About this quiz
Evolution, heredity, DNA, biotechnology and alternative energy.
This Lok Sewa practice set has 50 multiple-choice questions (Subject: General Science · For: Nayab Subba, Kharidar, Section Officer · Level: Medium). Take the quiz above first; after that, use the study list below to revise every question with its correct answer and a short explanation.
Study list: all 50 questions with answers and explanations
Evolution means:
- A) Slow change in living things over many generations ✔
- B) Sudden creation of all life
- C) Growth of one person
- D) Seasonal change
Why: Evolution is the slow change in the inherited traits of living things over many generations, which over long periods produces new species.
In Nepali, evolution is:
- A) क्रमविकास ✔
- B) वंशाणु
- C) उत्परिवर्तन
- D) प्रकाश संश्लेषण
Why: Evolution is क्रमविकास in Nepali.
Who proposed the theory of inheritance of acquired characters?
- A) Lamarck ✔
- B) Darwin
- C) Mendel
- D) Newton
Why: French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1809) said traits gained in life by use or disuse are passed to offspring. Later science rejected this idea.
Lamarck's example of a long neck developing by stretching is about the:
- A) Giraffe ✔
- B) Elephant
- C) Horse
- D) Camel
Why: Lamarck said giraffes stretched their necks to reach high leaves and passed longer necks to their young. Darwin explained it instead by natural selection.
Darwin's theory is called:
- A) Natural selection ✔
- B) Use and disuse
- C) Mutation theory
- D) Big Bang
Why: Darwin's theory is natural selection: individuals with useful variations survive and reproduce more, so those traits become common over generations.
Darwin's famous book is:
- A) On the Origin of Species ✔
- B) Principia
- C) The Descent of Light
- D) Silent Spring
Why: Charles Darwin explained natural selection in 'On the Origin of Species' (1859), based partly on his voyage on HMS Beagle.
On the Origin of Species was published in:
- A) 1859 ✔
- B) 1809
- C) 1900
- D) 1953
Why: Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species' was published in 1859.
Darwin was from:
- A) England ✔
- B) France
- C) Austria
- D) USA
Why: Charles Darwin (1809–1882) was an English naturalist.
The phrase 'survival of the fittest' was first used by:
- A) Herbert Spencer ✔
- B) Darwin
- C) Lamarck
- D) Mendel
Why: Herbert Spencer, an English philosopher, coined 'survival of the fittest' in 1864 after reading Darwin. Darwin later used it too.
Sudden heritable changes are called:
- A) Mutations ✔
- B) Adaptations by use
- C) Fossils
- D) Hormones
Why: Mutations are sudden changes in genes or chromosomes that can be inherited. They are a source of new variation.
Mutation theory was given by:
- A) Hugo de Vries ✔
- B) Darwin
- C) Watson
- D) Pasteur
Why: Dutch botanist Hugo de Vries gave the mutation theory (1901), based on sudden changes he saw in evening primrose plants.
The human arm and bat wing are examples of:
- A) Homologous organs ✔
- B) Analogous organs
- C) Vestigial organs
- D) Fossils
Why: Homologous organs have the same basic structure and origin but different uses, such as a human arm and a bat wing. They show common ancestry.
The human appendix is an example of a:
- A) Vestigial organ ✔
- B) Homologous organ
- C) Analogous organ
- D) Gland
Why: Vestigial organs, such as the appendix, are reduced and have little or no function now, but were useful in ancestors.
Which is evidence of evolution?
- A) Fossils ✔
- B) Weather
- C) Rainbows
- D) Earthquakes
Why: Fossils are remains or traces of past life in rocks. They show how living things changed over time, for example from early horses to modern horses.
The father of genetics is:
- A) Gregor Mendel ✔
- B) Darwin
- C) Lamarck
- D) Robert Hooke
Why: Gregor Mendel is called the father of genetics for discovering the basic laws of inheritance.
Mendel did experiments on:
- A) Pea plants ✔
- B) Fruit flies
- C) Mice
- D) Bacteria
Why: Mendel experimented on garden pea plants, which have clear contrasting traits (tall/dwarf, round/wrinkled seeds) and grow quickly.
