 × 2 × 2 = 12

Q52. Answer: B) 8

This is a direct application of the AM–GM inequality: for positive x, the sum x + 16/x is minimized when the two terms are equal (x = 16/x → x² = 16 → x = 4).

Minimum value = 2√(x × 16/x) = 2√16 = 2×4 = 8

Confirm by plugging x=4 directly: 4 + 16/4 = 4+4 = 8. ✓

Q53. Answer: A) 24 hours

The cistern normally fills in 6 hours (rate 1/6 per hour). With the leak, it takes 8 hours (net rate 1/8 per hour). The leak’s own rate is the difference:

Leak rate = 1/6 − 1/8 = 4/24 − 3/24 = 1/24 tank per hour

So the leak alone would empty a full tank in 24 hours.

Q54. Answer: C) 5:00 am

This is a “fast clock” problem, and the key insight is distinguishing between elapsed time on the faulty watch’s face and elapsed real time.

The watch’s face shows 16 hours have passed (from 2:00 pm to 6:00 am the next day, reading the watch’s own numbers). But because the watch gains 4 minutes every real hour — meaning for every 60 real minutes, the watch’s hands move through 64 minutes — the real elapsed time is shorter than 16 hours.

Let T = real elapsed hours.
Watch-face elapsed minutes = T × 64 (since the watch shows 64 min per 60 real min)
Set equal to 16 hours = 960 watch-minutes:
T × 64 = 960 × (60/60)... more precisely:
T (real hours) × (64/60) = 16 (watch hours)
T = 16 × 60/64 = 15 real hours

Actual time = 2:00 pm + 15 real hours = 5:00 am

The trap in this problem type is applying the gain factor in the wrong direction (multiplying instead of dividing, or vice versa) — always sanity-check: since the watch runs fast, real time must be less than the watch’s face-reading elapsed time, which 15 < 16 correctly satisfies.

Q55. Answer: D) −56

We need integers a, b where ab is negative (opposite signs) and a²+b² is strictly less than 114, minimizing (i.e., making as negative as possible) the product ab.

Since a²+b² ≥ 2|ab| (this follows from (a−b)² ≥ 0 when a,b have opposite signs, i.e., (|a|+|b|)² ≥ 4|ab|… more directly, for a,b of opposite sign, a²+b² ≥ 2|ab|), the constraint a²+b² < 114 caps how large |ab| can get. Testing integer pairs close to equal magnitude (since equal magnitude maximizes |ab| for a given a²+b²):

a=8, b=−7: a²+b² = 64+49 = 113 < 114 ✓, ab = −56
a=9, b=−6: a²+b² = 81+36 = 117 — exceeds 114, invalid
a=9, b=−5: a²+b² = 81+25 = 106 < 114, ab = −45 (less negative than −56)

(8,−7) gives the most negative valid product: ab = −56.

Q56. Answer: A) 16

List all positive integer pairs (m,n) with m+n < 10, and collect the distinct values of the product mn:

Possible sums range from 2 (1+1) up to 9 (e.g., 1+8, 2+7, ...).
Enumerating all valid pairs and their products yields the distinct set:
{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20}

Counting these: 16 distinct values.

Q57. Answer: B) 283

A Chinese Remainder Theorem problem: find the smallest positive integer n such that

n ≡ 3 (mod 7)
n ≡ 4 (mod 9)
n ≡ 8 (mod 11)

Testing 283: 283 = 7×40 + 3 ✓ | 283 = 9×31 + 4 ✓ | 283 = 11×25 + 8 ✓. All three conditions are satisfied, and 283 is indeed the smallest such positive integer (the general solution repeats every 7×9×11 = 693, so 283 is the unique answer within the first cycle, and no smaller positive integer satisfies all three constraints).

Q58. Answer: C) 25π

Given the endpoints of a circle’s diameter, first find the diameter’s length using the distance formula, then halve it for the radius.

Diameter = √[(8−2)² + (11−3)²] = √[6² + 8²] = √[36+64] = √100 = 10
Radius = 10/2 = 5
Area = πr² = π(5²) = 25π

The classic trap here is squaring the diameter instead of the radius, which would incorrectly give 100π, or forgetting to halve the diameter before squaring, which gives 50π (a genuinely common wrong answer on this exact question type) — always explicitly write out radius = diameter/2 as a separate step to avoid this.

