50. Which digestive secretion helps make acidic food from the stomach alkaline?
[SSC CGL Tier-I (17 Jul 2023, Shift 4)]
- (a) Pepsin
- (b) Gastric juice
- (c) Hydrochloric acid
- (d) Bile juice
Answer: (d) Bile juice
Explanation: Bile entering the duodenum helps create conditions appropriate for intestinal digestion, and pancreatic bicarbonate provides substantial neutralisation of acid. Bile salts additionally emulsify fats. Gastric hydrochloric acid instead creates the acidic conditions needed by stomach pepsin.
49. Which statement about the liver is NOT correct?
[SSC CGL Tier-I (21 Jul 2023, Shift 3)]
- (a) It lies predominantly in the upper left abdomen
- (b) It secretes bile stored in the gallbladder
- (c) It is the largest gland
- (d) It is reddish-brown
Answer: (a) It lies predominantly in the upper left abdomen
Explanation: The liver is located mainly in the right upper abdomen beneath the diaphragm, not predominantly on the left. It produces bile for delivery to the small intestine, while the gallbladder stores and concentrates bile between meals.
48. Consider: A. Saliva contains maltase that splits maltose. B. Saliva contains amylase that acts on starch. Which is correct?
[SSC CHSL (2022) Tier-II (26 Jun 2023, Shift 1)]
- (a) Neither statement
- (b) Only A
- (c) Both A and B
- (d) Only B
Answer: (d) Only B
Explanation: Salivary amylase initiates starch digestion in the oral cavity. Maltase, which splits maltose into glucose, acts principally at the small-intestinal brush border rather than being a typical salivary digestive enzyme. Accordingly, statement B alone is correct.
47. The liver secretes which substance that is subsequently stored in the gallbladder?
[SSC MTS (2022) (13 Jun 2023, Shift 3)]
- (a) Mucus
- (b) Bile juice
- (c) Hydrochloric acid
- (d) Oestrogen
Answer: (b) Bile juice
Explanation: Hepatocytes produce bile, which passes through bile ducts and can be stored in the gallbladder. On entering the duodenum, bile salts help disperse fats into smaller droplets. Hydrochloric acid instead comes from gastric parietal cells.
46. Triglycerides are broken down to which products during digestion?
[WBCS Mains, Science (2023)]
- (a) Fatty acids only
- (b) Amino acids
- (c) Glycerol only
- (d) Fatty acids and glycerol
Answer: (d) Fatty acids and glycerol
Explanation: Lipases hydrolyse ester bonds in triglycerides. Dietary fat digestion usually first produces free fatty acids and monoglycerides, which can be further split into glycerol and fatty acids. These products can be absorbed after incorporation into mixed micelles.
45. Which of these are NOT among the five basic taste qualities: sweet, bitter, salty, spicy, umami, sour, pungent?
[69th BPSC Preliminary Examination (2023)]
- (a) Bitter, umami, pungent
- (b) Sweet, salty, spicy
- (c) Spicy and pungent
- (d) Salty and sour
Answer: (c) Spicy and pungent
Explanation: The commonly recognised basic tastes are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Spiciness and pungency largely involve chemesthetic activation of sensory nerve endings rather than taste receptors. They can accompany taste but are not separate basic taste qualities.
44. Which enzyme in pancreatic juice breaks down fats?
[SSC CGL Tier-I (08 Dec 2022, Shift 4)]
- (a) Protease
- (b) Pepsin
- (c) Lipase
- (d) Amylase
Answer: (c) Lipase
Explanation: Pancreatic lipase is released into the duodenum, where it hydrolyses dietary triglycerides after fat emulsification. Proteases act on proteins, whereas amylase breaks down starch. Pepsin is the protein-digesting enzyme primarily associated with the acidic stomach.
43. How does hydrochloric acid facilitate the action of pepsin?
[SSC CGL Tier-I (02 Dec 2022, Shift 2)]
- (a) It creates an acidic medium
- (b) It destroys pepsin
- (c) It creates an alkaline medium
- (d) It creates a basic medium
Answer: (a) It creates an acidic medium
Explanation: Gastric hydrochloric acid provides the low pH suitable for pepsin and also helps activate pepsinogen. Pepsin hydrolyses proteins into shorter polypeptides. An alkaline environment would reduce the activity of this gastric protease rather than improve it.
42. Which statement about the sequence of digestion is false?
[RRB Group D (11 Oct 2022, Shift 2)]
- (a) Assimilation occurs before ingestion but after absorption
- (b) Absorption and assimilation precede egestion
- (c) Digestion follows ingestion and precedes egestion
- (d) Absorption follows digestion and precedes assimilation
Answer: (a) Assimilation occurs before ingestion but after absorption
Explanation: The usual broad sequence is ingestion, digestion, absorption, assimilation, and egestion. Assimilation is the utilisation of absorbed nutrients by cells, so it cannot precede ingestion. Absorption and assimilation occur after food has entered and been processed.
41. Which secretion helps change the acidic intestinal food mass toward an alkaline state?
[RRB Group D (29 Sep 2022, Shift 2)]
- (a) Intestinal juice
- (b) Bile juice
- (c) Pancreatic juice
- (d) Gastric juice
Answer: (b) Bile juice
Explanation: The official keyed answer is bile juice. It contributes to conditions suitable for intestinal digestion, although bicarbonate-rich pancreatic juice is also a major neutraliser of acidic chyme. The change of pH permits pancreatic enzymes to operate efficiently.
