Geography (Part-5) (CDS-Solved Paper)

Total Questions: 30

1. Which of the following statements regarding jhum cultivation in India are correct? [Evening Shift-2014 (II)]

1. It is largely practised in North-Eastern Indian States.
2. It is referred to as ‘slash and burn’ technique.
3. In it, the fertility of soil is exhausted in a few years.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

Correct Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3
Solution:

Jhum or Jhoom cultivation is a local name for slash and burn agriculture practiced by the tribal groups in the North-Eastern States of India like Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland and also in the districts of Bangladesh like Khagrachari and Sylhet.

This system involves clearing a piece of land by setting fire or clear felling and using the area for growing crops of agricultural importance such as upland rice, vegetables or fruits.

2. Arrange the following features formed by rivers in its course starting from upstream : [Evening Shift-2014 (II)]

Correct Answer: (b) 2, 1, 4, 3
Solution:

A river begins at source (or more often several sources) follows a path course and ends at a mouth or mouths. River landforms can be divided into upper, middle and lower course features.

Upper course features include steep-sided V shaped valleys, interlocking spurs, rapids, gorges and waterfalls.

Waterfalls or simply falls are caused because of sudden descents or abrupt breaks in the longitudinal course of the river due to a hist of factors like variation in the relative difference in topographic reliefs, fall in the sea levels, Earth movements etc.

It may be defined as a vertical drop of water of enormous volume from a great height. Middle course river features include wider, shallower valleys, meanders and Oxbow lakes. Meanders refer to the bends of longitudinal courses of the river.

Each bend of a meander has two types of slopes of valley side. One side in concave slope and the other side is convex slope. The neck of the meander gets narrower and narrower. Eventually, the curve grows so tight that the river cuts through the meanders neck.

This separated area of water is called an oxbow lake. Delta formation occurs at the lower course of river. A river delta is a landform created by deposition of sediment that in carried by the river as the flow leaves its mouth and enters slower moving or stagnant water. Hence, option (b) is correct.

3. Which of the following statement(s) relating to Indian agriculture is/are correct? [Evening Shift-2014 (II)]

1. India has the world’s largest cropped area.
2. Cropping pattern is dominated by cereal crop.
3. The average size of an Indian farm holding is too small for several agricultural operations.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

Correct Answer: (c) 2 and 3
Solution:

India was the world’s second largest cropped area (159.65 million hectares) behind USA (174.45 million hectares). More than 50% of the crops are cereal crops. The average size of an Indian farm holding is around 1.1 hectares.

This is too small for several agricultural operations (like extensive commercial agriculture). Hence, statements 2 and 3 are correct.

4. Collision-Coalescence process of precipitation is applicable to [Evening Shift-2014 (II)]

Correct Answer: (b) those clouds which do not extend beyond the freezing level.
Solution:

Collision-Coalescence process of precipitation is applicable to those clouds which do not extend beyond the freezing level.

This hypothesis developed because the Bergeron process of the origin of precipitation and rainfall could not explain the mechanism of rainfall in the tropical areas where cumulus clouds over the oceans give abundant rains when they are only 2000 m thick and the air temperature at their top is 5°C or even more.

5. Arrange the following tiger reserves of India from North to South : [Evening Shift-2014 (II)]

1. Indravati
2. Dudhwa
3. Bandipur
4. Similipal
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

Correct Answer: (c) 2-4-1-3
Solution:

There are 47 tiger reserves in India which are governed by Project Tiger which is administered by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

Additionally, the in-principle approval has been accorded by the National Tiger Conservation Authority for creation of two new tiger reserves, and the sites are : Ratapani (Madhya Pradesh) and Sunabeda (Odisha).

The tiger reserves of India from North to South site are as-Dudhwa Tiger Reserve is situated in Uttar Pradesh, Similipal Tiger Reserve is situated in Odisha, Indravati is situated in Chhattisgarh, Bandipur is situated in Karnataka.

6. The Equatorial region has no other season except summer. What could be the reason? [Evening Shift-2014 (II)]

1. The length of day and night is more or less equal over the year.
2. The Earth’s rotational velocity is maximum at the Equator.
3. The Coriolis force is zero at the Equator.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

Correct Answer: (a) Only 1
Solution:

Equatorial region has no other season except summer. This is so because the mid-day Sun is almost overhead throughout the year and there is little difference between the lengths of the day and night during the year and hence, the equatorial region receives maximum amount of insolation which causes uniformally high temperature throughout the year.

The average monthly temperature is always more than 18°C. Rotational velocity and coriolis force have no direct co-relation with the climate of equatorial region.

7. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists: [Evening Shift-2014 (II)]

Correct Answer: (d)
Solution:

Satpura range rises in the Eastern Gujarat and runs East through the borders of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to the East till Chhattisgarh.To the North of it is Vindhya range. Mahadeo hills form the central part of Satpura range. Maikala range lies in Chhattisgarh and forms the Eastern part of Satpura range.

8. Baiji oil refinery is located at [Evening Shift-2014 (II)]

Correct Answer: (b) Iraq
Solution:

Baiji oil refinery is located in Northern Iraq. It is located some 130 miles North of Baghdad, on the main road to Mosul. During the 1991 Gulf War, about 80% of the oil refinery was destroyed.

It was quickly rebuilt and was back in action only a couple of months after the war’s end Baiji refinery is Iraq’s largest refinery and produces a third of Iraq’s oil output.

9. Read the following statements carefully and choose the correct option. [Evening Shift-2014 (II)]

Statement I A tsunami is a series of waves in a water body caused by displacement of a large volume of water, generally an ocean or a large lake. Statement II A tsunami can be generated when thrust faults associated with convergent or destructive plate boundaries move abruptly.

Correct Answer: (a) Both the statements are individually true and Statement II is the correct explanation of Statement I.
Solution:

Tsunami, also known as a ‘seismic wave’, is a series of wave in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally an ocean or a large lake.

Tsunami can be generated when thrust faults associated with convergent or destructive plate boundaries move abruptly, resulted in water displacement, owing to the vertical component of movement involved.

10. Read the following statements carefully and choose the correct option. [Evening Shift-2014 (II)]

Statement I The Atacama is the driest among the deserts of the World. Statement II The aridity of the Atacama is explained by its location between two mountain chains of sufficient height to prevent  moisture advection from either the Pacific or the Atlantic Ocean.

Correct Answer: (a) Both the statements are individually true and Statement II is the correct explanation of Statement I.
Solution:

Atacama desert is the driest place in the world. Four inches of rain-every 1000 years. It is in South America stretches over some 600 miles between Peru’s Southern border and Chile’s Central Pacific coast. Geographically, the aridity of the Atacama is explained by it being situated between two mountain chains (the Andes and the Chilean coastal range) of sufficient height to prevent moisture advection from either the Pacific or the Atlantic oceans.