GS-2012 Question paper:

GENERAL: 1. A fathers blood group is AB; the mothers is O. Which of the following blood groups could appear in their offspring? a. AB b. O c. A or B d. None of the above . !handra"aan#1$ %ndias unmanned probe to the moon was recentl" in the news because it produced evidence for the presence of a. &i'uid water b. (itanium c. Water molecules d. )ermafrost 3. %n **+$ a surve" revealed that more children than average were born in %ndian cities that had above#average numbers of !ellphone towers. (his could be because, a. !ellphone radiation can influence biological processes. b. -ore cellphone towers are placed in highl" populated areas. c. .ewer single people tend to have mobile phones than married people. d. (he number of cellphone towers is an indication of average income.

/. Assume peoples birthda"s are uniforml" distributed amongst 012 da"s in a "ear 3ignore the leap "ears4. What is the minimum number of people that "ou must collect in a room to be sure that at least two share a birthda"? a. 0 b. 012 c. 011 d. 15 2 2. What proportion of the genes of two wor6er bees from a hive will be identical? a. 2*7 b. 2 # 82 7 c. 1**7 d. depends on the parentage of the bees concerned 1. What volume of *7 9ucrose would "ou use to ma6e m& of 27 9ucrose solution a. *.***2 m& b. *.*2m&

c. *.2m& d. *.**2m& 8. (he plot of concentration of product formed in a h"pothetical chemical reaction versus time follows an e:ponential curve. What will be the shape of the plot of the net forward rate of the reaction versus time? a. e:ponential b. linear c. parabolic d. h"perbolic. 8. What is the effective ;0O< concentration in a 1* m- )hosphate buffer at p; /.*? a. 1*#/ : 1*#1/ b. 1*#/ < 1*#8 c. 1*#/ d. none of the above +. =ou are tr"ing to wal6 across the slipper" floor of a 1* meter wide room. =ou ta6e uniform steps of *.2metre each. (here is a 1*7 probabilit" that "ou will slip and fall at ever" step. What is the chance that "ou will ma6e it half#wa" across$ and then slip to fall e:actl" in the middle of the room? a. 3*.141* : 3*.+4 b. 3*.14 : 3*.+41* c. *.2 d. None of the above 10. (he heights of members of the staff at an institute follow a nearl" normal distribution with mean 11* cm and standard deviation 2 cm. Which of the following is not true? a. Appro:imatel" 2*7 of the members of staff this institute have heights less than 11* cm; Appro:imatel" 1*7 of the members of staff have heights greater than 182

at

b.

cm;

c. Appro:imatel" .27 of the staff members have heights less than 12 cm; d. (he pea6 of the distribution is around 11* cm. 11. %f "ou hold a nail against a piece of ice$ the end in "our hand will soon become cold. Wh" is this? a. ;eat flows from the nail to the ice. b. !old flows from the ice to the nail. c. Answers A and B are e'uivalent$ thus both are correct. d. ;eat flows from the nail into "our hand$ leaving the nail cold.

12. A population of s"nchronous >. coli cells is allowed to divide and grow at the rate of one binar" division ever" 0* minutes. 9uppose there are /:1*?1 cells immediatel" following a division event. (he number of >. coli cells that were present 2 hours previousl" is appro:imatel", a. *. /:1*?1 b. 1.11:1*?2 c. 0.+:1*?0 d. 1.* /:1*? 13. %f log 3"4 @ log 3:4m then from the figure shown below$ what is the value for AmB?

a. b. c. d.

m@0 m @ 1.2 m@1 m@

14. Which of the following is the most li6el" graph of the function, " @ A: < B:/?

a. b. c. d.

)lot B )lots A and ! )lot C )lots C and B

N.A.

