Pre 2013

It was one of those papers where 40% questions were not doable. 40% logic and common sense

1. Consider the following pairs:

1. Nokrek Bio-sphere Reserve : Garo Hills
2. Logtak (Loktak) Lake : Barail Range
3. Namdapha National Park : Dafla Hills

Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1, 2 and 3
4. None

• Map based very difficult question but hills of industry very important. Just go through the map once
• Nokrek highest peak in Garo. See, next year, highest peak in Nagaland was asked. Still very difficult

2. Consider the following pairs about parks and rivers passing through them:

1. Corbett National Park: Ganga
2. Kaziranga National Park: Manas
3. Silent Valley National Park: Kaveri

Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?

1. 1 and 2
2. 3 only
3. 1 and 3
4. None

• Again difficult question.
• Manas flows through Manas national park if you remember the name
• Ganga’s route important. It does not pass through Corbett
• Silent valley in Nilgiris / kerala
• All calculated guesses would result in wrong answer to this question

3. In which of the following States is lion-tailed macaque found in its natural habitat?

1. Tamil Nadu
2. Kerala
3. Karnataka
4. Andhra Pradesh

Select the correct answer using the codes given below.

1. 1, 2 and 3 only
2. 2 only
3. 1, 3 and 4 only
4. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Very difficult again

4. Which of the following is/are unique characteristic/characteristics of equatorial forests?

1. Presence of tall, closely set trees with crowns forming a continuous canopy
2. Coexistence of a large number of species
3. Presence of numerous varieties of epiphytes

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

• Simple NCERT/ G.C.Leong
• Dense forest – Continuous canopy, sunlight does not reach the surface, so epiphytes
• 2nd is true. Great divetsity, so much rain and sun

5. Consider the following fauna of India:

1. Gharial
2. Leatherback turtle
3. Swamp deer

Which of the above is/are endangered?

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 3 only
3. 1, 2 and 3
4. None

Very difficult

6. Consider the following

1. Star tortoise
2. Monitor lizard
3. Pygmy hog
4. Spider monkey

Which of the above found in India?

1. 1, 2 and 3 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 4 only
4. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Very difficult

7. Consider the following animals:

1. Sea cow
2. Sea horse
3. Sea lion

Which of the above is/are mammal/mammals?

1. 1 only
2. 1 and 3 only
3. 2 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Biology question. Sea horse is a fish..

8. Mycorrhizal biotechnology has been used in rehabilitating degraded sites because mycorrhiza enables the plants to

1. resist drought and increase absorptive area
2. tolerate extremes of PH
3. Resist disease infestation

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

• Increase surface area. Mycorrhiza is given in NCERT
• All are true

9. Consider the following organisms

1. Agaricus
2. Nostoc
3. Spirogyra

Which of the above is / are used as biofertilizer / biofertilizers

1. 1 and 2
2. 2 only
3. 2 and 3
4. 3 only

Very difficult again. Biofertilizer is an important topic. Remember the names of organisms.

10. Which of the following adds / add nitrogen to the soil?

1. Excretion of urea by animals
2. Burning of coal by man
3. Death of vegetation

Select the correct answer using the codes given below.

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

• Coal burning will release CO2. May be some nitrogen impurities buy that would also be release as oxides no addition to the soil
• Urea contains nitrogen
• Vegetation also contain nitrogen, carbon etc. So all of them would be added to the soil

11. Contour bunding is a method of soil conservation used in

1. desert margins, liable to strong wind action
2. low flat plains, close to stream courses, liable to flooding
3. scrublands, liable to spread of weed growth
4. None of the above

• NCERT
• Contour bunding, terrace farming to prevent soil erosion in hilly areas

12. With reference to the usefulness of the by-products of sugar industry, which of the following statements is / are correct?

1. Bagasse can be used as biomass fuel for the generation of energy.
2. Molasses can be used as one of the feedstocks for the production of synthetic chemical fertilizers.
3. Molasses can be used for the production of ethanol.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below.

