Food for thought - UPSC (IAS) prelims special

*These questions are based on NCERT 11th Indian geography

1. Consider the following statements with reference to forest area and forest cover as mentioned in State of Forest Report 2011

a. The forest area is the area notified and recorded as the forest land irrespective of the

existence of trees

b. Forest cover is the area occupied by forests with canopy

Identify the correct statements

2. As per the State of Forest Report 2011 which of the following statements are correct

a. Madhya Pradesh has the highest forest cover

b. Arunachal Pradesh has the highest percentage of (wrt geographical area) forest cover

c. Andhra Pradesh and NE states show a decline in forest cover compared to last survey

3. As per the national forest policy which of the following statements are correct

a. It wants to increase the forest cover by 50% of geographical area

b. Social forestry is envisaged as a method to increase the forest cover

c. Community assistance is sought to protect forests

4. Social forestry involves

a. Urban forestry

b. Rural forestry

c. Agro forestry

5. Which of the following statements are true

a. Agroforestry is the raising of trees and agriculture crops on the same land

b. Farm forestry is growing of trees for commercial and non-commercial purposes on their farm lands

6. What is the difference between a Wildlife sanctuary and a National Park

a. In wild life sanctuary people can not claim certain rights over land and resources

b. In a National Park, certain rights are allowed

c. Grazing is allowed in National park but not in sanctuary

7. Which of the following acts deal with protection of forest and wild life

a. Indian Forest Act, 1927,

b. Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980,

c. Environment (Protection) Act, 1986

d. Biological Diversity Act, 2002

e. The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.

8. Which of the following are true with reference to biosphere reserve

a. Even research activities are not allowed inside a core region of Biosphere reserve

b. In buffer zone tourism, fishing and grazing are not allowed

9. Which of the following statements are true

a. The Biosphere Reserves protects specific flagship species

b. Protected areas (National parks and Sanctuaries) put emphasis on Conservation of overall

biodiversity and landscape rather than some flagship species

10. Match the following species with the biosphere reserve

a. Dugong or sea cow    1. Great Nicobar reserve

b. Red panda            2. Panchmarhi

c. Lion tailed macaque    3. Gulf of Mannar

d. Flying squirrel        4. Norkek

e. Saltwater crocodile    5. Nilgiri

Food for thought - UPSC (IAS) prelims special

These questions are based on class 12 biology book chapter 16

1. Identify the correct statements

a. Catalytic convertor is used in industries to treat effluent gases of the dust particles

b. Electrostatic separator is used to clean exhaust gases from automobiles

2. Lead is added to petrol

a. To make petrol more efficient

b. To increase the mileage of petrol

c. To protect the engine from damage

d. To reduce of pollutants in exhaust gases

3. Which of the following are air pollutants

a. Exhaust gases from industries

b. Exhaust gases from automobiles

c. Noise

4. Which of the following measure reduce air pollution

a. Use of CNG instead of diesel or petrol in vehicles

b. Usage of low ‘S’ content fuel

c. Use of catalytic converters

5. If there is lot of organic matter (sewage) in water then

a. Its BOD is low

b. Dissolved oxygen in such water will be very high

6. Identify the correct statements

a. Kyoto protocol envisages control of green house gases

b. Montreal protocol envisages control of ozone

7. Identify the correct statements

a. Biomagnification refers to increase in concentration of the toxic substance in successive trophic levels

b. Bioaccumulation refers to the accumulation of toxic substances, such as pesticides, or other organic chemicals in an organism (i.e in one trophic level)

c. Bioconcentration is a related but more specific term, referring to uptake and accumulation of a substance from water alone unlike bioaccumulation which involves uptake from water, air, soil etc

