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Previous Year Questions

TLS Online TPP Program

QUESTION ID:1

Choose the most appropriate word from the options given below to complete the following sentence.

The principal presented the chief guest with a ........... as token of appreciation

QUESTION ID:2

Choose the appropriate word/phrase, out of the four options given below, to complete the following sentence:

Frogs

QUESTION ID:3


QUESTION ID:4

 If log, (5/7) = —1/3, then the value of x is

QUESTION ID:5

The following question presents a sentence, part of which is underlined Beneath the sentence you find four ways of phrasing the underlined part. Following the requirements of the standard written English, select the answer that produces the most effective sentence.

Tuberculosis, together with its effects ranks one of the leading causes of death in India

QUESTION ID:6

Choose the appropriate word/phrase. out of the four options given below, to complete the following sentence: 
Frogs  

QUESTION ID:7

Read the following paragraph and choose the correct statement.

Climate change has reduced human security and threatened human well being. An ignored reality of human progress is that human security largely depends upon environmental security. But on the contrary, human progress seems contradictory to environmental security. To keep up both at the required level is a challenge to be addressed by one and all. One of the ways to curb the climate change may be suitable scientific innovations, while the other may be the Gandhian perspective on small scale progress with focus on sustainability.

QUESTION ID:8

Fill in the missing value

 

QUESTION ID:9

A cube of side 3 units is formed using a set of smaller cubes of side 1 unit Find the proportion of the number of faces of the smaller cubes visible to those which are NOT visible.

QUESTION ID:10

Humpty Dumpty sits on a wall every day while having lunch The wall sometimes breaks. A person sitting on the wall falls if the wall breaks.

Which one of the statements below is logically valid and can be inferred from the above sentences? 

QUESTION ID:11

A genetic locus has only two alleles in a population_ The frequency of heterozygotes in that population is 0.32. Assuming Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency (in decimal notation, not in fractions or percentage) of the rarer allele is  

QUESTION ID:12

In a population of asexual organisms that remains at a constant size, an individual is expected to have an average of reproducing offspring.

QUESTION ID:13

Which of the following processes captures the KEY Difference between metapopulation versus single-population approaches to study population dynamics?

QUESTION ID:14

A researcher used a t-test on two samples of data and obtained the following statistics: sample t-statistic = 52, critical t-statistic = 2.3 (for the appropriate degrees of freedom and alpha level of 0.05). Based on this information, the researcher should conclude that

QUESTION ID:15

Among forests of the following states, tree diversity (e.g., species richness per unit area) is high in:

P) Arunachal,

Q) Haryana,

R) Kerala,

S) Punjab,

T) Rajasthan.

QUESTION ID:16

Many agriculturally important plants belong to which of the following families?

P) Dipterocarpaceae,

Q) Poaceae,

R) Solanaceae,

S) Verbenaceae

QUESTION ID:17

In India, Parthenium hysterophons, Lantana camara, and Prosopis juliflora are examples of which of the following types of species?

P) Endangered species,

Q) Endemic species,

R) Invasive species,

S) Keystone species.

QUESTION ID:18

Acid rain can be attributed to which of the following factors?

P) human alteration of global S cycle

Q) human alteration of global N cycle

R) increased average global temperature

S) natural causes such as fluctuation in sunspots

T) natural causes such as volcanism

QUESTION ID:19

Periodic glaciation at a global scale is a feature of which geological age?

QUESTION ID:20

Carbon-fixation reactions using RUBISCO and PEP occur in

QUESTION ID:21

Which of the following trees is phylogenetically MOST accurate?

 

QUESTION ID:22

Which of the following processes typically does NOT contribute to increase in genetic variation? 

QUESTION ID:23

Maximum heterozygosity (in decimal notation, not in fractions or percentage) at a neutral locus with two alleles, given random mating, is 

QUESTION ID:24

NAT A predator encounters a group of 10 prey and kills one of them to feed. The probability of getting killed is the same for all prey individual& The probability that a given prey is killed by the predator is

QUESTION ID:25

All else being equal, among isolated populations comprising of 10, 100, 500 and 1000 individuals, the impact of random genetic drift is LOWEST in the population with  individuals.

QUESTION ID:26

If the mean of a sample is 4 units and its variance is 16 units, then its coefficient of variation (in decimal notation, not in fractions or percentage) is

QUESTION ID:27

A scientist wants to prove that some birds line their nests with aromatic herbs to protect their chicks against insects that parasitise them. Which of the following experiments will NOT help to investigate this hypothesis? 

QUESTION ID:28

Many cranes are highly endangered and are often raised in captivity in zoos by having wild-collected eggs hatched in incubators. The hatchlings are then reared by the zoo keepers in the absence of adult cranes. In order to ensure successful reproduction of these zoo-reared cranes in the wild, which of the following should NOT occur?

QUESTION ID:29

Acoustic signals degrade most rapidly in which of the following environments? 