Q59. Answer: B) 8 days

Nasrin’s rate = 1/12 (job per day), Farid’s rate = 1/18.

Combined rate = 1/12 + 1/18 = 3/36 + 2/36 = 5/36 per day
Work done together in 4 days = 4 × 5/36 = 20/36 = 5/9

Remaining work = 1 − 5/9 = 4/9

Farid alone needs: (4/9) ÷ (1/18) = (4/9) × 18 = 8 days

Q60. Answer: B) 1000

Each of the three stages (cutting, sewing, finishing) loses 10% of the units passing through it, so 90% survives each stage.

Final good units = Starting units × 0.9 × 0.9 × 0.9 = Starting units × 0.729

729 = Starting units × 0.729
Starting units = 729 ÷ 0.729 = 1000

Q61. Answer: A) UAV

A three-letter-position pattern:

1st letter:  Q → R → S → T → U    (advancing by one letter each term)
2nd letter:  A → A → A → A → A    (constant)
3rd letter:  R → S → T → U → V    (advancing by one letter each term)

Next term: UAV.

Q62. Answer: B) 1836

This is a “hidden operation” coding question — the visible three/four-digit output is actually two separate two-digit calculations concatenated together.

Test on 8 Ω 5 = 3048:
  (8−3) × 6 = 30
  (5+3) × 6 = 48
  Concatenated: "30" + "48" = 3048 ✓ matches!

Test on 7 Ω 4 = 2442:
  (7−3) × 6 = 24
  (4+3) × 6 = 42
  Concatenated: "24" + "42" = 2442 ✓ matches!

Apply to 6 Ω 3:
  (6−3) × 6 = 18
  (3+3) × 6 = 36
  Concatenated: "18" + "36" = 1836

Q63. Answer: A) HKTG

Each letter of the plaintext is shifted forward by exactly 2 positions in the alphabet (a Caesar cipher with shift +2):

Verify: W(23)→Y(25), A(1)→C(3), T(20)→V(22), E(5)→G(7), R(18)→T(20)
        WATER → YCVGT ✓ confirms the +2 rule

Apply to FIRE:
F(6)→H(8), I(9)→K(11), R(18)→T(20), E(5)→G(7)
FIRE → HKTG

Q64. Flagged as an unsolvable/flawed item as worded

“Two days before Thursday” is Tuesday. If yesterday was Tuesday, today is Wednesday, and tomorrow is Thursday. But “Thursday” doesn’t appear among the four answer options (Friday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday), which strongly suggests a transcription or wording error somewhere in the original question — either the intended day-of-week anchor was different, or “tomorrow” was meant to ask about a different reference point (e.g., “what day was yesterday” or “what day is today”). Readers preparing from this question set should treat it as a flagged item rather than memorize an answer that doesn’t follow from correct logic; if you encounter something similar on a live exam with a genuinely broken option set, it’s worth raising as a challenge/objection.

Q65. Answer: A) 3 km East

Track the man’s movement using a simple coordinate system, starting at the origin facing North:

Leg 1: 5 km North → now facing North, position (0, 5)
Turn right → now facing East
Leg 2: 3 km East → position (3, 5)
Turn right → now facing South
Leg 3: 5 km South → position (3, 0)

The northward and southward legs (both 5 km) cancel exactly, leaving a net displacement of 3 km East from the starting point.

Q66. Answer: A) 32

When you’re told someone’s rank from the top and their rank from the bottom in the same list, the total count is:

Total = (rank from top) + (rank from bottom) − 1
      = 7 + 26 − 1 = 32

(The “−1” avoids double-counting Rahim himself, who is included in both counts.)

Q67. Answer: D) Pepper

Onion, ginger, and garlic are all modified underground plant structures (bulbs, rhizomes, and bulbs respectively) that we eat as the storage organ of the plant. Pepper (peppercorn) is the dried fruit/berry of a climbing vine (Piper nigrum), harvested above ground — the clear structural/botanical odd one out.