Food for thought - UPSC (IAS) prelims special

These questions are based on class 12 biology book chapter 14

1. Identify the true statements regarding trophic levels in a food chain

a. Theoretically the number of trophic levels in a food chain can be unlimited

b. A given species may occupy more than one trophic level

c. In each successive trophic level the energy increases

2. Identify the correct statements regarding biomass pyramids

a. The pyramid of biomass in grassland is generally upright

b. The pyramid of biomass in sea is generally inverted

c. In most ecosystems, all the  pyramids of number, energy  and biomass are always upright

d. Pyramid of energy is always upright, can never be inverted

3. In an ecological succession pioneer species represent

a. The species which is most important

b. The species which appears first

c. The species which is in great number

4. In an ecological succession climax community represents

a. Beyond which no more succession takes place

b. A community having many species

c. A community having more biomass productivity

5. All ecological succession whether taking place in water or on land, proceeds to a similar climax community that is

a. Lichens

b. Phytoplankton

c. Zooplankton

d. Forests

Food for thought - UPSC (IAS) prelims special

These questions are based on class 12 biology book chapter 10

1. Few diseases like malaria, dengue, Chikungunya  etc are called vector borne diseases. What does the ‘vector’ in ‘vector borne’ mean?

a. Water

b. Air

c. Transmitting agent

2. BOD (biological oxygen demand) of water is a measure of

a. Amount of mud present in the water

b. Amount of sewage present in the water

c. Amount of bacteria present in the water

d. Amount of organic matter present in the water

3.Integrated pest control management envisages control of pests through

a. Application of pesticides

b. Usage of natural pest control methods

4. Biofertilizers are organisms that enrich the nutrient quality of the soil. The following can be used as bio fertilizers

a. Bacteria

b. Fungi

c. Cyanobacteria

5. Which of the following are Nitrogen fixing bacteria

a. Rhizobium (symbiotic relationship)

b. Azospirillum (free living bacteria)

c. Azotobacter (free living bacteria)

6. Mycorrhiza stands for a symbiotic association b/w

a. Roto+Fungus

b. Root+Bacteria

c. Root+Virus

d. Root+Mould

Food for thought - UPSC (IAS) prelims special

1. With reference to rias and fjords identify the correct statements

a. Rias are drowned river valleys

b. Fjords are drowned glacial valleys

2. Indian water divide passes through

a. Delhi ridge, Aravali and Western Ghats

b. Delhi ridge, Aravali, Eastern Ghats

c. Delhi ridge, Vindhya and Satpura, Western Ghats

3. Himalayan rivers are

a. Antecedent

b. Consequent

c. Braided

4. Vindhya, Satpura, Narmada, Tapi

arrange them from north to south direction

5. The drainage pattern of himalayan rivers is best described by

a. Dendritic

b. Radial

c. Trellis

d. Centripetal

Food for thought - UPSC (IAS) prelims special

1. Which of the following are example of block mountains in India

a. Vindhya

b. Satpura

2. As one walks from the foothills of himalayas towards plains one would find the following features Bhabar, Bangar, khadar, terai, . Arrange them in the sequence of their appearance

3. Which of the following statements are true?

a. Khadar is old alluvium deposits

b. Bhangar is new alluvium deposits

4. Can you name the only active volcano in India?

5. Which of the following river is an example of inland drainage?

a. Luni

b. Sabarmati

c. Tapi

Food for thought - UPSC (IAS) prelims special

* These questions are based on chapter 2 (structure and physiography) India physical environment NCERT classXI. In the coming days we will cover Indian geography through these questions

1. Consider the following statements

a. Western ghats are lower in height than Eastern ghats

b. The height of western ghats increases from north to south

c. The highest peak in the western ghats is Doddabetta

Which of them are true?

2. Which of the following rivers flow through rift valley

a. Narmada

b. Tapi

c. Mahanadi

3. Consider the following statements regarding Indian coasts

a. Western coast is an emerging coast whereas eastern coast is submerging coast

b. Western coast is narrow while Eastern coast is broad

c. Western coast consists of small number of ports than eastern coast

Which of them are true?