Mendel was from:
- A) Austria ✔
- B) England
- C) USA
- D) India
Why: Gregor Mendel was a monk in the Austrian Empire, working at a monastery in Brno (now in the Czech Republic).
Which is a Mendel's law?
- A) Law of segregation ✔
- B) Law of gravity
- C) Law of demand
- D) Ohm's law
Why: Mendel's laws include the law of segregation (the two copies of a gene separate when gametes form), the law of dominance and the law of independent assortment.
Heredity means:
- A) Passing of characters from parents to offspring ✔
- B) Growth of cells
- C) Digestion
- D) Respiration
Why: Heredity is the passing of characters (traits) from parents to offspring through genes.
The science of heredity is:
- A) Genetics ✔
- B) Ecology
- C) Geology
- D) Astronomy
Why: Genetics is the science of heredity and variation. The word was coined by William Bateson.
Genes are located on:
- A) Chromosomes ✔
- B) Ribs
- C) Blood plasma
- D) Hair
Why: Genes are segments of DNA located on chromosomes inside the nucleus of the cell.
DNA stands for:
- A) Deoxyribonucleic acid ✔
- B) Dynamic nuclear acid
- C) Dual nitrogen atom
- D) Digestive nutrient acid
Why: DNA is deoxyribonucleic acid, the molecule that carries genetic instructions in all living things.
The double-helix structure of DNA was described by:
- A) Watson and Crick ✔
- B) Darwin and Wallace
- C) Mendel and Morgan
- D) Newton and Einstein
Why: James Watson and Francis Crick described DNA's double-helix structure in 1953, helped by Rosalind Franklin's X-ray images.
The DNA double helix was described in:
- A) 1953 ✔
- B) 1859
- C) 1996
- D) 1900
Why: Watson and Crick published the DNA double-helix model in 1953.
How many chromosomes does a normal human cell have?
- A) 46 ✔
- B) 23
- C) 44
- D) 48
Why: A normal human body cell has 46 chromosomes in 23 pairs: 22 pairs of autosomes and 1 pair of sex chromosomes.
How many pairs of sex chromosomes do humans have?
- A) 1 ✔
- B) 2
- C) 22
- D) 23
Why: Humans have one pair of sex chromosomes: XX in females and XY in males.
A human male has sex chromosomes:
- A) XY ✔
- B) XX
- C) YY
- D) XO
Why: A male has one X and one Y chromosome (XY). A female has two X chromosomes (XX).
The sex of a child is decided by the chromosome from the:
- A) Father ✔
- B) Mother
- C) Grandmother
- D) Doctor
Why: The mother always gives an X. The father's sperm carries either X (girl) or Y (boy), so the father's chromosome decides the child's sex.
Down syndrome is caused by:
- A) An extra chromosome 21 ✔
- B) Lack of vitamin C
- C) A bacteria
- D) Too much sugar
Why: Down syndrome is caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21 (trisomy 21), giving 47 chromosomes.
Which disorder is linked with the X chromosome?
- A) Haemophilia ✔
- B) Malaria
- C) Typhoid
- D) Goitre
Why: Haemophilia, where blood does not clot properly, is caused by a gene on the X chromosome, so it mostly affects males. Colour blindness is another X-linked disorder.
Biotechnology means:
- A) Using living organisms or their parts to make useful products ✔
- B) Making machines
- C) Mining
- D) Building roads
Why: Biotechnology uses living organisms or their parts, such as microbes, cells or genes, to make useful products or solve problems.
Making curd and bread uses:
- A) Fermentation by microbes ✔
- B) Nuclear reaction
- C) Electrolysis
- D) Magnetism
Why: Curd and bread are made by fermentation: bacteria turn milk into curd and yeast makes bread dough rise. This is traditional biotechnology.
Human insulin is now produced by:
- A) Genetically engineered bacteria ✔
- B) Sheep only
- C) Plants only
- D) Mining
Why: The human insulin gene is put into bacteria (recombinant DNA technology), which then produce insulin for diabetic patients.
Bt cotton is an example of:
- A) A genetically modified crop ✔
- B) A synthetic fibre
- C) A pesticide ban
- D) A fertiliser
Why: Bt cotton is a genetically modified crop containing a gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, which makes it resistant to certain insect pests.
Producing disease-free plantlets in the lab is:
- A) Tissue culture ✔
- B) Cloning of animals
- C) Fermentation
- D) Grafting only
Why: Tissue culture grows many identical, disease-free plants from small pieces of tissue in a sterile lab. Nepal uses it for crops like potato and banana.
DNA fingerprinting is used mainly in:
- A) Forensic and parentage tests ✔
- B) Weather forecasting
- C) Making soap
- D) Road building
Why: Each person's DNA pattern is unique, so DNA fingerprinting identifies people in crime investigations and parentage tests.
Dolly the sheep was cloned in:
- A) 1996 ✔
- B) 1953
- C) 1859
- D) 2010
Why: Dolly, born in 1996 at the Roslin Institute in Scotland, was the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.
Using bacteria to clean oil spills is called:
- A) Bioremediation ✔
- B) Biomagnification
- C) Saponification
- D) Fermentation
Why: Bioremediation uses microbes or plants to break down or remove pollutants, such as oil-eating bacteria at spill sites.
A concern about GM food is:
- A) Safety and biodiversity ✔
- B) It is too cheap
- C) It is invisible
- D) It is magnetic
Why: People worry about the safety of GM foods for health, effects on biodiversity, and farmers' dependence on seed companies.
Alternative energy means energy from:
- A) Sources other than fossil fuels and large hydropower ✔
- B) Only coal
- C) Only petrol
- D) Only diesel
Why: Alternative energy comes from sources other than fossil fuels (and, in Nepal's usage, large hydropower), such as solar, wind, biogas and micro-hydro.
Which is a renewable energy source?
- A) Solar ✔
- B) Coal
- C) Petroleum
- D) Natural gas
Why: Solar energy is renewable because sunlight is replaced naturally and will not run out. Coal, oil and gas are non-renewable.
The main gas in biogas is:
- A) Methane ✔
- B) Oxygen
- C) Nitrogen
- D) Carbon monoxide
Why: Biogas is mostly methane (about 50–70%), with carbon dioxide. Methane burns with a clean blue flame for cooking.
Biogas in Nepal is mostly made from:
- A) Cow dung and kitchen waste ✔
- B) Plastic
- C) Sand
- D) Petrol
Why: Nepali households make biogas mainly from cow dung, along with kitchen waste and toilet waste, in a sealed digester. The slurry is used as manure.
AEPC stands for:
- A) Alternative Energy Promotion Centre ✔
- B) Atomic Energy Power Corporation
- C) Asian Electric Power Council
- D) Agriculture and Energy Planning Commission
Why: AEPC is the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, the government body that promotes renewable energy such as biogas, solar and micro-hydro.
AEPC was established in:
- A) 2053 BS ✔
- B) 2007 BS
- C) 2072 BS
- D) 2081 BS
Why: AEPC was established in 2053 BS (1996 AD) under the ministry responsible for energy and environment.
Small hydropower plants for remote villages are:
- A) Micro-hydro ✔
- B) Nuclear plants
- C) Thermal plants
- D) Coal plants
Why: Micro-hydro plants (usually up to 100 kW) use local streams to give electricity to remote villages not connected to the national grid.
Improved cooking stoves help to:
- A) Reduce firewood use and indoor smoke ✔
- B) Increase pollution
- C) Use more petrol
- D) Produce electricity
Why: Improved cooking stoves burn firewood more efficiently, so they use less wood and send smoke out through a chimney, reducing indoor air pollution.
Solar irrigation pumps use energy from:
- A) The sun ✔
- B) Coal
- C) Diesel only
- D) Wind only
Why: Solar pumps use solar panels to run water pumps for irrigation, with no diesel or grid electricity.
Which is a benefit of alternative energy for Nepal?
- A) Reduces petroleum imports ✔
- B) Increases air pollution
- C) Uses more fossil fuel
- D) Needs no sunlight or water ever
Why: Alternative energy replaces imported fuel such as kerosene, diesel and LPG, saving foreign currency and reducing pollution.
Heat from inside the earth used as energy is:
- A) Geothermal energy ✔
- B) Solar energy
- C) Tidal energy
- D) Wind energy
Why: Geothermal energy is heat from inside the earth ('geo' = earth). Nepal's hot springs (tatopani) show such heat sources.