NDA (I) 2018 General Ability Test · Question 143 of 150

Correct — B, Sushmita Sen. Sushmita Sen won a world title in 1994, but it was Miss Universe, not Miss World — she was the first Indian woman to take the Miss Universe crown, at the pageant held at Pasay in the Philippines. The confusion is built into the year, because 1994 is the one year in which India won both: Sushmita Sen took Miss Universe and Aishwarya Rai took Miss World a few months later. The other three names in the option list are all genuine Miss World winners — Reita Faria in 1966, Diana Hayden in 1997 and Yukta Mookhey in 1999.

• (a)Reita Faria — Reita Faria won Miss World in 1966 and was the first Indian, and the first Asian woman, to do so. She did not go into films; she qualified as a doctor and practised medicine, which is the detail most often set as a follow-up question.
• (c)Diana Hayden — Diana Hayden won Miss World in 1997, at the forty-seventh edition of the pageant held at Baie Lazare in the Seychelles, where eighty-six delegates competed.
• (d)Yukta Mookhey — Yukta Mookhey won Miss World in 1999, the year between Diana Hayden's win and Priyanka Chopra's in 2000 — three Indian Miss World titles in four years.

Miss World and Miss Universe are two separate pageants with separate organisers, and Indian winners of each form two distinct lists. The Miss World winners from India are Reita Faria in 1966, Aishwarya Rai in 1994, Diana Hayden in 1997, Yukta Mookhey in 1999, Priyanka Chopra in 2000 and Manushi Chhillar in 2017. The Miss Universe winners from India are Sushmita Sen in 1994 and Lara Dutta in 2000. Notice that the two lists intersect in the calendar twice — 1994 and 2000 each produced an Indian winner of both titles — which is exactly the coincidence this item exploits.

Anchor to the exam and the item makes more sense. Manushi Chhillar had won Miss World in November 2017, five months before this paper was set, so the topic was current and the examiner reached for the older winners rather than the obvious recent one. Two habits will secure this family of questions. First, keep the two pageants as separate lists rather than as one blurred list of famous names. Second, date any claim about the most recent winner: Manushi Chhillar's title was the latest Indian Miss World at the exam date, and a pageant is held every year, so a statement of that kind should always carry the year it was true.

• Sushmita Sen won Miss Universe in 1994, the first Indian to do so; she has never held the Miss World title.
• Aishwarya Rai won Miss World in the same year, 1994, making it the year India took both crowns.
• Reita Faria won Miss World in 1966, the first Indian and the first Asian winner, and later practised as a doctor.
• Diana Hayden won in 1997 and Yukta Mookhey in 1999; Priyanka Chopra followed in 2000.
• Manushi Chhillar won Miss World in November 2017, five months before this exam.

• Merging the two pageants into a single list of well-known names.
• Assuming the odd one out must be the least famous name; here it is the most famous.
• Missing the word NOT and marking a genuine Miss World winner.

NDA gives four well-known names in one field and asks which does not belong, usually by shifting one of them to a neighbouring category.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The first Indian woman to win the Miss World title was

  • (a)Aishwarya Rai
  • (b)Reita Faria
  • (c)Sushmita Sen
  • (d)Priyanka Chopra

  Answer(b) Reita Faria — in 1966, the first Asian woman to win the title.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In which year did India win both the Miss World and the Miss Universe titles for the first time?

  • (a)1966
  • (b)1994
  • (c)1997
  • (d)2000

  Answer(b) 1994 — Sushmita Sen took Miss Universe and Aishwarya Rai took Miss World.