Everyday Science Paper 2007
 

FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE COMISSION
COMPETATIVE EXAMINATION FOR RECRUMENT TO POSTS IN BPS – 17, UNDER THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, 2007


GENERAL KNOWLEDGE, PAPER – I
(EVERY DAY SCIENCE
PART – I (SUBJECTIVE)

PART –II (MCQ TYPE) Question paper bearing 50 marls will be given to you at 10:40 AM which is to be solved on OMR sheet

TIME ALLOEED :100 MINUTES MAXIMUM MARKS :50
NOTE: (i) Attempt ONLY FIVE question. All questions carry EQUALL marks.
(ii) Extra attempt of any question or any part of the attempted question will not be
considered.
(iii) canidate must draw two straight lines(================) at the end to
separate each question attempted in Answer Book.

Q.1. write short notes on any two of the following (5 each)
(a) Laser
(b) Nuclear reactor
(c) Ceramics

Q.2. Write briefly (not more than three to four sentences) about any five of the following ( 2 each)
(a) Asteroids
(b) Black Hole
(c) Aurora
(d) Sedimentary Rock
(e) Epiphytes
(f) Ionosphere

Q.3 Differenitate between the following pairs: (2 each)
(a) BIT and BYTE
(b) RAM and ROM
(c) Epidemic and endemic
(d) Photosynthesis and respiration
(e) Herbivores and carnivores

Q.4 (i) What are the endocrine glands? Name any Two. (2+2)
(ii) Name the parts of human body from where the following secreted: (6)
(a) Insulin
(b) thyroxin
(c) adrenalin
(d) oestrogen
(e) cortisol
(f) Testosterone

Q.5 (a) Briefly discuss the classification of plants giving suitable examples: (6)
(b) define the following: (4)
(1) Vaccine
(2) Antibiotic
(3) Solar eclipse
(4) Exothermic

Q.5 Give scientific reasons of the following: (2 each)
(a) Why climbers get their food by climbing on other trees ?
(b) Mars is called red planet.
(c) Vitamin D is the essential component of the bidy.
(d) The weight of the oblect is less at the equator than at the poles.
(e) Why do some people snore?

Q.7 Give description of satellites and also give their functions. (10)

Q.8 (a) What is balance diet? (5)
(b) How are characters transmitted from parents to offspring? (5)

solution
 

[SIZE="4"][COLOR="Sienna"]Every day sciences 2007
[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[B]Question no 1[/B]

[B][SIZE="3"]a. Laser[/SIZE][/B]

Laser is a device which generates the coherent light or "well organised" light .Ordinary white light is made up of many different colours. Each colour has different wavelength and the photons of each colour are out of step with each other. In a beam of laser light, all the photon have the same wavelength and move in step , travelling along like a well drilled army. The mechanism relies on a process known as stimulated emission and the word laser is derived from light amplification by stimulated emission.
The essential components of a typical laser are

1. The active medium such as a ruby rod or carbon dioxide gas

2. A method of introducing energy into the active medium, for instance a flash lamp

3. A pair of mirrors is placed on each side of the active medium, one of which transmits part of the radiation that strikes it.

A typical laser using Ruby rod as an active medium has a pulse duration of 20 nsec. with power of 10 MW and the laser beam has a wave length of 694 nm.

[B][SIZE="3"]b. Nuclear Reactor[/SIZE][/B]

A device in which the fission reaction involving neutrons and nuclear fuel is controlled for the production of heat is called "nuclear reactor". It is also known as " The nuclear power plant". This heat is converted by means of turbines and generator to electrical energy for commercial use. A nuclear power plant works in a similar way to an oil-fired or a coal-fired power station. The difference between the two types of power plants is in the fuel they use to heat the boiler. Inside a nuclear power plant, energy is released by nuclear fission in the core of a piece of equipment called the reactor. The energy heats water in the boiler ( the water boils and produce steam). This steam turns the huge turbine wheels, and the turbines drive the generator that produces the electricity.
There are three types of reactor which are given bellow.
1. Light water reactor (LWR)
2. Boiling water reactor (BWR)
3. Pressurised water reactor (PWR)
4. Heavy water reactor (HWR)
5. High-temperature Gas-Cooled reactor (HTGR)

[B]Question no 2[/B]

[B][COLOR="DarkOliveGreen"]a. Asteroids[/COLOR][/B]

[B]Asteroids[/B], also called minor planets or planetoids, are a class of astronomical objects.The asteroid is an small celestial bodies that drift in the solar system in orbit around the sun. between the orbits of mars and jupiter

[B][COLOR="DarkOrchid"]b. Black Hole [/COLOR][/B]

black hole is an object with a gravitational field so powerful that even electromagnetic radiation(such as light) cannot escape its pull.

