General Science Questions (MCQs) for Competitive Examinations

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Pneumonia is a bacterial disease caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, a Gram-positive bacterium. It lives in the noses and throats of healthy people and can enter lungs through inhalation. Other important Gram-positive causes of pneumonia are Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus anthracis.

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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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The entire content of a living cell is known as protoplasm. It includes the cytoplasm and the nucleus. Protoplasm is called the living substance of the cell. Under the microscope, blank-looking structures in the cytoplasm are called vacuole.

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A webbed neck, or pterygium colli deformity, is a congenital skin fold that runs along the sides of the neck down to the shoulders. It is a feature of Turner syndrome and Noonan syndrome, as well as the rarer Klippel-Feil syndrome. Turner Syndrome (TS) is a condition in which a female is partly or completely missing an X chromosome.

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Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a simple ketonic monosaccharide found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose. It is a 6-carbon polyhydroxyketone with chemical formula of C6H12O6.

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Vitamin K refers to a group of fat-soluble vitamins that play a role in blood clotting, bone metabolism, and regulating blood calcium levels. The body needs vitamin K to produce prothrombin, a protein and clotting factor that is important in blood clotting and bone metabolism.

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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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Monogenetic parasites are the parasites that complete their life cycles in one host only. Ascaris is a monogenetic parasite as it completes it life cycle in a single host, i.e., man.

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In algae, sexual reproduction takes place through fusion of two gametes. It is of two types on the basis of the size of gametes : isogamous (where male and female gametes are morphologically similar) and heterogamous (anisogamous and oogamous). Anisogamous fusion happens when gametes are dissimilar in size.

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The ovule matures to form the seed while the ovary, that is the outermost, forms the fruit. The seed coat is formed by the two integuments, which surround the embryo sac.