Q68. Answer: B) 126

Check the relationship between consecutive terms:

6 → 14: 6×2+2 = 14 ✓
14 → 30: 14×2+2 = 30 ✓
30 → 62: 30×2+2 = 62 ✓
62 → next: 62×2+2 = 126

The rule “double and add two” is confirmed by all three given transitions before you apply it to find the missing term — always verify a discovered pattern against every given pair, not just one, before extrapolating.

Q69. Answer: C) Uncle

Build the family tree step by step:

A is B's brother → A and B are siblings
B is C's sister → B and C are siblings
→ therefore A, B, and C are all siblings

C is D's father → D is C's child

Since A is C's sibling, and C is D's parent, A is D's uncle (a parent's sibling).

Q70. Answer: B) 20

Test candidate operations against both given examples simultaneously:

5 # 3 = 16 → check 2×(5+3) = 2×8 = 16 ✓
7 # 2 = 18 → check 2×(7+2) = 2×9 = 18 ✓

Both examples confirm the rule a # b = 2(a+b). Apply to the target:

6 # 4 = 2×(6+4) = 2×10 = 20

Q71. Answer: A) sole

The sole is the structural base of a shoe — without it, the object isn’t functionally a shoe at all. Laces are absent on many valid shoe designs (loafers, slip-ons), and “leather” and “walking” aren’t structural parts at all (leather is just one possible material; walking is an action, not a component) — so sole is the only option that’s a necessary structural part regardless of shoe style.

Q72. Answer: B) 2 (people are from the Bush tribe)

This is a knights-and-knaves logic puzzle and deserves a careful, complete walkthrough rather than a guessed shortcut.

Setup: Bush-tribe people always tell the truth; Kush-tribe people always lie. ABC tells PQR: “I am of the Bush or I am of the Kush tribe.” PQR then tells XYZ: “ABC is a Bush.” XYZ replies: “No, he’s a Kush.”

Step 1 — Determine ABC’s tribe. The statement “I am of the Bush or I am of the Kush tribe” is a tautology: since every person in this puzzle universe belongs to exactly one of the two tribes, this statement is unconditionally true no matter who says it. Now, if ABC belonged to the Kush tribe (always lying), he would be structurally incapable of stating something true — but this statement can’t help being true. That’s a contradiction, so ABC cannot be Kush. ABC must be Bush, and indeed a Bush-tribe member stating a true tautology is perfectly consistent.

Step 2 — Determine PQR’s tribe. PQR states “ABC is a Bush,” which we’ve now established as objectively true (from Step 1). If PQR were Kush (always lying), he’d be incapable of asserting a true statement — contradiction. So PQR must be Bush as well.

Step 3 — Determine XYZ’s tribe. XYZ says “No, he’s a Kush,” directly contradicting the now-established fact that ABC is Bush — so XYZ’s statement is false. If XYZ were Bush (always truthful), he couldn’t state a falsehood — contradiction. So XYZ must be Kush.

Final tally: ABC = Bush, PQR = Bush, XYZ = Kush. Two people (ABC and PQR) are from the Bush tribe.

The key insight that unlocks this whole puzzle is recognizing ABC’s statement as a tautology — once you see that a tautological “I am X or Y” statement forces the speaker to be a truth-teller (since a liar can never truthfully assert something unavoidably true), the rest of the chain follows by simple substitution.

Q73. Answer: B) 8

A cube painted on all six faces, then cut into 64 equal smaller cubes (a 4×4×4 grid, since 4³ = 64). The small cubes with zero painted faces are exactly the ones that were fully interior — not touching any of the original outer surface. These form a smaller cube one layer in from each face on every side:

Interior cube dimension = (4 − 2) = 2 on each side (removing one layer from each of the two opposite faces along every axis)
Interior cube count = 2³ = 8

Part Four: Verbal & Analytical Reasoning (Questions 74–80, 7 marks)

Q74. Answer: D) Refection

All four candidate words — Refection, Referable, Reference, Referendum — share the identical first four letters, “Refe-“, so dictionary ordering comes down to the fifth letter onward:

Refection  → 5th letter is C (Refe-C-tion)
Referable  → 5th letter is R (Refe-R-able)
Reference  → 5th letter is R (Refe-R-ence)
Referendum → 5th letter is R (Refe-R-endum)

Since C comes before R in the alphabet, “Refection” sorts before all three “Refer-” words. Among the three R-words, the next tiebreak (6th letter) separates “Referable” (A) from “Reference”/”Referendum” (both E) — but that distinction doesn’t matter for this question since Refection alone already wins first place. The complete dictionary order is: Refection, Referable, Reference, Referendum.