[B][COLOR="DarkRed"]c. Aurora[/COLOR][/B]

The aurora is a bright glow observed in the night sky, usually in the polar zone. For this reason some scientists call it a "polar aurora" .

[B][COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]d. Sedimentary Rock[/COLOR][/B]

A Sedimentary rock is one of the three main rock groups (along with igneous and metamorphic rocks) . Sedimentary rocks cover 75% of the Earth's land area.Sedimentary rocks include common types such as chalk, limestone, sandstone and shale.

[B][COLOR="DarkSlateGray"]e. Epiphytes [/COLOR][/B]

An epiphyte is an organism that grows upon or attached to a living plant. Epiphytic plants are sometimes called "air plants" because they do not root in soil.

[B][COLOR="Sienna"]f. Ionosphere[/COLOR][/B]

The ionosphere is the part of the atmosphere that is ionized by solar radiation. It plays an important part in atmospheric electricity and forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere.

[B]Question no 4 (i)[/B]

1. Adrenal glands
2. thyroid glands

[B]Question no 4 (ii)[/B]

a. Pancreas , stomach
b. thyroid gland
c. kidney
e. adrenal gland
f. Testes of male and overies of female

[B]Question no 5a[/B]

There are nearly half a million species of plants on the earth. With the exception of few , all of them need three basic ingredients to survive : air , light and water . Plants are found in almost every type of habitat. They take their own food using simple raw materials and energy from the sun. Plants requires water to grow. They cannot get this water unless it is available in the soil. Plants obtain water from the soil through their roots. It then passes up the stem to the leaves and flowers. The plant does not take all the water available in the soil. Much of the remaining water evaporates into the surrounding air. The plants can be divided in to the following categories.

[B][SIZE="3"]Non-Green Plants :[/SIZE][/B]

This is a group of plants having simple plant body without root, stem and leaves. They do not contain chlorophyll and hence do not involve photosynthesis. They can grow without the aid of sunlight and seem to popout of the ground overnight. Typical examples of nongreen plants are bacteria , fungi and viruses.

[B][SIZE="3"]Green Plants :[/SIZE][/B]

These are those plants which contain chlorophyll and carry out photosynthesis. There are two categories of green plants : non-flowering and flowering plants.

[B]a. Non-Flowering Plants (Cryptogams).[/B]

These are seedless green plants. They reproduce by means of spores. these plants have existed on earth for much longer than flowering plants. Many of them have remained almost unchanged for million of years. They generally have a simple structure and , with the exception of ferns , do not have supporting fiber.

[B]b. Flowering Plants ( Phanerogams ).[/B]

These are seed containing green plants . There are two groups of seed plants : the gymnosperms and the angiosperms. This division is based on the type of seeds they have. The gymnosperms are the pine, fir , cedar , cypress and spruce three while the angiosperms include most other trees , the flowering plants, the grasses , crop plants , vegetable and weeds.


[B]Question no 5 b[/B]

1. A [B]vaccine[/B] is an antigenic preparation used to establish immunity to a disease

2. An [B]antibiotic[/B] is a drug that kills or prevents the growth of bacteria

3. A [B]solar eclipse [/B] occurs when the moon passes between earth and the sun

4. A reaction that releases energy in the form of heat is called [B]exothermic[/B]

[B]Question no 6[/B]

b. Mars is a barren desert. It is covered with red dust, that is why we call mars, the Red Planet.
c. Vitamin D increase the utilization of calcium and phosphorous of the body.
d.
e. Throat weakness causing the throat to close during sleep

[B]NOte : Correct me in case of any mistake.[/B]