QUESTION ID:30

A plant species X is dioecious, another plant species Y is bisexual and cross-pollinated, while a third plant species Z is bisexual and self-pollinated. All else being equal, what might be the expected pollen: ovule ratio when arranged in descending order? 

QUESTION ID:31

The nodes of Ranvier are

QUESTION ID:32

Many agriculturally important insect pests belong to which of the following groups?

P) Coleoptera, Q) Odonata, R) Lepidoptera, S) Orthoptera, T) Chiroptera

QUESTION ID:33

Plasmodesmata are found in

QUESTION ID:34

In the schematic below, the circles and triangles represent climatic zones occupied by two different biomes along gradients of precipitation and temperature. Which of the following is an accurate description of these biomes?

 

 Average annual temperature 

QUESTION ID:35

Flower colour in a plant is governed by a gene with two alleles (Al and A2). The genotypes A1A1, A2A2 and A1A2 produce red, white and pink flowers, respectively. The frequency of white flowers in a population is 0.16. In an experiment, if only the plants with pink flowers are selfed, then the resulting ratio of red:pink:white phenotypes in the next generation is expected to be

QUESTION ID:36

A researcher studying the effect of urban environment on bird song finds that urban bird song is higher pitched than rural bird song. To test whether this difference has a genetic basis or is due to phenotypic plasticity, she creates four experimental treatments: 

She measures the average pitch of song of adult birds reared from these four treatments and concludes that genetic differences underlie the differences in pitch. Which of the following patterns in the variation in pitch provides evidence for this conclusion? 

QUESTION ID:37

In cooperatively breeding species, a single dominant female breeds while other subordinate adult females in the group rarely breed. Which of the following statements below are PROXIMATE explanations for this phenomenon? 

(P) When resources are limited, and competition for reproduction is strong, females evolve costly traits to monopolize reproduction

(Q) Intense aggression by the dominant female towards subordinate females results in chronic stress, elevated stress hormone levels, and lowered rates of conception in subordinates

(R) When dispersal is costly, natural selection favors delayed dispersal of the young who instead help rear siblings, in return for continued residence on their natal territory

(S) Pregnant subordinate females are evicted from the group by the dominant female, and harsh conditions outside the group result in loss of body condition and increased risk of abortions 

QUESTION ID:38

The figure panels below show population growth in two species (solid circles and open circles), when they are grown alone, and when they are grown together. The interaction between these species is an example of

 

QUESTION ID:39

In male moths of a certain genus, size of antennae and sensitivity to female pheromone are under the influence of sexual selection. Species X and Species Y of moths within this genus occur together in the same geographical location. Species X naturally occurs in dense populations while Species Y naturally occurs in sparse populations. All else being equal, which of the following is most likely to be correct?

QUESTION ID:40

Which of the following figures represents the equation y=x2-c, where c is a positive constant? 

QUESTION ID:41

A researcher measures tail length of 1000 individuals in a bird species. In one population, mean tail length (±SD) was 15 (± 8) while it was 10 (± 2) in a second population, as depicted in the figure below. These values remain consistent across many generations. From these data, lie can infer that

QUESTION ID:42

The figure below shows how feeding rate varies with age (old/young) and with body size (small/large) in males of a deer species. Based on this figure, which of the statements below is FALSE?

 

QUESTION ID:43

Breeding males in a population show two alternative mating tactics: T1 and T2. These two tactics are hypothesized to be maintained by negative frequency-dependent effects on fitness. Which figure below represents negative frequency-dependence acting on the two tactics? 

QUESTION ID:44

From an original population P of a butterfly species, two experimental populations X and Y were established. In X, males and females were maintained in standard conditions, and females were allowed to mate and lay eggs. Only eggs from females laying small clutches, i.e., S eggs or fewer, were allowed to hatch and the rest were not utilized. In Y, males and females were maintained in standard conditions and females were allowed to mate and lay eggs. From each female, S eggs were randomly selected and allowed to hatch, and the rest were not utilized. After 20 generations of these experimental conditions, relative to the original population P, and assuming that clutch size is under genetic control, we expect clutch size to be in X and in Y

QUESTION ID:45

 Which of the following factors contribute to INCREASING beta diversity of tree species in a typical landscape?

(P) Habitat heterogeneity (Q) Dispersal limitation (R) Random mortality among trees (S) Differences in physiological tolerance among species

QUESTION ID:46

The area of a large forest is reduced by 10% due to fires. Assuming that the number of species (denoted by S) and area (denoted by A) are related by the equation S= cAZ where c is a positive constant and z is a positive number less than one, the expected loss of species is

QUESTION ID:47

The slope of the function y = x - x2 at x=1 is

QUESTION ID:48

In which of the following four plots, showing reproductive fitness versus a trait, is the strength of selection MAXIMUM? 

QUESTION ID:49

Assuming that the chance of a male or female being born is equal, the probability (in decimal notation, not in fractions or percentage) that three out of four offspring born are female is 

QUESTION ID:50

An animal starts moving from point 0 as shown in the diagram below. At every junction marked by a thick circle, it has an equal probability of choosing any of the paths that takes it northwards. 