12. Which of the following is inconsistent with the standard global warming h"pothesis? 1. !ertain regions of the earth can e:perience increased cold spells. . Warming is caused b" increased levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. 0. Dariations in the earths orbit are the primar" cause of current global warming. /. Elobal warming onl" refers to average global temperatures$ not seasonal variations. a. 0 and /. b. 1 and . c. 0 alone d. 1 alone

BIOLOGY: 1. .ruitflies have a red e"e colour that is determined b" the gene F>C. Allele F gives a red e"e and allele r gives a white e"e. F is dominant over r. A single red e"e parent and a single white e"e parent were mated. Onl" 2*7 of the resulting progen" had red e"es. With respect to the F>C gene$ which of the following best describes the genot"pe of the red e"ed parent? a. rr b. Fr c. FF d. An" of the above . (he p% of a protein is 5.0. (o carr" out ion#e:change chromatograph" of this protein at p;@8.*$ the following should be used to ensure binding and fractionation, a. !ation e:changer resin b. Anion e:changer resin c. Feactive ion e:changer resin d. )ol"anion e:changer resin 3. Eenetic se'uence data were used to construct the following evolutionar" tree relating Mus muculus$ Rattus rattus and Homo sapiens.

Mus musculus

Rattus rattus

Homo sapiens

Which of the following is NO( true? a. -ice are descended from the last common ancestor of humans and rats. b. Fats are descended from the last common ancestor of humans and mice c. ;umans are descended from the last common ancestor of rats and mice d. ;umans$ mice$ and rats have a common ancestor

4. A significant proportion of students at (%.F seem to have descended from !hengis Ghan. (his information was inferred from, a. -itochondrial CNA b. 9ingle Nucleotide )ol"morphisms c. = chromosome anal"sis d. Ancient CNA 5. (he recognition se'uence for the restriction endonuclease AstW% is EF!E=! where F is an" )urine and = is an" )"rimidine base. %n a trul" random CNA se'uence what will be the average distance 3measured in base pairs4 between successive AstW% cut sites? a. 1* / b. 21 c. /*+1 d. / 1. Hitesh carried out a stead"#state 6inetics e:periment for an enI"me degradase with and without molecule J as part of the reaction mi:ture. (he reactions were carried out for 2 minutes and he got the following results, 9ubstrate !oncentration Amount of product 3milli-olar4 formed without J 3milli-oles4 *.1 *./ *.2 .1 1.* /.0 1.2 1. .* 5.1 .2 5.0 0.* 5./ Amount of product formed with J 3milli-oles4 *. 1.0 .8 /.1 2./ 1.8 5.1

0.2

5.2

5.0

(hese results suggest that, a. -olecule J is a competitive inhibitor b. -olecule J is an allosteric inhibitor c. -olecule J is a cofactor d. -olecule J has no effect on catal"sis 8. %rshath is recording the electrical activit" of neurons in a cat when the cat is shown light bars at various angles. (wo neurons respond to these light bars in the following manner,

What can "ou infer from the above data? a. Bar angle does not affect neural response in Neuron1 or b. A bar at 2* degrees elicits no response in either of the two neurons c. A bar at * degrees elicits 2*7 of the ma:imal response in Neuron d. .or an" given angle the difference in response levels of Neuron1 and is a constant. 5. %n the northeastern states of %ndia$ =a6s are a common species. Additionall"$ cows are also present as well as h"brids between =a6s and cows. (he following figure represents genetic variation at Acow specific and A=a6 specific genetic loci.
Probability of being a cow

Probability of being a Yak

Which one of the following statements is true? a. -ost animals are h"brids b. -ost animals either =a6s or cows c. (here are more cows than =a6s d. All h"brids have the same proportion of =a6 versus cow genes in their genome 9. A student conducted an e:periment where !O and N were bubbled through water in bea6ers A and B respectivel". ;e recorded the p; in each of the solutions ever" 2 min. What is the most valid conclusion the student could draw from these results,

(ime 3min4 2 1* 12 *
a. b. c. d.

A 8.2 8. 8.* 1.5

p; reading B 8.2 8.0 8.2 8./

(he change in p; was too small to be significant Bubbling !O through water ma6es it more acidic Bubbling N through water ma6es it more acidic Both !O and N ma6e water more acidic.