Q75. Answer: C) tape

Twine, cord, and yarn are all long, thin, twisted or spun fiber strands used primarily for binding, tying, or weaving. Tape, by contrast, is a flat strip, typically self-adhesive, and functions through surface contact rather than wrapping/twisting tension — a categorically different physical object and use-case.

Q76. Answer: B) Nine

Chain together the given inequalities carefully:

Rogers = 5 shifts.
Kemp > Rogers → Kemp > 5.
Miller = 15, and Miller > (Kemp + Rogers) → Kemp + 5 < 15 → Kemp < 10.
Calvin = 8, and Calvin < Kemp → Kemp > 8.

Combining “Kemp < 10” and “Kemp > 8” for an integer value of Kemp leaves exactly one possibility: Kemp = 9.

Q77. Answer: B) musician

This is an analogy question testing the relationship “performer : venue.” An actor performs in a play; by the same relationship, a musician performs in a concert. (Symphony and percussion are related to music but describe a type of composition or an instrument category, not the performer themselves; piano is a specific instrument, again not matching the “performer” role that “actor” occupies in the first pair.)

Q78. Answer: C) 7

Let c = number of cows (4 legs each), h = number of chickens (2 legs each).

Total legs = 4c + 2h
Total heads = c + h

Given: total legs = 2×(total heads) + 14
4c + 2h = 2(c+h) + 14
4c + 2h = 2c + 2h + 14
2c = 14
c = 7

Q79. Answer: D) Archery

Cycling, marathon running, and swimming are all continuous, whole-body aerobic endurance activities performed over a sustained duration. Archery is a static, precision/accuracy-based skill sport with no significant continuous physical exertion component — a clearly different category of athletic demand, making it the odd one out.

Q80. Answer: C) 1/8

The sequence 1, 1/2, 1/4, … is geometric with common ratio 1/2 (each term is half the previous one):

1 → 1/2 → 1/4 → 1/8

Part Five: General Knowledge, Economics, Banking & IT (Questions 81–100, 20 marks)

This block blends stable factual knowledge (definitions, protocols, historical facts) with current-affairs data that changes over time (index rankings, central bank policy rates). For the current-affairs items, it’s worth understanding why the figure is what it is, not just memorizing the number, since these policy parameters get revised periodically.

Q81. Answer: C) Singapore

The Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom — an annual ranking of 176+ countries across factors like rule of law, government size, regulatory efficiency, and market openness — has consistently placed Singapore at or near the top for years, owing to its low tax burden, high regulatory efficiency, and strong openness to foreign investment and trade.

Q82. Answer: B) 11.5%

Bangladesh Bank’s Monetary Policy Statement sets three related but distinct rates each cycle: the policy (repo) rate, the Standing Lending Facility (SLF) rate — the rate at which commercial banks can borrow from the central bank overnight — and the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate — the rate the central bank pays banks for overnight deposits. These three numbers form a “corridor” around the policy rate, with SLF above it (a ceiling, penalizing banks for needing emergency liquidity) and SDF below it (a floor). The SLF rate has remained fixed at 11.5% through several recent policy cycles even as the SDF rate has been adjusted, reflecting the central bank’s preference for a stable upper bound on emergency borrowing costs while fine-tuning the deposit-side incentive.

Q83. Answer: C) Renminbi

The IMF’s Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket — a synthetic reserve asset made up of a weighted combination of major currencies — added the Chinese Renminbi in 2016, alongside the US Dollar, Euro, Japanese Yen, and British Pound Sterling. This was a significant milestone recognizing China’s growing role in global trade and reserves, and remains the most recent currency addition to the basket to date.

Q84. Answer: A) Increase the policy (repo) rate

Central banks fight inflation by making money more expensive to borrow, which slows spending and investment, cooling demand-driven price growth. Raising the policy/repo rate directly increases the cost at which commercial banks borrow from the central bank, which they pass on as higher lending rates to businesses and consumers. The other three options all point the opposite direction: lowering the CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) frees up more money for banks to lend, reducing the SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio) does the same, and buying government securities in the open market injects liquidity directly into the banking system — all three are expansionary, loosening moves, the opposite of what’s needed to curb inflation.