The probability (in decimal notation, not as fraction or percentage) that the animal will reach point B is 

QUESTION ID:51

The Shannon index (H) for diversity is given by where pi is the proportion of species i in the total population.
  For the community of species given below, the Shannon index (H) is 

QUESTION ID:52

In a large forested landscape, where seed dispersal is the ONLY determinant of tree species distribution, two individual trees were randomly picked at a distance r units apart. If F(r) is the probability that the two individuals belong to the same species, which of the following figures shows how F0 changes with r?

QUESTION ID:53

Bacteria growing exponentially increase in number from 105 to 106 in two hours. The ratio of per capita growth rate at the end of two hours to the per capita growth rate at the initial time is 

QUESTION ID:54

The figures below represent age-specific survivorship and fecundity for species X (denoted by open circles) and Y (closed circles). Based on these survivorship-fecundity relationships, which of the following can be inferred? 

(P) Species Y has higher rates of turnover compared to X
(Q) Species Y has a longer life span and delayed reproduction compared to X
(R) Species X has steeper age-specific mortality compared to Y
(S) Species Y is more likely to colonize a site after disturbance compared to X 

QUESTION ID:55

Tree densities are measured in 5 plots in a study area. An index (Variance in tree density/Mean tree density) estimates whether trees are randomly distributed, clumped or spaced uniformly apart. Tree densities in these 5 sampled plots were 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17. The value of the above index for this data set is 

QUESTION ID:56

The ratio of Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) to Precipitation (PT) is expected to be more than 1, i.e., PET/PT >1, in which of the following biomes? 

QUESTION ID:57

Redox potential (Eh) indicates the capacity of atoms, ions, or molecules to donate or accept electrons (i.e., electric potential of energetic transformation during chemical reactions). For reactions involving the nitrogen cycle, a values are the following: 
A consequence of these differences is that: 

QUESTION ID:58

A bird has the choice of four food resources with the following characteristics: 


Assuming that all resources are equally abundant and that the bird forages for these resources in an optimal manner, it should exhibit the following sequence of preferences for the resources 

QUESTION ID:59

A scientist conducts an experiment to test the ability of the worm Caenorhabditis elegans to find a food source using only its odour. She places only food odour in the left arm of a Y-shaped tube; there is no food odour in the right arm. She tests 50 worms individually in separate tubes. She finds that they all move into the left arm. She concludes that individual worms can find food using odour alone. However, another scientist says that the experiment is flawed. Based on the information provided above, which of the following is a valid objection? 

QUESTION ID:60

The DNA sequence -AAAAAAAAAAAA- undergoes substitutions at the rate of one change every day. Assuming that all base changes are equally probable, the MOST LIKELY composition of this 12 base pair sequence at the end of ten years will be 

QUESTION ID:61

There is a tightly-linked association between host and symbiont in obligate mutualisms; for example, between termites and their gut symbionts. The following is the phylogeny of the host species A, B, C, D and E, which harbour symbionts Sa, Sb, Sc, Sd and Se. 

Assuming obligate mutualism between these hosts and symbionts, the phylogeny of the symbionts is best represented by which of the following trees? 

QUESTION ID:62

Anita wants to study the effect of Compound X on leaf expansion rates in 100 individuals of a plant species S. Which of the following constitute suitable control(s) for this experiment? 
(P) Simultaneously measure leaf expansion rates in a second set of 100 plants of species S which has not been treated with Compound X.
(Q) Measure leaf expansion rates in a second set of 100 plants of species S which has been treated with Compound X for a longer duration.
(R) Measure leaf expansion rates in a set of 100 plants belonging to a different but closely related plant species treated with Compound X.
(S) Measure leaf expansion rates for a second set of 100 plants of species S treated with Compound X to test for repeatability of results. 

QUESTION ID:63

Three sanctuaries X, Y and Z have the same number of mammal species but different species compositions. The list of mammals reported from these sanctuaries is given below. 
Sanctuary X : Langur, tiger, spotted deer, leopard, bison, wild dog, elephant Sanctuary
Y : Lion, spotted deer, leopard, hyena, langur, blackbuck, wild boar Sanctuary
Z : Gibbon, tiger, spotted deer, leopard, bison, rhinoceros, elephant 
Which of the following options best describes the order-level diversity in these sanctuaries? 

QUESTION ID:64

the evolutionary relationship between five species of birds (A to E) is shown below. 

Species C, D, and E have a crest while the rest do not. Given this phylogeny and the principle of parsimony (i.e., involving the fewest number of evolutionary steps), which of the following statements reflects the evolution of the crest in this group? 

QUESTION ID:65

Parental care may be provided by only males, only females, or by both parents. Comparing parental care between mammals, birds and fishes, male-only care is most common in , female-only care is most common in , and biparental care is most common in