10. E:periments were carried out on plants living in different environments to measure the siIe of leaf stomata. )revious investigations have shown that plants transpire more water when the siIe of stomata is larger. Which of the graphs best represents a plant living in a dr" environment?

a. b. c. d.

A B ! C

11. !hampa is tr"ing to characteriIe a gene s4$ which has been previousl" implicated in earl" development in mice. ;er attempts to characteriIe the phenot"pe failed because embr"os from crossed homoI"gous mutant parents did not survive. ;owever$ she was able to get some viable homoI"gous embr"os when heteroI"gous parents were crossed. Which of the following can e:plain this observation? a. s4 is a critical gene for earl" development and is maternall" re'uiredK b. s4 is a critical gene for earl" development and is an imprinted gene c. Both a and b d. None of the above 12. AlIheimers protein#A multimeriIes at p; to form aggregates which leads to AlIheimers disease. %n the brain the p; is alwa"s neutral L8. 9o what leads to aggregation of A that induces AlIheimers in people greater than 1* "ears of age? a. Older brains are more acidic. b. At p; 8$ there will be ver" fast 6inetic e'uilibrium between oligomers and monomers which can change with age to induce aggregation c. At p; 8$ the reaction does proceed to oligomeriIation but the rate is so low that it ta6es 1* "ears to form aggregates d. Aggregates form during intermittent drops in p; throughout "our life. 13. -utations in two genes x and y in a diploid organism when present togather cause lethalit". Which of the following ma" be inferred about the nature of the gene product? a. (he product of the genes function as an oligomer b. (he two genes fall in the same complementation group c. None of above d. (he product is a homo#oligomer 14. A gene is transcribed at the ma:imum rate of 6 per second$ and codes for a transcription factor 3(.4. (his transcription factor inhibits the transcription of its own gene$ and this is the onl" wa" this gene and (. are regulated. Which of the following graphs is most li6el" to describe how the stead"#state concentration of the (. depends on the value of 6? a. A and ! b. ! c. B d. C

15. Eenes J$ = and M are located on one chromosome. !ross#over fre'uenc" between three genes is, !ross over .re'uenc" Eene )airs 017 J#M 1*7 =#M 17 J#= Which one of the following best represents the gene location on the chromosome? a. MNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNJNNNNNNNNN= b. MNNNNNNNNN=NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNJ c. JNNNNNNNNN=NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNM d. =NNNNNNNNNJNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNM

CHEMIS RY: 1. A wea6 base is present in a bea6er and a wea6 acid is titrated into it. (he p; of the solution in the bea6er is plotted vs. the volume 3in ml4 of the wea6 acid added to the bea6er. Which plot below most li6el" represents

the results of this titration? a. b. c. d. )lot B )lots ! and C )lot A )lot C

. (he enthalp" of a reaction is plotted vs. its reaction coordinate below. Which of the following is true about the forward reaction?

a. b. c. d.

(he reaction is spontaneous (he reaction is endothermic A catal"st will not be useful for this reaction All of the above

0. What t"pe of orbitals are shown in the following picture?

a. b. c. d.

A bonding O orbital An anti#bonding O orbital A bonding P orbital An anti#bonding P orbital

