1 Consider a quadratic equation ax2 + 2bx + c = 0, where a, b and c are

positive real numbers. If the equation has no real roots, then which of
the following is true?
(A) a, b, c cannot be in AP or HP, but can be in GP.
(B) a, b, c cannot be in GP or HP, but can be in AP.
(C) a, b, c cannot be in AP or GP, but can be in HP.
(D) a, b, c cannot be in AP, GP or HP.

2 A unit square has its corners chopped off to form a regular polygon
with eight sides. What is the area of this polygon?
√ √ √ √
(A) 2( 3 − 2) (B) 2 2 − 2 (C) 22 (D) 79 .

3 A solid cube of side five centimeters has all its faces painted. The cube
is sliced into smaller cubes, each of side one centimeter. How many
of these smaller cubes will have paint on exactly one of its faces?
(A) 25 (B) 54 (C) 126 (D) 150.

z−i
4 Let z be a complex number such that is purely imaginary. Then
z−1
the minimum value of |z − (2 + 2i)| is
√ √ 3 1
(A) 2 2 (B) 2 (C) √ (D) √ .
2 2
5 Let f : R → R be a continuous function such that for any two real
numbers x and y,

|f (x) − f (y)| ≤ 7 |x − y|201 .

Then,
(A) f (101) = f (202) + 8 (B) f (101) = f (201) + 1
(C) f (101) = f (200) + 2 (D) None of the above.

6 In the Mathematics department of a college, there are 60 first year

students, 84 second year students, and 108 third year students. All
of these students are to be divided into project groups such that each
group has the same number of first year students, the same number
of second year students, and the same number of third year students.
What is the smallest possible size of each group?
(A) 9 (B) 12 (C) 19 (D) 21.
 7 Let a, b and c be real numbers, each greater than 1, such that
2 3 5
logb a + logc b + loga c = 3.
3 5 2
If the value of b is 9, then the value of a must be
√
(A) 3 81 (B) 27
2 (C) 18 (D) 27.

8 Consider a triangle ABC. The sides AB and AC are extended to

points D and E, respectively, such that AD = 3AB and AE = 3AC.
Then one diagonal of BDEC divides the other diagonal in the ratio
√ √
(A) 1 : 3 (B) 1 : 3 (C) 1 : 2 (D) 1 : 2.

9 The area of the region bounded by the curve y = tan x, the x-axis and
the tangent to the curve y = tan x at x = π4 is
1 1
(A) loge 2 − 2 (B) loge 2 + 2 (C) 21 (loge 2 − 12 ) (D) 12 (loge 2 + 21 ).

10 Let V be the set of vertices of a regular polygon with twenty sides.

Three distinct vertices are chosen at random from V . Then, the prob-
ability that the chosen triplet are the vertices of a right angled triangle
is
7 3 3 1
(A) 19 (B) 19 (C) 38 (D) 38 .

11 A “basic row operation” on a matrix means adding a multiple of one

row to another row. Consider the matrices
   
x 5 x 0 0 21
A= 1 3 −2  and B = 1 −1 −14
4
−2 −2 2 0 3 4
It is given that B can be obtained from A by applying finitely many
basic row operations. Then, the value of x is:
(A) 3 (B) −3 (C) −1 (D) 2.

12 Let C be a circle of area A with centre at O. Let P be a moving point

such that its distance from O is always twice the length of a tangent
drawn from P to the circle. Then the point P must move along
(A) the sides of a square centred at O, with area 34 A.
(B) the sides of an equilateral triangle centred at O, with area 4A.
(C) a circle centred at O, with area 43 A.
(D) a circle centred at O, with area 4A.
13 A moving line intersects the lines x + y = 0 and x − y = 0 at the points
A and B such that the area of the triangle with vertices (0, 0), A and
B has a constant area C. The locus of the midpoint of AB is given by
the equation
(A) (x2 + y 2 )2 = C 2 (B) (x2 − y 2 )2 = C 2
(C) (x + y)2 = C 2 (D) (x − y)2 = C 2 .

14 Let A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} and B = {a, b, c, d, e}. How many functions

f : A → B are there such that for every x ∈ A, there is one and exactly
one y ∈ A with y 6= x and f (x) = f (y)?
(A) 450 (B) 540 (C) 900 (D) 5400.

15 Two persons, both of height h, are standing at a distance of h from

each other. The shadow of one person cast by a vertical lamp-post
placed between the two persons is double the length of the shadow
of the other. If the sum of the lengths of the shadows is h, then the
height of the lamp post is
√  √  √ 
(A) 23 h (B) 2h (C) 1+2 2 h (D) 23+1√
2
h.

