General Science Questions (MCQs) for Competitive Examinations

Notes:
Herpetology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and reptiles (including snakes, lizards, amphisbaena, turtles, terrapins, tortoises, crocodilians, and the tuataras). It is the study of ectothermic (coldblooded) tetrapods.

Notes:
Karl Landsteiner was an Austrian biologist and physician. He is noted for having first distinguished the main blood groups in 1900, having developed the modern system of classification of blood groups from his identification of the presence of agglutinins in the blood, and having identified, with Alexander S. Wiener, the Rhesus factor, in 1937, thus enabling physicians to transfuse blood without endangering the patient’s life.

Notes:
A tissue is a group of similar cells that work together to perform a specific job. Tissues function to perform many tasks that are too complicated for a single cell to perform. Tissues are used for support, movement, secretion, protection, growth, and reproduction. Specialized cells form specialized tissues such as blood tissue.

Notes:
The vascular tissue system consists of the complex tissues, xylem and phloem, which constitute discrete conducting strands called vascular bundles. Gymnosperms are the vascular plants where seeds are not enclosed within an ovary (opposite to an angiosperm or flowering plants where seeds are enclosed by mature ovaries or fruits). Collateral vascular bundle is the most common type of vascular bundle in the stems and leaves of angiosperms and gymnosperms. Here xylem and phloem remain side by side arranged on the same radius.

Notes:
Methane (CH4) is one of the most significant greenhouse gases along with water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Methane (CH4) – like carbon dioxide, is a gas emitted by both natural and man-made sources that absorbs heat and warms the atmosphere.

Notes:
Aggregate fruits are the group of fruitlets which develop from the multicarpellary, apocarpous ovary. Flowers with apocarpous multiple gynoecium are apt to give rise to a number of fruits as there are a number of free ovaries, each capable of giving rise to one fruit. Berries are good example of such fruits.

Notes:
Water-soluble vitamins are those that dissolve in water upon entering the body. Because of this, body cannot store excess amounts of water-soluble vitamins for later use. There are a total of nine water-soluble vitamins: the B vitamins- folate, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 and vitamin C.

Notes:
A meristem is the tissue in most plants containing undifferentiated cells (meristematic cells), found in zones of the plant where growth can take place. Meristems give rise to permanent tissues.

Notes:
The cerebellum is important for making postural adjustments in order to maintain balance. Through its input from vestibular receptors and proprioceptors, it modulates commands to motor neurons to compensate for shifts in body position or changes in load upon muscles. So, it controls the maintenance of posture, balance and equilibrium.

Notes:
An allele is one of a pair of genes that appear at a particular location on a particular chromosome and control the same characteristic, such as blood type or colorblindness. Alleles are also called alleleomorphs. If the two alleles are identical, the individual is called a homozygote; when the two alleles are different, the individual is a heterozygote.