The only snake that builds a nest is
- (a)Chain viper
- (b)King Cobra
- (c)Krait
- (d)Saw scaled viper
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Official answer(b) King Cobra
Science & Technology
923 questions asked in UPSC Prelims.
Which of the following elements are present in all proteins? I. Carbon II. Hydrogen III. Oxygen IV. Nitrogen Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
- (a)I and II
- (b)I, II and IV
- (c)I, III and IV
- (d)I, II, III and IV
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Official answer(d) I, II, III and IV
Which one of the following hormones contains iodine?
- (a)Thyroxine
- (b)Testosterone
- (c)Insulin
- (d)Adrenaline
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Official answer(a) Thyroxine
“By weaving threads of physics, chemistry and biology into a rich tapestry, this remarkable scientist provided a unifying molecular view of the world... He touted the wonderful properties of Vitamin C first as a cure of common cold and later as a preventive agent against cancer.” One of science’s major figures of all time referred to above is
- (a)G.N. Lewis
- (b)Linus Carl Pauling
- (c)Fritz London
- (d)Walter Heitler
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Official answer(b) Linus Carl Pauling
“It begins as a single cell and grows into a merciless disease that claims millions of lives year after year. But scientists are steadily unlocking its mysteries, and the fight against it may now have reached a dramatic turning point. New discoveries promise better therapies and hope in the war against ...” The disease referred to in the above quotation is
- (a)Cancer
- (b)AIDS
- (c)Tuberculosis
- (d)Alzheimer’s disease
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Official answer(a) Cancer
‘Yellow cake’, an item of smuggling across borders is
- (a)a crude form of heroin
- (b)a crude form of cocaine
- (c)uranium oxide
- (d)unrefined gold
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Official answer(c) uranium oxide
Consider the series given below: 4/12/95, 1/1/96, 29/1/96, 26/2/96... The next term of the series is
- (a)24/3/96
- (b)25/3/96
- (c)26/3/96
- (d)27/3/96
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Official answer(b) 25/3/96
In track meets both 100 yards and 100 metres are used as distances. By how many metres is 100 metres longer than 100 yards?
- (a)0.856 m
- (b)8.56 m
- (c)0.0856 m
- (d)1.0 m
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Official answer(b) 8.56 m
Examine the following statements: I watch TV only if I am bored. I am never bored when I have my brother’s company. Whenever I go to the theatre, I take my brother along. Which one of the following conclusions is valid in the context of the above statements?
- (a)If I am bored, I watch TV
- (b)If I am bored, I seek my brother’s company
- (c)If I am not with my brother, then I watch TV
- (d)If I am not bored, I do not watch TV
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Official answer(d) If I am not bored, I do not watch TV
In the given diagram, circle A represents teachers who can teach Physics, circle B represents teachers who can teach Chemistry and circle C represents those who can teach Mathematics. Among the regions marked p, q, r, s, t, u and v, the one which represents teachers who can teach Physics and Mathematics but not Chemistry, is
- (a)v
- (b)u
- (c)s
- (d)t
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Official answer(b) u
Seven men, A, B, C, D, E, F and G are standing in a queue in that order. Each one is wearing a cap of a different colour like violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red. D is able to see in front of him green and blue but not violet. E can see violet and yellow, but not red. G can see caps of all colours other than orange. If E is wearing an indigo-coloured cap, then the colour of the cap worn by F is
- (a)blue
- (b)violet
- (c)red
- (d)orange
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Official answer(c) red
A person travelled from one place to another at an average speed of 40 kilometres/hour and back to the original place at an average speed of 50 kilometres/hour. What is his average speed in kilometres/hour during the entire roundtrip?
- (a)45
- (b)20
- (c)400/9
- (d)Impossible to find out unless the distance between the two places is known
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Official answer(c) 400/9
The value of (a – m)(b – m) … (y – m)(z – m) is
- (a)m26 + am25 + abm24 + … + a.b.c … z
- (b)m26 – am25 + abm24 + … – a.b.c … z
- (c)0
- (d)Indeterminate
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Official answer(c) 0
A rectangular sump of dimensions 6 m × 5 m × 4 m is to be built by using bricks to make the outer dimension 6.2 m × 5.2 m × 4.2 m. Approximately how many bricks of size 20 cm × 10 cm × 5 cm are required to build the sump for storing water?
- (a)1500
- (b)3000
- (c)15000
- (d)30000
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Official answer(c) 15000
Consider the figure given below: PQRS is a square of side 1 unit and Q, S are the centres of the two circles. The area of the shaded portion is
- (a)π/2
- (b)1/2
- (c)π/4 – 1/2
- (d)π/2 – 1
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Official answer(d) π/2 – 1
A thief running at 8 km/hr is chased by a policeman whose speed is 10 km/hr. If the thief is 100 metres ahead of the policeman, then the time required for the policeman to catch the thief will be
- (a)2 minutes
- (b)6 minutes
- (c)10 minutes
- (d)3 minutes
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Official answer(d) 3 minutes
A student has 60% chance of passing in English and 54% chance of passing in both English and Mathematics. What is the percentage probability that he will fail in Mathematics?
- (a)12
- (b)36
- (c)4
- (d)10
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Official answer(d) 10
One of the drawers is opened at random and a coin is drawn. It is found to be a silver coin. What is the probability that the other coin in the drawer is a gold coin?
- (a)0.25
- (b)1.00
- (c)0.50
- (d)0.60
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Official answer(c) 0.50
In the Cartesian plane four points P, Q, R, S have coordinates (1, 1), (4, 2), (4, 4) and (1, 4). The area of the quadrilateral PQRS is
- (a)9
- (b)7.5
- (c)4.5
- (d)Impossible to find unless the lengths of the diagonals are known
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Official answer(b) 7.5
X and Y are two variables whose values at any time are related to each other as shown in Fig. (i). X is known to vary periodically with reference to time as shown in Fig. (ii). Which of the following curves depicts correctly the dependence of Y on time?
- (a)curve (a) shown in the figure
- (b)curve (b) shown in the figure
- (c)curve (c) shown in the figure
- (d)curve (d) shown in the figure
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Official answer(c) curve (c) shown in the figure
Out of a total of 120 musicians in a club, 5 % can play all the three instruments—guitar, violin and flute. It so happens that the number of musicians who can play any two and only two of the above instruments is 30. The number of musicians who can play the guitar alone is 40. What is the total number of those who can play violin alone or flute alone?
- (a)45
- (b)44
- (c)38
- (d)30
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Official answer(b) 44
Which of the following can be inferred from the statement that “Either John is stupid or John is lazy”? I. John is lazy / therefore, John is not stupid. II. John is not lazy / therefore, John is stupid. III. John is not stupid / therefore, John is lazy. IV. John is stupid / therefore, John is not lazy. Choose the correct answer from the codes given below:
- (a)I and II
- (b)II and III
- (c)III and IV
- (d)I and IV
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Official answer(b) II and III
A person earns Rs 2000 per month over and above his salary as additional charge allowance. However, 30 % of this additional income will be deducted as additional income tax at source. If the person would deposit Rs 1000 per month in a long-term saving fetching 12 % interest, his tax liability on the additional allowance would reduce to 10 %. What is the effective interest for this person for money invested in the long-term savings scheme?
- (a)12 %
- (b)18 %
- (c)19 %
- (d)20 %
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Official answer(b) 18 %