General Science Questions (MCQs) for Competitive Examinations

Notes:
Bonsai is the art of aesthetic miniaturization of trees and plants in containers. A bonsai plant is not a dwarf plant but equal to the full sized flowering plant. The main objective of bonsai plants is to create a tree or plant, and even landscapes, in miniature at household level.

Notes:
Bird and snake excretory product is uric acid. Nitrogenous waste is excreted in form of ammonia. In birds and reptiles, uric acid is the major end-product of protein metabolism. It is produced by the liver and excreted by kidney tubules; impaired elimination is an indication of renal disease.

Notes:
In general, liver is a good source of vitamin A, iron, zinc, copper and manganese, and a very good source of protein. There are twenty grams of protein in a single slice of liver.

Notes:
The majority of the upper respiratory epithelium is lined with cilia, small hair-like structures that move together like oars to push the mucus and its trapped contents to the throat, where it is swallowed. Each cell has about 300 cilia.

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There are three types of heterotrophs: herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. Also referred to as consumers, heterotrophs are organisms that obtain their energy from organic compounds. In other words, they are organisms that are unable to produce their own food (unlike autotrophs) and therefore have to consume/ ingest organic compounds as a source of energy.

Notes:
Insect and bird wings are analogous structures but not homologous structures. They are externally similar in appearance and function (i.e. for flying), but have dissimilar origin and developmental plan.

Notes:
Bioremediation is a waste management technique that involves the use of organisms to remove or neutralize pollutants from a contaminated site. It uses naturally occurring organisms to break down hazardous substances into less toxic or non-toxic substances. There are two classes of bioremediation used : In situ and Ex situ.

Notes:
Dolly was the world’s first cloned sheep. It was born on 5 July 1996. It was a female domestic sheep, and the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell, using the process of nuclear transfer. Dolly was cloned by Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell and colleagues at the Roslin Institute, part of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Notes:
Deciduous teeth are the first set of teeth in the growth development of humans and many other mammals. The deciduous teeth are: incisors
[D]; molars (6); and canine
[B]. So there are 12 teeth which get replaced by the age of 12 years when only permanent teeth remain.

Notes:
The bark of cinchona tree yields quinine, a white crystalline alkaloid having antipyretic (fever-reducing), anti-malarial, analgesic (painkilling), and anti-inflammatory properties. Quinine was the first effective Western treatment for malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum.