Name of the Organisation : National Centre for Biological Sciences NCBS
Exam : Joint Graduate Entrance Exam
Subject : Biology
Year : 2017
Document Type : Model & Past Question Papers
Website : https://www.ncbs.res.in/academic/admissions-syllabus-question-papers
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NCBS JGEEBILS GS Biology Question Paper
** Biology (PhD, Int.Phd and M.Sc by research)
** There is no specified syllabus and the test will be extremely basic and cover topics in mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology.
Related : Joint Graduate Entrance Exam in Biology & Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Sample Question Paper : www.pdfquestion.in/13464.html
Section A – General
1. In 1828, Wohler synthesized urea in the laboratory. This was significant because it demonstrated that:
a. biomolecules are carbon compounds
b. urea would be an ideal fertilizer
c. organic compounds can be synthesized without living organisms
d. life cannot generate spontaneously from non-living matter
2. The use of DNA evidence to find crime suspects is not perfectly conclusive because of
a. degradation of the sample
b. contamination by other individuals’ DNA
c. insufficient data to match one individual uniquely
d. all of the above
3. I hold a bottle vertically, looking down at its cap. To open the bottle I rotate the cap clockwise. This means the thread of the screw on which the cap moves is:
a. right-handed
b. left-handed
c. symmetric
d. this can’t be determined from the given information
4. The relative percentage of oxygen in the air remains constant at 21%, from sea level to the peak of Mt. Everest. Why then do humans suffer from altitude sickness?
a. Due to the ozone layer.
b. Due to the increased percentage of nitrogen in the air.
c. Due to the reduced air pressure at higher altitudes.
d. Due to the increased exposure to ultra-violet light.
5. In radiocarbon dating, scientists base their estimates of the age of a sample on the measured counts per minute per gram of carbon (cpm/g-C). The half-life of carbon-14 is 5700 years. A relic is found to give an activity of 12 cpm/g-C. If living trees give a count of 16 cpm/g-C, the approximate age of the relic is:
a. 2300 years
b. 5300 years
c. 6300 years
d. It depends on the total amount of carbon in the relic
6. Which of the following is not a necessary feature of a reflex action
a. It is mediated by the nervous system
b. It is involuntary
c. It serves a protective function
d. It is a rapid response to a stimulus
7. Which of the following viruses has been linked to microcephaly?
a. Yellow fever
b. Zika
c. Dengue
d. Japanese encephalitis
8. A bag contains 8 square and 3 spherical objects, and two objects are drawn one after another. If the first drawn object is put back in the bag before the second object is drawn, the probability that both are of the same shape is x. If the first drawn object is not put back in the bag, then the probability that both are of the same shape is
a. smaller than x
b. equal to x
c. greater than x
d. greater than or smaller than x, depending on which shape is drawn first
9. The figure below shows a frequency histogram for the variable X. Which of these statements is correct for this histogram?
a. mean < median < mode
b. mode > mean > median
c. mode > mean > median
d. mean = mode, mode > median
10. The sum of the infinite series 1 + 1/2 + 1/3 + 1/4 + 1/5 + … is
a. log 2
b. e
c. p
d. Cannot be determined because the series diverges**
Section B – Physics
1. A beam of light from a laser pointer passes through air and then enters a glass block of refractive index 1.33. The wavelength of this laser beam in air is 490 nm. What is the wavelength in the glass block?
a. greater than 490 nm
b. smaller than 490 nm
c. equal to 490 nm
d. answer cannot be determined from given information
2. Why is it easier to throw a Frisbee only with one hand, rather than with both?
a. Throwing with both hands accelerates the Frisbee, making it unstable.
b. Momentum conservation is violated when you throw with both hands.
c. Throwing with one hand imparts angular momentum to the Frisbee.
d. All of the above.
3. Two children hold opposite ends of a rope and excite a sinusoidal travelling wave in the vertical plane. A bystander notices that the time it takes for the rope to go from its maximum height to its minimum height at any point along the rope is 0.5 s, and that the distance between two peaks at any instant is 1.5 m. What is the speed of the wave?
a. 1.5 m/s
b. 3 m/s
c. 1.5 m/s
d. 3 m/s
4. Unpolarized light is passed through a polarizing sheet. Which of the following statements describes the output beam?
a. It is polarized and its intensity is reduced.
b. It is unpolarized and its intensity is reduced.
c. It is polarized but its intensity is unchanged.
d. It is unpolarized and its intensity is unchanged.
5. I measure time using a pendulum. I find that a pendulum swinging from a fixed support oscillates with a different period than one whose support is accelerated horizontally with respect to the laboratory frame. This is mainly because of:
a. The effect of Earth’s rotation
b. Lorentz contraction
c. Doppler effect
d. None of the above
Section C – Chemistry
1. The number of electrons in 18 ml of H2O is
a. 60.23 x 1023
b. 6.023 x 1023
c. 3.011 x 1023
d. 0.6023 x 1023
2. 0.22 g of a colourless oxide of nitrogen occupies 112 ml at STP. The compound is:
a. NO
b. N2O
c. NO2
d. N2O2
3. Which of the following molecules have a sugar moiety as an integral part?
a. Amino acids
b. Nucleic acids
c. Phospholipids
d. All of the above
4. The pOH of a solution of NaOH is 11.30. [H+] in M of this solution is:
a. 5.0 x 10-12
b. 6.2 x 10-8
c. 2.0 x 10-3
d. 9.0 x 10-3
5. Reactions with positive free energy change (?G0>0) can be made to occur by:
a. coupling them with exergonic reactions via a common intermediate
b. manipulating the concentrations of products and reactants
c. coupling them to hydrolysis of ATP
d. All of the above
Section D – Biology
1. When antibiotic-sensitive bacteria are spread on a plate containing antibiotic, colonies of resistant bacteria grow. The best explanation for this is:
a. the antibiotic is mutagenic
b. the antibiotic induces resistance through epigenetic effects
c. cells only become resistant once they sense the antibiotic
d. some cells in the original population were already resistant
2. During growth and division of E. coli, the daughter strand is recognized due to
a. Hemimethylation of newly synthesized DNA
b. Nicks in newly synthesized DNA
c. double stranded breaks in newly synthesized DNA
d. DNA damage in newly synthesized DNA
3. Which of the following molecules is useful in protein phosphorylation studies?
a. a-32P ATP
b. ß-32P ATP
c. ?-32P ATP
d. ATP-?-S
4. Place these steps in temporal order, first to last. 1. Diffusion of neurotransmitter across the synaptic cleft. 2. Binding of neurotransmitter to its receptor. 3. Influx of calcium into the presynaptic terminal. 4. Release of neurotransmitter. 5. Generation of an action potential at the postsynaptic membrane. 6. Influx of sodium ions.
a. 3, 4, 1, 6, 5, 2
b. 4, 3, 1, 6, 2 ,5
c. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
d. 3, 4, 1, 2, 6, 5
5. Which of the following statements is NOT a necessary consequence of meiosis?
a. Chromosome number remains constant generation after generation.
b. Each daughter cell receives the same number and kinds of chromosomes.
c. Each generation has a different genetic makeup than the previous one.
d. Four daughter cells are produced at the end of the process.