On 26th December 2004, tsunami tidal waves struck several countries in Asia and Africa causing loss of life and extensive damage to property. In which area was the epi- centre of the undersea earth quake that caused the tsunami located ?

1. Arabian sea

2. Mallacca straits

3. Andaman sea

4. Bay of Bengal

5. Off the coast of Sumatra

Which one of the following is least likely to affect the efforts towards bringing about normalcy in Iraq.

1. Disengagement of United States from Iraq.

2. The trial of Saddam Hussein.

3. Ending the insurgency.

4. Implementing the mandate given by the Iraqi people at the election held a few months ago.

5. Signing a friendship treaty between Iraq and Kuwait.

A recently concluded parliamentary election in an East African country received much international attention. What is the country concerned?

1. Malawi

2. Kenya

3. Zambia

4. Zimbabwe

5. Tanzania

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Afro-Asian summit held in Bandung in April 1955 that gave birth to the non- aligned movement of Nations. Which one of the following statesmen represented Sri Lanka at the Bandung conference ?

1. Mr.D.S.Senanayake

2. Mr.Dudley Senanayake

3. Sir John Kotelawala

4. Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike

5. Dr. W.Dahanayake

In which one of the following countries did the King take over the Government early this year ?

1. Thailand

2. Afghanistan

3. Nepal

4. Cambodia

5. Bhutan

Which one of the following statements is true in respect of the outcome of the British General Election held on 05th May 2005 ?

1. Labour party was returned to power with an enhanced majority.

2. Labour party was returned to power together with a change in leadership.

3. Conservative party did not succeed in increasing their number of seats in the Parliament.

4. Labour party was returned to power with a reduced majority.

5. Social Democratic party did not succeed in making any electoral gains.

Five Cricketers have so far scored more than ten thousand runs each in test matches. Which of the following pairs of cricketers exceeded 10 000 runs mark during the period May 2004 to April 2005 ?

1. Allen Border and Sunil Gavaskar

2. Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar

3. Steve Waugh and Brian Lara

4. Allen Border and Steve Waugh

5. Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar.

A contingent of Sri Lankan troops was dispatched recently to assist the UN peace keeping operations in a country in the Caribbean. What is the country concerned?

1. Dominican Republic

2. Haiti

3. Barbados

4. Jamaica

5. Trinidad and Tobago

Year 2005 marks the centenary of the enunciation of a theory that, revolutionised the world, and the fiftieth death anniversary of the person who enunciated the theory. Which one of the following fits the above description?

1. Theory of Gravity and Isaac Newton

2. General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, and Maynard Keynes.

3. Theory of Special/Relativity and Albert Einstein

4. Theory of Biological Evolution and Charles Darwin

5. Theory of Social Evolution and Karl Marx.

Which one of the following has been stated by the Government as the objective of establishing a Joint Mechanism with the LTTE?

1. To enable the conduct of elections to the local government bodies in the Northern and Eastern
   provinces.

2. To distribute aid to the people and to engage in rebuilding work in areas affected by the tsunami, in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

3. To reconstruct the railway line up to Kankesanturai.

4. To resettle the people who have been displaced during the last twenty years, in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

5. To withdraw the armed forces from the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

Which one of the following countries has been chosen to host the 2006 football World Cup ?

1. Portugal

2. Spain

3. Italy

4. France

5. Germany

Which one of the following distinguished persons was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in the year 2004?

1. Wangari Maathi

2. Elfriede Jelinek

3. David, J Gross

4. Richard Axel

5. Arram Hershko

Which of the following statements are true of the economic situation in Sri Lanka?
(A) Per Capita income has exceeded US$ 1000.
(B) Sri Lankan Rupee has appreciated against the US Dollar during the post-tsunami period.
(C) Sri Lankan economy has not been affected by the rise in price of oil in the world market.
(D) Cost of living in Sri Lanka has increased during the last year.
(E) Income from tourist industry has decreased during the post-tsunami period.

1. A, B, D and E

2. A, B, C and D

3. B, C, D and E

4. A, B, C and E

5. A, C, D and E

Which of the following statements are most likely to have an affect on the Israeli – Palestinian issue?
(A) Passing away of Yasser Arafat.
(B) Proposed withdrawal of Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip.
(C) Passing away of Ezer Weizman, former Israeli President.
(D) Violent attacks staged against the state of Israel by the Hamas Organisation.
(E) Peace Moves initiated by the European Union.

1. A, B and C

2. A, C and D

3. A, D and E

4. A, B and D

5. B, C and D

Judging by the statements made by the political leaders recently, which one of the following is least likely to be controversial?

1. Restructuring of the Ceylon Electricity Board.

2. Implementation of Education Reforms.

3. Resettlement of persons affected by tsunami.

4. Rise of price of oil in the World Market.

5. Proposed Joint Mechanism between the Government and the LTTE.

It is said that politicians are not honest in general while teachers are honest in general. A lawyer has an equal claim of being honest or dishonest. A, B and C are respectively a politician, a teacher and a lawyer. Which one of the following is the most likely statement?

1. A and C are both honest.

2. B and C are both dishonest.

3. A is dishonest and B is honest.

4. A is honest and B is dishonest.

5. C is honest and B is dishonest.

The heart and soul of our business is credibility. We get that credibility and respect, and the power that goes with it, only by being a socially and professionally responsible agent for the public. In some ways we journalists have to have the same attitude to news as an employee of a bank has to money-it is not ours. We are handling it on behalf of other people, so it cannot be converted to our own use. If we do it is embezzlement. Which of the following criticisms would most weaken the comparison between journalists and bank employees?

1. Different newspapers print different news, just as different banks hold assets from various sources.

2. Journalists are necessarily more creative individuals than bank employees

3. The heart and soul of the banking business is money, not credibility:

4. A bank teller and need not be credible, just responsible.

5. Embezzlement is properly a crime against the bank, not against the depositors.

If it rains on a certain day then it would be windy on the following day. If it is windy on a certain day then it would rain two days after that. It rained on the Monday of a week.

Which one of the following could be deduced from the above?

1. It rained on the Saturday of the week.

2. It was windy on the Saturday of the week.

3. It was Windy on the Wednesday of the week.

4. It rained on the Friday of the week.

5. It was windy on the Friday of the week.

If it rains on a certain day then it would be windy on the following day. If it is windy on a certain day thenit would rain two days after that. It rained on the Monday of a week.

Which one of the following statements is correct?

1. It rains on Wednesdays.

2. It is Windy on Fridays.

3. If it rains on a certain Monday it would be windy on the following Monday.

4. It neither rains nor is windy on Wednesdays.

5. It rains on a certain Thursday, it would not be windy on the following Thursday.

Malini is shorter than Nimal, but she is taller than Ravindran. Sirimalee is shorter than Ravindran. Peter is taller than Ravindran, Peter is taller than Sirimalee, but shorter than Nimal. Ahmed is shorter than Malini. If the statements above are true, and, one need to conclude that Ahmed is taller than Sirimalee, which one of the following must also be true?

1. Malini, is equal height to peter

2. Peter is equal in height to Ahmed.

3. Ahmed is shorter than Ravindran

4. Ahmed is shorter than Nimal.

5. Peter is taller than Ahmed but shorter than Ravindran.