UGC NET — Environmental Sciences (subject code 89)
India · National Testing Agency for the University Grants Commission · phd · unverified source
1901practice questions written to this syllabus
52subjects
Format
Computer-based, 3 hours, two papers in one sitting: Paper 1 (teaching and research aptitude, 50 MCQs) and Paper 2 (subject, 100 MCQs), 2 marks each, no negative marking. Pattern as recorded in the Agribusiness track from the official bulletin.
Sections
Paper 1: Teaching and research aptitude
Unit 1: Fundamentals of environmental sciences
Unit 2: Environmental chemistry
Unit 3: Environmental biology
Unit 4: Environmental geosciences
Unit 5: Energy and environment
Unit 6: Environmental pollution and control
Unit 7: Solid and hazardous waste management
Unit 8: Environmental assessment, management and legislation
Unit 9: Statistical approaches and modelling in environmental sciences
Unit 10: Contemporary environmental issues
Over the years
The official syllabus page was read and confirms Environmental Sciences as subject code 89 with an English-only syllabus PDF. The ten unit titles are from general knowledge of the current syllabus and were not re-read from the PDF. Qualifies for Assistant Professor eligibility and, at the top band, the JRF for PhD.
Original questions written to this exam's published syllabus and pattern. Not past papers.
1. Why is environmental science described as interdisciplinary rather than merely multidisciplinary?
It rejects all other disciplines and develops entirely new methods of its own
It is taught only by one department in each university
It integrates disciplines to solve problems, not just lists them
It studies only living organisms and ignores physical processes
Answer and working
C. It integrates disciplines to solve problems, not just lists them
Interdisciplinarity integrates methods and concepts across fields; multidisciplinarity draws on several fields in parallel. Environmental science uses biology, chemistry, physics, economics and more.
Principles of Environmental Science · Scope of environmental science and its links with agriculture
2. The study of a single species in relation to its environment is called
biogeography
palaeoecology
synecology
autecology
Answer and working
D. autecology
Autecology focuses on individual species or populations; synecology on communities and ecosystems.
Ecology & Ecosystem Science · Levels of ecological organisation; autecology and synecology
3. Why is water an excellent solvent for salts but a poor solvent for oils and many pesticides?
It has a very low heat capacity, which favours ionic dissolution
Polar molecules and hydrogen bonds stabilise ions, not oils
It is non-polar, so it dissolves ions by covalent bonding
Its molecules are linear, so they surround only large molecules
Answer and working
B. Polar molecules and hydrogen bonds stabilise ions, not oils
Water's bent, polar structure hydrates ions; non-polar organics cannot form favourable interactions and partition into organic phases.
Environmental Chemistry · Chemical bonding, concentration units, activity and ionic strength
4. Carl Woese's ribosomal RNA studies divided life into which three domains?
Plants, Animals and Fungi
Prokaryotes, Eukaryotes and Viruses
Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya
Monera, Protista and Fungi
Answer and working
C. Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya
Woese used 16S/18S rRNA to define Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya; the others are older kingdom schemes or include viruses.
Environmental Microbiology · Prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms; classification and diversity
5. What do banded iron formations record?
Human iron smelting in the Bronze Age across Europe and Asia
Oxygen from early photosynthesis reacting with dissolved iron in oceans
Ice ages caused by Milankovitch cycles in the last million years
Volcanic eruptions on the Moon during the giant impact that formed the Moon itself
Answer and working
B. Oxygen from early photosynthesis reacting with dissolved iron in oceans
They are Precambrian chemical sediments, mostly older than 1.8 billion years.
Earth Systems & Environmental Geoscience · Origin and evolution of the earth and its spheres
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