Population, Development and Environment Questions and Answers

Match the demographers in List - I with their contributions in List - II :

List - I	List - II
a. Enke	i. The Limits to Growth Theory
b. Easterlin	ii. Cost-benefit Analysis
c. Liebenstein	iii. Cn-Cd Framework
d. Meadows	iv. Demographic Transition Theory

Codes : a b c d

A.ii iii iv i
B.i ii iii iv
C.ii iii i iv
D.iv ii iii i

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: A

The correct matching is Enke-cost-benefit analysis, Easterlin-Cn-Cd framework, Liebenstein-demographic transition theory (as the list prints it) and Meadows-the limits to growth, that is ii iii iv i.

Enke applied cost-benefit analysis to the economic value of births averted. Easterlin's framework compares the supply of children (Cn) with the demand for children (Cd). Meadows and his co-authors wrote the Limits to Growth.

Those three are firm, and only the first set of codes pairs all three correctly, leaving Liebenstein with the remaining item. The other sets each assign at least one of Enke, Easterlin or Meadows to a wrong item.

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What is the main reason for the loss of bio-diversity in the mountains ?

(i) Indigenous population's indiscriminate felling of trees and animal hunting.
(ii) Poaching and wood-cutting by outside contractors.
(iii) Natural calamities.
(iv) Large scale mining and laying down of road and railway network.
Codes :

A.(i), (ii), (iii), (iv)
B.(i), (ii), (iii)
C.(ii), (iv)
D.(i), (iii)

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: C

The main reasons for the loss of biodiversity in the mountains are poaching and wood-cutting by outside contractors and large-scale mining with roads and railways, statements (ii) and (iv).

Outside contractors cut forests commercially and poach animals on a far larger scale than local people. Mining, roads and railways cut into slopes and break up habitats, and the loss that follows is the greatest.

The local people's felling of trees and hunting is small by comparison, and natural calamities are not the main cause, so statements (i) and (iii) are not the chief reasons. This is why the options containing them are wrong.

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Match List - I with List - II :

List - I (Major Air Pollutant)	List - II (Sources)
a. Carbon monoxide	i. Incomplete fuel combination (e.g. two stroke engine).
b. Sulphur dioxide	ii. Smoke from domestic, industrial and vehicular sources.
c. Oxidants and ozone	iii. Emissions from motor vehicles, photochemical reactions of nitrogen oxides and reactive hydrocarbons.
d. Lead	iv. Emission from motor vehicles.

Codes : a b c d

A.i ii iv iii
B.i ii iii iv
C.i iii ii iv
D.ii iii iv i

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: B

The correct matching is carbon monoxide-incomplete fuel combustion, sulphur dioxide-smoke from domestic, industrial and vehicular sources, oxidants and ozone-photochemical emissions, and lead-emission from motor vehicles, which is i ii iii iv.

Carbon monoxide comes from burning fuel without enough air, as in a two-stroke engine. Sulphur dioxide comes mostly from burning fuels in homes, industry and vehicles. Oxidants and ozone form when nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons from motor vehicles react in sunlight. Lead came from motor vehicles that used leaded petrol.

The other code sets pair oxidants and ozone with simple vehicle emission or smoke, which is wrong.

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At what rate tropical forests are vanishing annually in the world ?

A.15 million hectares
B.13 million hectares
C.17 million hectares
D.19 million hectares

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: C

The official key gives 17 million hectares a year as the rate at which tropical forests are vanishing.

The figure of about 17 million hectares a year is the one usually quoted in the textbook source for this question for the annual loss of tropical forest, from clearing for farming, logging and settlement.

The nearby figures of 13, 15 and 19 million hectares are the other values given as distractors, and different estimates of tropical forest loss do vary between sources. The key records 17 million as the value the question wants.

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Match item in List - I with an item from List - II :

List - I	List - II
a. Capital Goods	i. A pattern of behaviour with a particular position in a group.
b. National Income	ii. A group with common distinct culture.
c. Role	iii. Means of production.
d. Society	iv. Money value of all goods and services in a country in a year.