/. At 9()$ which of the following will have highest no. of molecules a. 5 grams of methane gas b. 11.5 litres of methane gas c. *.1 moles of methane gas d. 5 grams of o:"gen gas 2. (he half life of a radioactive element is 8 hours. %n how man" da"s will the radioactivit" fall to 1Q0 th of its original value? a. + da"s b. 15 da"s c. 12 da"s d. 1 da"s 6. ;ow man" grams of solid Na; )O/ and Na ;)O/ are re'uired to prepare 1dm0 of *.1 - phosphate buffer of p;@8.1. pGa is 1.5 for buffer. Atomic weight Na@ 0$ )@01$ O@11. a. Na; )O/ @/.** gram$ Na ;)O/@ +./1 gram b. Na; )O/@+./1 gram$ Na ;)O/@ /.** gram. c. Na; )O/ @*./ gram$ Na ;)O/@ *.+/1 gram d. Na; )O/@*.+/1 gram$ Na ;)O/@ *./ gram. 8. A molecule contains onl" nitrogen and o:"gen. 0*./*7 of this molecule is nitrogen 3b" mass4. %f the molar mass of the molecule is + gQmol$ what is the molecular formula? a. NO b. N O c. N O/ d. NO 8. (he molecular weight of ethanol 3! ;2O;4 is /1 and its densit" is L*.5 gQcm . What would be the molar concentration of ethanol in a 07 3vQv4 wine? a. / molar b. *.2 molar c. molar d. None of the above.

9. (he e'uilibrium constant 3G4 for a reaction A < B @ AB is 1 : 1* #1 -$ where G is defined as G @ RASRBSQRABS. %f the rate constant for association of A and B is : 1*8 -#1 9#1$ what is the rate constant 3F!4 for the dissociation of AB and the average life#time 3(4 of the comple:? a. b. c. d. F!@ : 1*#10 9#1 and ( @ 1 microsecond F! @ * 9#1 and ( @ 2* milliseconds F! @ 2 9#1 and ( @ ** milliseconds F! @ : 1*#8 9#1 and ( @ *.*2 microseconds

1*. An 9N reaction of an as"mmetric carbon of a compound alwa"s gives a. An enantiomer of the substrate b. A product of opposite optical rotation c. A mi:ture of diastereomers d. A single stereoisomer 11. An un6nown$ containing some combination of alanine$ l"sine or aspartic acid$ is subTected to paper electrophoresis at p; @ 8.*. Ninh"drin treatment 3to stain them4 shows some amino acid at the negative electrode and some amino acids have not moved from the center. No amino acid is found at the positive electrode. Which amino acid3s4 is 3are4 in the un6nown? a. Alanine and l"sine but not aspartic acid b. Alanine and aspartic acid but not l"sine c. Onl" alanine d. All the three amino acids 1 . 9ri6anth wants to characteriIe the enI"matic properties of a novel enI"me 3n>14 involved in NAC salvage pathwa" in human cells. %t turns out that this pathwa" and the enI"me are evolutionaril" conserved. But previous studies indicate that this pathwa" is critical in human cells. -anohar aims to establish that n>1 is the most important enI"me in this pathwa". Curing his studies he happened to compare n>1 activities from mice 3m#n>14 and humans 3h#n>14. %nterestingl"$ his e:periments showed that the Gm values for m#n>1 and h# n>1 were 1*m- and *m-$ respectivel". Based on these results what is the best interpretation? a. n>1 catal"Ies the rate limiting step in mice but not in humans b. m#n>1 has more affinit" to the substrate than h#n>1 c. n>1 catal"Ies the rate limiting step in humans but not in mice d. h#n>1 has more affinit" to the substrate than m#n>1 13. >'ual weights of methane and h"drogen are mi:ed in an empt" containerat 2*!. (he fraction of the total pressure e:erted b" h"drogen is a. U b. 5Q+ c. 1Q+ d. 18Q1+

14. i. 9eO

-atch the following substances with the models ii. Be !l iii. )Br0 iv. B!l0

a. b. c. d.

i @ %$ i @ %%$ i @ %$ i @ %%$

ii @ %%$ iii @ %%%$ ii @ %$ iii @ %%%$ ii @ %%$ iii @ %D $ ii @ %$ iii @ %D$

iv @ %D iv @ %D iv @ %%% iv @ %%%

12. Which of the following resonating structures of l#metho:" #1$ 0#butadiene is least stable?

!HYSICS: 1. When "ou ma6e ice cubes$ the entrop" of the water a. does not change b. %ncreases c. decreases d. ma" either increase or decrease$ depending on the specific process used . A big elephant and a small stone are dropped from an e:tremel" tall building. Which of the following statements is true? 3ignore wind and turbulence4 a. (he elephant e:periences more air resistance and its terminal velocit" is less than the stone b. (he elephant e:periences less air resistance and its terminal velocit" is more than the stone c. (he elephant e:periences more air resistance and its terminal velocit" is more than the stone d. (he elephant e:periences less air resistance and its terminal velocit" is

less than the stone 0. Where is the centre of mass of the atmosphere of the >arth located? a. close to the surface of the >arth b. close to the centre of the >arth c. close to the top of the atmosphere d. halfwa" between the surface of the >arth and the top of the atmosphere 4. 9uppose that a bird lands on a bare 1/$*** D power line. What is li6el" to happen? a. %t will be 6illed b" current flow b. %t will not be hurt because it has a high bod" resistance. c. %t will not be hurt because there is negligible potential difference across its bod" d. None of the above is true. 2. What is the net stiffness$ measured between the points A and B$ of the following networ6 of springs? >ach spring has a stiffness of 1 NQm.

a. b. c. d.

1Q/ NQm 0Q2 NQm 2Q0 NQm 2Q NQm

6. (wo masses$ m and M$ are connected to a pulle" s"stem attached to a table$ as in the diagram. What is the minimum value for the coefficient of static friction between mass M and the table if the pulle" s"stem does not move?

a. b. c. d.

mQ-Qm g 3mQM4 g 3MQm4

7. An obTect of mass 0 6g is hung from a spring of spring constant 2* NQm. ;ow far is the e'uilibrium position of this spring s"stem from the point where the

spring e:erts no force on the obTect? a. *.12 m b. *.0 m c. *.2 m d. *.1 m 5. ObTects cannot move with a speed faster than the speed of light. (his implies an upper limit on their, a. -omentum b. 6inetic energ" c. both momentum and 6inetic energ" d. Neither 9. A stone is tied to a thread of constant length and rotated in a horiIontal plane at constant angular velocit". Which of the following 'uantities changes with time? a. Ginetic energ" of the stone b. )otential energ" of the stone c. -omentum of the stone d. (otal energ" of the stone 10. =ou have been as6ed to cr"stalliIe the sugar in sugar s"rup. What is the 'uic6est wa" to do this? a. b. c. d. ;eat the s"rup in a pressure coo6er ;eat the s"rup in an evacuated chamber connected to a vacuum pump ;eat the s"rup in an open pan at low flame All the above methods are e'uall" 'uic6

11. (he !entre of -ass and !entre of Eravit" of an obTect can be different if the obTect is a. a c"linder b. an irregularl" shaped bod" c. a sphere d. None of the above 1 . An ideal Doltmeter 3D4$ an ideal ammeter 3A4$ two 1** Ohm resistances and a 2D batter" are connected as shown in the figure. (he voltmeter and ammeter readings respectivel" will be a. *.2 Dolts$ *. amperes b. 2.* Dolts$ *.* amperes

c. 1 Dolt$ 2 milliamperes d. 2 Dolts$ 2* milliamperes

10. A monochromatic beam of red light is incident at an angle of 1* degrees on the face of a prism. %t passes through the prism and light emerging from the opposite face of the prism is observed. Which of the following is true? a. Because of dispersion$ the emerging beam will be white in color b. (he incident light beam will not bend in the prism c. (he incident light beam will bend in the prism$ and will disperse into different colors d. (he incident light beam will bend in the prism$ but will not disperse into different colors 1/. %f the earth was perfectl" spherical and nothing obstructed "our vision$ as in the diagram below$ how far awa" would the horiIon be? a. 1 and 6m b. between / and 26m c. between 1 and 106m d. between 0 and / 6m

12. (here are precisel" 0 primar" colours of light, red$ green$ and blue. a. (his is because of the ph"sics of light. b. (his is because of the chemistr" of paint. c. (his is because of the biolog" of the human e"e. d. None of the above.