SBI Clerk Prelims Full Mock Test 11

1. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given after it. Every winter, thousands of bar-headed geese fly over the Himalayas to reach the lakes and wetlands of northern India. For a long time, scientists wondered how a bird weighing barely three kilograms could cross mountains higher than eight thousand metres, where the air holds only a third of the oxygen found at sea level. Tracking studies have now shown that the geese rarely fly at such heights for long. Instead, they follow the valleys, rising and falling with the shape of the land, and climb steeply only when a pass must be crossed. The birds are also helped by their bodies. Their lungs are unusually large, their blood carries oxygen more efficiently than that of most birds, and their wing muscles contain a dense network of tiny blood vessels. As a result, they can keep flapping in thin air that would leave a human climber gasping. The wetlands where the geese spend the winter are under pressure. Some have been drained for farming, while others receive sewage and industrial waste from nearby towns. Conservationists warn that protecting the birds' summer breeding grounds in Central Asia will mean little if their winter homes in India disappear. They have urged state governments to declare more wetlands as protected sites and to involve local fishing communities, who often know the lakes better than any official, in looking after them.

   Q1.What puzzled scientists about the bar-headed geese for a long time?

   • A.Why the geese flew only at night
   • B.How such light birds could cross extremely high mountains with little oxygen
   • C.Why the geese preferred lakes to rivers
   • D.How the geese found food in the mountains
   • E.Where the geese spent the summer months

2. Q2.According to tracking studies, how do the geese usually cross the Himalayas?

   • A.They fly continuously at the highest possible altitude.
   • B.They wait for strong winds to carry them over the peaks.
   • C.They fly around the mountains instead of over them.
   • D.They follow the valleys and climb steeply only to cross passes.
   • E.They walk across the lower passes.

3. Q3.Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a feature that helps the geese fly in thin air?

   • A.Hollow bones that reduce body weight
   • B.Blood that carries oxygen efficiently
   • C.Unusually large lungs
   • D.Strong wing muscles that keep flapping
   • E.A dense network of blood vessels in wing muscles

Start the test to answer these. Correct answers and explanations are shown after you submit.