Codes : a b c d

A.i ii iii iv
B.iii iv i ii
C.i ii iv iii
D.ii iii iv i

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: B

The correct matching is capital goods with the means of production, national income with the money value of all goods and services in a year, role with a pattern of behaviour linked with a position in a group, and society with a group sharing a distinct culture, which is iii iv i ii.

Capital goods such as machines and factories are the means of production. National income is the money value of the goods and services produced in a country in a year. A role is the behaviour expected of the holder of a position, and a society is a group of people with a shared culture.

The other sets mix up these definitions, for example putting national income with the pattern of behaviour, and so they are wrong.

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Assertion (A) : Sustainable development is not an achievable goal in India.

Reason (R) : Skewed resource use, high population growth and growing purchasing power are deterrents towards sustainable development.
Codes :

A.Both (A) and (R) are true, and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
B.Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not correct explanation of (A).
C.(A) is true, but (R) is false.
D.(A) is false, but (R) is true.

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: A

The official key takes both statements as true, with (R) as the explanation of (A).

(A) is an opinion that sustainable development cannot be reached in India under present conditions. (R) gives the reasons: resources are used unevenly, the population grows fast, and growing purchasing power increases consumption. These are well-known obstacles to sustainable development.

On that reading (R) explains (A), as the key records. The second option would accept both but deny the explanation, and the third and fourth call one of them false. Note that (A) is a contestable claim, and the key follows the reasoning given in (R).

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The concept of a 'biovillage' involves

(i) Human centred development.
(ii) Improvement of land and water quality.
(iii) Improvement in the income of farmers.
(iv) Improvement in transport and communication.
Choose the correct combination :

A.(i), (ii), (iii)
B.(ii), (iii), (iv)
C.(i), (iii), (iv)
D.(i), (ii)

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: A

A biovillage involves human-centred development, improvement of land and water quality, and improvement in the income of farmers, which is (i), (ii) and (iii).

The biovillage idea, put forward by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, aims at the sustainable use of biological resources to give people more income and secure livelihoods while looking after land, water and biodiversity, with people at the centre.

Improvement of transport and communication is not part of the concept, which is why the options that include (iv) are wrong, and the option with only (i) and (ii) leaves out the income of farmers.

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Which of the following is not a measure of socio-economic status ?

A.Physical Quality of Life Index
B.Human Development Index
C.Gender Empowerment Measure
D.Body Mass Index

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: D

The Body Mass Index is not a measure of socio-economic status.

BMI is the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in metres. It indicates whether a person is underweight, normal or overweight and is a health measure.

The Physical Quality of Life Index, the Human Development Index and the Gender Empowerment Measure are all composite indicators of a population's social and economic condition, using such things as literacy, life expectancy, income and the share of women in decisions. So BMI is the exception.

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What is the term used for dumping hazardous waste material at places populated by poor and minority ?

A.Environmental degradation
B.Environmental racism
C.Anthropocentrism
D.The greenhouse effect

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: B

Dumping hazardous waste at places populated by the poor and minorities is called environmental racism. The term was coined in the United States in the early 1980s to describe how polluting sites are placed in communities of colour and low income.

Environmental degradation is the general decline of the environment. Anthropocentrism is the human-centred view of nature, and the greenhouse effect is the warming caused by gases in the atmosphere, so none of these names the unequal placement of waste.

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10.

Global warming has raised the temperature of the Earth during the last one hundred years by

A.Less than 1 °C
B.1 °C to 2 °C
C.2 °C to 2.5 °C
D.\(\gt\) 2.5 °C

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: A

Global warming has raised the average temperature of the Earth during the last hundred years by less than 1 °C. Estimates for the twentieth century are around 0.6 to 0.8 °C.

The ranges 1 to 2 °C, 2 to 2.5 °C and above 2.5 °C are the kinds of rise projected for the future, not the rise already recorded.

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