4. Match the following

a. Karewas        1.Summer grasslands

b. Bugyals         2. Glacier deposits

c. Kayals           3. Backwaters of kerala

d. Playas           4. Dry salt lakes

5. Identify the true statements from the following ones

a. Granite and gneiss are igneous rocks

b. Schist and Shale are metamorphic rocks

Food for thought - UPSC (IAS) prelims special

1. Bharat stage emissions pertains to stringent emission norms adopted by India to reduce pollution. It envisages to reach the goal by

a. By improving fuel quality

b. By using superior models of vehicles

2.Narcondam Hornbill, an endangered bird species. Where is it found?

3. What are arribadas?

4. Is great indian bustard endangered? Where is its habitat?

5. What is rat hole mining? Where is it practiced?

Food for thought - UPSC (IAS) prelims special

1. Ozone in stratosphere is a protector but Ozone in troposphere is a pollutant! This ozone is called ground level ozone. Consider the following statements about Ground level ozone

a. It is caused by NOX (nitrogen oxides, released by vehicles) and VOC (volatile organic compounds) under intense heating (because of climate change)

b. It is a threat for people with respiratory problems

2. What is demographic dividend? what should be done to harness it?

a. Give education, health, Impart skills

b. Create better livelihood opportunities

3. Why cyclones are more in bay of Bengal than in Indian ocean (West coast)?

4. Deforestation causes more floods? How does this happen?

5. Rainwater harvesting results in

a. Rise in groundwater level

b. Reduced flooding

Food for thought - UPSC (IAS) prelims special

1. Which of the following are the reasons for earthquakes

a. Impounding of water by dams

b. Volcanic eruption

c. Tectonic plate movement

2. With reference to earthquakes, areas around Himalayas fall in the very high damage risk zone. Why?

3. Which of the following are consequence of earthquakes?

a. loss of lives, property and infrastructure

b.Changing river course and floods

c.Occurrence of Tsunamis

4. Which of the following statements are true regarding Tsunami

a. Tsunami waves are very high in the deep ocean

b. Tsunami waves are shallow in the shallow waters (coast)

c. Mangroves reduce the impact of Tsunami by breaking the wave waters

5. Why tropical cyclones are not observed at the equator i.e b/w 0-5 latitude?

Food for thought - UPSC (IAS) prelims special

1. What is Eutrophication?

2. Eutrophication is caused by

a. Sewage water discharge

b. Runoff from agricultural land

3. Eutrophication results in

a. Algal blooms

b. Hypoxia and dead zones

c. Killing of fish

4. To reclaim salinized lands the following added

a. Lime

b. Gypsum

c. Nitrogen

d. Water

5. Which of the following results in soil erosion and why

a. Deforestation

b. Over grazing

c. Shifting cultivation

Food for thought - UPSC (IAS) prelims special

1. Import substitution means?
a. Opening up of the industry of a country to outside competition
b. Protecting the industry of a country from outside competition

2. Consider following statements regarding photosynthesis?
a.CO2 and H2O are converted to sugar (CH2O) and oxygen (O2) in the presence of light
b. Only CO2 is converted to sugar (CH2O) and oxygen (O2) in the presence of light
c. CO2 is converted to sugar and oxygen (O2) in the presence of light
Which of the above statements are true?

3. What is the difference b/w respiration and transpiration?

4. Consider the following statements regarding photosynthesis
a. There are 3 variants of photosynthesis namely C3, C4 and CAM
b. C3 happens in plants which grow in dry and arid conditions where as C4 and CAM occur in plants which grow in wet conditions
which of them are true?

5. What does carbon sequestration mean?

6. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an important technique of carbon sequestration? what is done in this process?

Food for thought - UPSC (IAS) prelims special

1. Coral bleaching, discoloration of corals, is caused by which of the following
a. Rise in ocean temperatures
b. Ocean acidification
c. Over fishing

2. If coral bleaching happens, what will be the result
a. Corals will loose aesthetic appeal
b. Coral reefs will disappear

3. Carbon footprint is defined as
a. Total amount of carbon consumed by a person/organisation/activity etc
b. Total amount of GHG released by a person/organisation/activity etc

4. In India food grain production is approximately 260 MT. Food grains comprises of which of the following?
a. Rice
b. Wheat
c. Coarse cereals
d. Pulses

5. What are coarse cereals?