16 Let S be the set of all points z in the complex plane such that

1 4
 
1+ = 1.
z
Then, the points of S are
(A) vertices of a rectangle
(B) vertices of a right-angled triangle
(C) vertices of an equilateral triangle
(D) collinear

17 A circular lawn of diameter 20 meters on a horizontal plane is to be

illuminated by a light-source placed vertically above the centre of the
lawn. It is known that the illuminance at a point P on the lawn is
given by the formula I = C dsin2
θ
for some constant C, where d is the
distance of P from the light-source and θ is the angle between the line
joining the centre of the lawn to P and the line joining the light-source
to P . Then the maximum possible illuminance at a point on the cir-
cumference of the lawn is
C C√ C√ C√
(A) √
75 3
(B) 100 3
(C) 150 3
(D) 250 3
.
18 Let f and g be two real-valued continuous functions defined on the
closed interval [a, b], such that f (a) < g(a) and f (b) > g(b). Then the
area enclosed between the graphs of the two functions and the lines
x = a and x = b is always given by
Rb R 
 b
(A) a |f (x) − g(x)| dx (B)  a (f (x) − g(x))dx

R 
 b Rb
(C)  a (|f (x)| − |g(x)|)dx (D) a ||f (x)| − |g(x)|| dx.


19 Consider the function f : R −→ R, defined as follows:


(x − 1)min x, x2

if x ≥ 0
f (x) = 1
x min x, if x < 0
x
Then, f is
(A) differentiable everywhere.
(B) not differentiable at exactly one point.
(C) not differentiable at exactly two points.
(D) not differentiable at exactly three points.

20 Let f : [0, 2] → R be a continuous function such that

1 2
Z
f (x)dx < f (2).
2 0
Then which of the following statements must be true?
(A) f must be strictly increasing.
(B) f must attain a maximum value at x = 2.
(C) f cannot have a minimum at x = 2.
(D) None of the above.

21 In a triangle ABC, 3 sin A + 4 cos B = 6 and 4 sin B + 3 cos A = 1 hold.

Then the angle C equals
(A) 30◦ (B) 60◦ (C) 120◦ (D) 150◦ .

2π
22 Let θ = 7 and consider the following matrix
 
cos θ − sin θ
A=
sin θ cos θ
If An means A × · · · × A (n times), then A100 is
   
cos 2θ − sin 2θ cos θ − sin θ
(A) (B)
 sin 2θ
 cos 2θ sin θ  cos θ
1 0 0 −1
(C) (D) .
0 1 1 0
23 Consider all the permutations of the twenty six English letters that
start with z. In how many of these permutations the number of let-
ters between z and y is less than those between y and x?
(A) 6 × 23! (B) 6 × 24! (C) 156 × 23! (D) 156 × 24!.

   
24 Let P = √12 , √12 and Q = − √12 , − √12 be two vertices of a regu-
lar polygon having 12 sides such that P Q is a diameter of the circle
circumscribing the polygon. Which of the following points is not a
vertex of this polygon?
√ √  √ √ 
(A) 23−1
√ , 3+1√ (B) 3+1
√ , 3−1√
 √ 2 2 √2   2 2 √ 2 2
3+1 1−√ 3
(C) 2 2 , 2 2
√ (D) − 12 , 23 .

25 Let a, b, c be real numbers such that a = a2 + b2 + c2 . What is the

smallest possible value of b?
(A) 0 (B) −1 (C) − 14 (D) − 12 .

26 Consider the function f : R → R defined as

( x
if x 6= 0
f (x) = ex − 1
1 if x = 0

Then which one of the following statements is correct?

(A) f is not continuous at x = 0.
(B) f is continuous but not differentiable at x = 0.
(C) f is differentiable at x = 0 and f 0 (0) = − 12 .
(D) f is differentiable at x = 0 and f 0 (0) = 12 .

27 Let the function f : [0, 1] → R be defined as

 
|x − y|
f (x) = max : 0 ≤ y ≤ 1 for 0 ≤ x ≤ 1.
x+y+1
Then which of the following statements is correct?
(A) f is strictly increasing on 0, 12 and strictly decreasing on 21 , 1 .
   

(B) f is strictly decreasing on 0, 12 and strictly increasing on 12 , 1 .

   
h √ i h√ i
3−1 3−1
(C) f is strictly increasing on 0, 2 and strictly decreasing on ,1 .
h √ i h√2 i
3−1 3−1
(D) f is strictly decreasing on 0, 2 and strictly increasing on 2 , 1 .
28 For a positive real number α, let Sα denote the set of points (x, y)
satisfying
|x|α + |y|α = 1.
A positive number α is said to be good if the points in Sα that are clos-
est to the origin lie only on the coordinate axes. Then
(A) all α in (0, 1) are good and others are not good.
(B) all α in (1, 2) are good and others are not good.
(C) all α > 2 are good and others are not good.
(D) all α > 1 are good and others are not good.

29 A water pitcher has a hemispherical bottom and a neck in the shape of

two truncated cones of the same size. The vertical 40
cross-section of the pitcher with relevant dimensions 10
30
is shown in the figure. Suppose that the pitcher is 10
filled with water to the brim. If a solid cylinder with 40
diameter 24 cm and height greater than 60 cm is in-
serted vertically into the pitcher as far down to the
bottom as possible, how much water would remain in the pitcher?
(A) 6316π cm3 (B) 6116π cm3 (C) 6336π cm3 (D) 6136π cm3
 x
30 Let f : [−1, 1] → R be a function such that f sin = sin x + cos x,
2
for all x ∈ [−π, π]. The value of f 53 is

24 31 33
(A) 25 (B) 25 (C) 25 (D) 75 .