Q85. Answer: C) CAMELS

For decades, banking supervisors worldwide (including Bangladesh Bank) rated commercial banks using the CAMELS framework — Capital adequacy, Asset quality, Management, Earnings, Liquidity, and Sensitivity to market risk — producing a single composite score reflecting a bank’s overall health. This compliance-based, largely backward-looking (historical-data-driven) system has been phased out in favor of Risk-Based Supervision (RBS), a forward-looking framework that continuously assesses a bank’s inherent risk exposures (credit, market, operational, legal, strategic, money-laundering, and technology risk) rather than periodically scoring historical performance.

Q86. Answer: B) 9%

When Bangladesh Bank extends refinancing facilities to commercial banks for specific policy priorities (digital/e-loans being one such category), it typically caps the interest rate the end customer can be charged, ensuring the subsidized cost of central-bank refinancing actually reaches borrowers rather than being absorbed as extra bank margin. For digital/e-loan products backed by BB’s refinancing scheme, this customer-facing cap has been set at 9% — well below typical unsecured consumer lending rates, which often run into the mid-teens percentage range.

Q87. Answer: C) Turnover

Revisiting the CAMELS acronym explicitly: Capital adequacy, Asset quality, Management, Earnings, Liquidity, Sensitivity to market risk. “Turnover” — a metric more associated with retail/business revenue cycling — has no place in this bank-supervision framework, which is why it’s the clear non-member of the set.

Q88. Answer: D) BDT 600 Billion

Central banks frequently pair monetary policy statements with targeted stimulus packages aimed at specific sectors under credit stress (large industry, agriculture, and cottage/micro/small/medium enterprises being common targets in Bangladesh’s case). Note the unit-conversion trap embedded in this question: Bangladeshi financial reporting typically uses “crore” (1 crore = 10 million) rather than “billion” directly, so a package announced as “Tk 60,000 crore” needs to be converted: 60,000 crore × 10 million = 600,000 million = 600 billion. Always double-check unit conversions like this rather than assuming the headline crore figure maps directly onto a round billion number.

Q89. Answer: D) The tax rate increases as income increases

A progressive tax system applies higher marginal tax rates to higher income brackets — the textbook opposite of a flat tax (same rate regardless of income) or a regressive tax (effectively higher burden on lower incomes, as with many consumption taxes). Progressive taxation is typically justified on the basis of ability-to-pay principles and reducing income inequality.

Q90. Answer: C) 4%

To prevent commercial banks from over-widening the gap between what they pay depositors and what they charge borrowers (a gap that had reportedly stretched into the high single digits at some banks — well beyond what regulators considered reasonable for supporting productive-sector investment), the central bank capped this “intermediation spread” at 4 percentage points for most loan categories (typically excluding higher-risk categories like credit cards and consumer finance, which carry inherently different risk-pricing needs). This kind of spread cap is a direct regulatory intervention aimed at lowering the cost of capital for businesses without changing the underlying policy rate.

Q91. Answer: A) Ransomware

Ransomware is malicious software that encrypts a victim’s files (or locks them out of their system entirely) and then demands payment — typically in cryptocurrency, for its difficulty to trace — in exchange for the decryption key or restored access. It’s distinct from a Trojan horse (malware disguised as legitimate software, which may or may not encrypt anything), a cross-site scripting (XSS) injection (a web-application vulnerability exploiting how browsers render untrusted input), and a denial-of-service attack (which overwhelms a system with traffic rather than encrypting data).

Q92. Answer: D) T24

T24, developed by the Swiss company Temenos, is one of the most widely deployed core banking software platforms globally, handling the central record-keeping and transaction-processing functions of a bank (accounts, deposits, loans, payments). QuickBooks is small-business accounting software, not built for bank-scale core operations; Unix is an operating system, not banking-specific software; SAP is a general enterprise resource planning (ERP) suite used across many industries, not a purpose-built core banking system in the way T24 is.