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

• 1 and 3 are common knowledge. Bagasse cogeneration
• 2nd statement is about chemical fertiliser – bagasse is organic

13. Due to improper / indiscriminate disposal of old and used computers or their parts, which of the following are released into the environment as e-waste?

1. Beryllium
2. Cadmium
3. Chromium
4. Heptachlor
5. Mercury
6. Lead
7. Plutonium

Select the correct answer using the codes given below.

1. 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7 only
2. 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 only
3. 2, 4, 5 and 7 only
4. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7

• 7th statement plutonium. Heavy metal, not found in nature. By product of fission. Used in nuclear bombs.
• Eliminate it and reach the answer

14. Which of the following can be found as pollutants in the drinking water in some parts of India?

1. Arsenic
2. Sorbitol
3. Fluoride
4. Formaldehyde
5. Uranium

Select the correct answer using the codes given below.

1. 1 and 3 only
2. 2, 4 and 5 only
3. 1, 3 and 5 only
4. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

• You would similarly want to eliminate uranium but uranium is found in nature. Problem in Punjab. So don’t eliminate it
• Sorbitol is like glucose not a pollutants

15. Which one among the following industries is the maximum consumer of water in India?

1. Engineering
2. Paper and pulp
3. Textiles
4. Thermal power

Thermal power plant requires lots and lots of water plus so much electricity in India by thermal.

16. Acid rain is caused by the pollution of environment by

1. carbon dioxide and nitrogen
2. carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide
3. ozone and carbon dioxide
4. nitrous oxide and sulphur dioxide

• Simple. Very simple. NCERT. NIOS
• Nitric acid and sulphuric acid
• Co2 is as such present in environment in large quantity

17. Photochemical smog is a resultant of the reaction among

1. NO2, 03 and peroxyacetyl nitrate in the presence of sunlight
2. CO, 02 and peroxyacetyl nitrate in the presence of sunlight
3. CO, CO2 and N02 at low temperature
4. High concentration of N02, O3 and CO in the evening

• Simple, very simple
• Photo means sunlight, 3 and 4 eliminated.
• If there is peroxylnitrate, there has to be oxides of nitrogen also

18. With reference to food chains in ecosystems, consider the following statements:

1. A food chain illustrates the order in which a chain of organisms feed upon each other.
2. Food chains are found within the populations of a species.
3. A food chain illustrates the numbers of each organism which are eaten by others.

Which of the statements given above is / are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 1 and 2 only
3. 1, 2 and 3
4. None

• 1st statement true
• 2nd false, members of same species do not eat each other. Tigers do not eat tiger
• Include 1, exclude 2

19. Which one of the following terms describes not only the physical space occupied by an organism, but also its functional role in the community of organisms?

1. Ecotone
2. Ecological niche
3. Habitat
4. Home range

Simple. Very simple. NCERT

20. With reference to the food chains in ecosystems, which of the following kinds of organism is / are known as decomposer organism/organisms?

1. Virus
2. Fungi
3. Bacteria

Select the correct answer using the codes given below.

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Viruses are intracellular. They do not decompose anything.

21. In the grasslands, trees do not replace the grasses as a part of an ecological succession because of

1. insects and fungi
2. limited sunlight and paucity of nutrients
3. water limits and fire
4. None of the above

Simple – think of savannah

22. Which one of the following is the correct sequence of ecosystems in the order of decreasing productivity?

1. Oceans, lakes, grasslands, mangroves
2. Mangroves, oceans, grasslands, lakes
3. Mangroves, grasslands, lakes, oceans
4. Oceans, mangroves, lakes, grasslands

• Ocean can not have highest productivity. So much of ocean area has no producers.
• Eliminate 1 and 4.
• Among lakes and oceans, obviously lakes would have higher productivity.
• Mangroves, coral reefs have very high productivity