General Science Questions (MCQs) for Competitive Examinations

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Mostly medicinal herbs grown from 30 to 90 cm in height. They reach up to 30 cm in diameter.

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Animals that ingest bulk food unavoidably take in some matter that they are incapable of using. Substances that cannot be digested, such as cellulose, pass into the colon, or large intestine. Egestion is the passing out of undigested food as faeces, through the anus.

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Oxygen liberated during photosynthesis comes from the splitting or hydrolysis of water in the green plants. Cornelius van Niel experimentally proved for the first time that the oxygen liberated during photosynthesis comes from water and not from carbon dioxide. Oxygen is expelled out of plants and Hydrogen is used to reduce Carbon dioxide to produce carbohydrates.

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The term xerophyte refers to a plant species that has evolved over time to adapt to dry and arid regions like deserts. Xerophytes have adapted to be able to keep extremely large amounts of water for a long period of time. Without this capability, the plant would die, as the desert region itself does not provide enough water to sustain life. They have thick cuticle, sunken stomata and leaves modified in form of spines such as in opuntia.

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Thrombin is a serine protease, an enzyme, that is at the centre of blood clotting process in human beings. It catalyzes the conversion of fibrinogen to fibrin and activates procoagulant factors V, VIII, XI, and XIII. Additionally, when bound to thrombo-modulin, it activates protein C, an anticoagulant zymogen.

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Detoxification is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism which is mainly carried out by the liver. It breaks down or transforms substances like ammonia, metabolic waste, drugs, alcohol and chemicals, so that they can be excreted. The liver filter is designed to remove toxic matter such as dead cells, microorganisms, chemicals, drugs and particulate debris from the bloodstream.

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Dengue virus is the cause of dengue fever. Dengue virus is transmitted by female mosquitoes mainly of the species Aedes aegypti and, to a lesser extent, Ae. albopictus. This mosquito also transmits chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika infection. Dengue is widespread throughout the tropics, with local variations in risk influenced by rainfall, temperature and unplanned rapid urbanization.

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R.H. Whittaker (1969) proposed a Five Kingdom Classification: Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia. The main criteria for classification used by him include cell structure, thallus organisation, mode of nutrition, reproduction and phylogenetic relationships.

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Technically, the largest organ in the body is the liver. Liver is also the heaviest organ, with an average of 1.6 kilograms (3.5 pounds). The largest organ ‘of’ the body is the skin (the skin is ‘outside’ the body).

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The Cell theory, first developed in 1839 by Matthias Jakob Schleiden and Theodor Schwann, states that all organisms are composed of one or more cells, that cells are the fundamental unit of structure and function in all living organisms, and that all cells come from pre-existing cells. Cells are called the ‘Building Blocks of Life’ or the ‘Basic units of Life’.