Q93. Answer: C) SMTP

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol governs how an email client (or a mail server) sends a message to its destination server. Retrieving mail from a server to a client uses a different protocol (POP3 or IMAP) — a common point of confusion since people often assume “the email protocol” is a single unified thing, when sending and receiving actually use entirely separate protocols under the hood.

Q94. Answer: B) RAM

Random Access Memory is volatile — its contents are lost the instant power is removed, which is precisely why unsaved work disappears if a computer crashes or loses power unexpectedly. Flash drives, hard disks, and ROM (Read-Only Memory) are all non-volatile, retaining their data indefinitely without power.

Q95. Answer: B) Phishing

Phishing specifically describes social-engineering attacks that impersonate legitimate senders (banks, employers, service providers) through deceptive emails, fake websites, or fraudulent text messages to trick victims into voluntarily handing over sensitive information. This is distinct from a man-in-the-middle attack (secretly intercepting/relaying communication between two parties who believe they’re talking directly to each other), eavesdropping (passively listening to communications without necessarily impersonating anyone), and SQL injection (a technical attack exploiting poorly sanitized database queries, not a social-engineering technique at all).

Q96. Answer: A) BIOS/UEFI

The Basic Input/Output System (or its modern successor, the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is firmware embedded directly on the motherboard that runs the moment a computer is powered on, before any operating system loads. It performs power-on self-tests, initializes essential hardware components, and then hands control over to the boot loader, which in turn loads the operating system.

Q97. Answer: B) C++

High-level programming languages abstract away hardware-specific details (memory addresses, registers) in favor of human-readable syntax closer to natural language and mathematical notation. C++ is a clear example — an object-oriented high-level language. Machine code (raw binary instructions) and Assembly language (a thin, largely one-to-one human-readable wrapper around machine code) are both low-level, hardware-specific languages by definition, making them the clear opposites of “high-level” in this question.

Q98. Answer: A) Switch

A network switch connects multiple devices within the same local area network (LAN), intelligently directing data only to the specific device it’s addressed to (unlike an older, simpler hub, which would broadcast data to every connected device). A router, by contrast, connects different networks together (e.g., your home LAN to the wider internet); a modem converts between digital signals and the analog/optical signals used by external connections (cable, DSL, fiber); a repeater simply amplifies and re-broadcasts a signal to extend its range, without any awareness of which device the data is meant for.

Q99. Answer: D) Modifier Key

Shift, Ctrl, and Alt don’t produce any character or command on their own — instead, they modify the behavior of whatever key is pressed alongside them (e.g., Shift+A produces a capital letter; Ctrl+C typically triggers “copy”). This functional category — keys that alter other keys’ output rather than producing output themselves — is precisely what “modifier key” means, distinct from function keys (F1–F12, which trigger specific programmed actions) or numeric keys (which simply input digits).

Q100. Answer: C) System File

The .ini file extension denotes an “initialization” file — a plain-text configuration file historically used (especially in Windows environments) to store settings and parameters for software applications, distinct from content file types like hypertext (.html), images (.jpg/.png), or video (.mp4/.avi), none of which serve a configuration purpose.

Closing Notes on Exam Strategy

A few patterns emerge across all 100 questions that are worth internalizing beyond this specific test:

For vocabulary and antonym questions, always sort options by direction of meaning before evaluating intensity — the most common trap is mistaking a strong synonym for an antonym because both carry similar emotional weight.

For confusable word-pair questions (assent/ascent, discreet/discrete, and similar pairs like affect/effect, principal/principle), build a small memorized bank of these — they recur constantly across competitive exams because they test genuine precision rather than raw vocabulary size.

For quantitative problems, the highest-value habit is writing the governing equation explicitly before touching the options — pattern-matching against answer choices without deriving the relationship independently is where most computational errors creep in, especially under time pressure.

For logic puzzles (like the Bush/Kush tribe problem), look specifically for statements that are tautologically true or necessarily false regardless of the speaker — these “self-resolving” statements are usually the entry point that unlocks the entire chain of deductions.

For current-affairs and policy questions, understand the underlying mechanism (why a rate cap exists, what problem it solves) rather than memorizing the bare number in isolation — mechanism-level understanding survives when the specific figure gets revised in a future policy cycle, while rote-memorized numbers become useless the moment they’re updated.

Last Updated on 7 hours ago by Asiful Haque

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