@suresh

i have a confusion in my mind regarding types of plants. You have mentioned non green plants including funji and bacteria but according to my information they are not plants....funji belongs to seperate kingdom funji because of a number of differences and even bacteria which belong to separate kingdom monera (prokaryotes). these are the two kingdoms of the total five kingdoms where others are plantae,animalia and protoctista.and living things are classified accordingly.
??????????

and for the hormones released from different parts of body;
insulin from pancreas(not stomach)
thyroxin from thyroid
adrenaline from adrenal medulla
oestrogen from ovaries (in females)
cortisol from adrenal cortex
testosterone from testis (in males) and from adrenal cortex in both males and females.
please confirm it
regards

@ Prissygirl

According to my knowledge, non-green plants have no roots and leaves. Though Fungi and bacteria are concerned under distinguish kingdoms but they has existence in kingdom plantae as well. The question arise how. here is the answer

The Fungi is a kingdom of eukaryotic organisms. Fungi are not plants, but were historically treated as closely related to plants, and were considered to be in the purview of botanists. It has long been recognized that fungi are evolutionarily closer to animals than to plants, but they still are covered more in depth in introductory botany courses and are not necessarily touched upon in introductory zoology courses. This is how Bacteria is a branch of microbiology. bacteria is included in algae. Algae have conventionally been regarded as simple plants, they actually span more than one domain, including both Eukaryota and bacteria , as well as more than one kingdom, including plants and protists.

Actually i have a book named as EDS by prof. Dr. M Akram kashmiri. He append above non-green plants in plants kingdom. U are right at your approach. I m waiting for senior scientist to clear the confusion.

@suresh
i am 100% agreed with what u have said and right now Dr.M kashmiri is in my hand and i have already read what he has written.....but the question is still there.what exactly we have to write in the paper?he has mentioned a very old classification of two kingdoms in his book(plants and animals).even funji and algae are taught under botany.

i have an idea.what if we mention the types in the paper both according to new and old classification briefly??????

I think prissygirl is right, we have a proper classification system of plants.
Firstly A plant is an organism in the kingdom Plantae. According to the five-kingdom classification system used by most biologists, plants have the following characteristics: they are multicellular during part of their life; they are eukaryotic, in that their cells have nuclei; they reproduce sexually; they have chloroplasts with chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b and carotenoids as photosynthetic pigments; they have cell walls with cellulose, a complex carbohydrate; they have life cycles with an alternation of a sporophyte phase and a gametophyte phase; they develop organs which become specialized for photosynthesis, reproduction, or mineral uptake; and most live on land during their life cycle.
Biologists have identified about 500,000 species of plants, although there are many undiscovered species in the tropics.

Common Classification

Plants are classified into these groups :

Algae
Bryophytes
Pteridophytes
Gymnosperms
Angiosperms

There are a few other higher categories of classification you may come across in your reading.

Lower plants usually include algae and Bryophytes, while higher plants refer to Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms and Angiosperms.

The word Cryptogams literally means "hidden wedding" and alludes to the fact that the sex life of these plants (algae, Bryophytes and Pteridophytes) was once not understood. Phanerogams ("open wedding") are the seed plants - the gymnosperms and angiosperms.

Thallophytes is an outmoded term for plants whose body is not differentiated into root/stem/leaves but is termed a thallus. Algae fall into this category (and fungi did too when they were considered to be plants).

Vascular plants are those with vascular tissue (xylem & phloem). Embryophytes (all but algae) are plants that bear an embryo and are synonymous with land plants.

I think your confusion might be over now.

@peerless
i am not confused about the classification...i m very sure about it....what i want to know is......what xactly we have to write in the paper....should follow the old and common classification or the recent and modern one.....

Q 5 (b)

a: By climbing on other trees, they get close to the light source.
c: Vitamin D is responsible for the absorption of calcium and phosphorus in the bones.

d: At equator, the distance from the earth's center is greater than any other point of the earth's surface. Since, weight is defined as the force with which a body is attracted towards the earth's center, so greater the distance, less is the force applied. Hence, the object's weight is lightest at the earth's equator, than at poles.

@ prissygirl

The plants classification system commonly used in botany was developed by Robert Whittaker in 1969, so you cant say that it is a new classification system.It is now upto you either you use the so called new system or centuries old classification.Personaly I feel we should use latest information, if you are confused you may give a reference of old system in short and then carry on with the new one.