Understanding the Weather — Practice

Q1. 'Weather' is best defined as

• A. The long-term average of atmospheric conditions over thirty years.
• B. The state of the Earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place.
• C. The movement of air from high to low pressure regions.
• D. The amount of water vapour present in the air.

Q2. Almost all weather phenomena take place in the troposphere, which extends from the ground to a height of

• A. 1 to 3 kilometres
• B. 6 to 18 kilometres
• C. 30 to 50 kilometres
• D. 100 to 120 kilometres

Q3. 'precipitation' is defined as

• A. The weight of the air above us, felt on the Earth's surface.
• B. Any form of water — rain, snow, sleet or hail — that falls from the sky.
• C. The amount of water vapour present in the air.
• D. The movement of air, including its speed and direction.

Q4. The side margin describes 'hail' as

• A. Frozen or partly frozen rain.
• B. Water in gaseous form instead of liquid form.
• C. Small, hard balls of ice that fall from the sky like rain.
• D. A long period of below-normal rainfall.

Q5. The instrument used to measure temperature is the

• A. Barometer
• B. Hygrometer
• C. Thermometer
• D. Anemometer

Q6. A cool temperature of 15 °C is the same as

• A. 15 °F
• B. 30 °F
• C. 59 °F
• D. 100 °F

Q7. Aarti's class is setting up an instrument to measure how much rainfall their schoolyard receives each day. The instrument they need is a

• A. Hygrometer
• B. Rain gauge
• C. Anemometer
• D. Barometer

Q8. The normal atmospheric pressure at the sea coast is around

• A. 650 millibars
• B. 1000 millibars
• C. 1013 millibars
• D. 5600 millibars

Q9. The anemometer is described as having three or four metal cups that rotate on a vertical shaft. The anemometer measures wind speed in

• A. Millibars (mb)
• B. Millimetres (mm)
• C. Kilometres per hour (km/h)
• D. Percentage (%)

Q10. On, air that is fully saturated with water vapour is said to have a relative humidity of

• A. 0 per cent
• B. 20 per cent
• C. 60 per cent
• D. 100 per cent

Q11. Priya reads in her SST textbook that the India Meteorological Department was set up in the year

• A. 1857
• B. 1875
• C. 1947
• D. 1975

Q12. The motto of the India Meteorological Department, taken from the Manusmriti, is 'Aadityaat jaayate vrishtih', which means

• A. From the rain comes food.
• B. From the sun arises rain.
• C. From the earth arises life.
• D. From the wind arises the cloud.

Q13. When ants shift their eggs to higher ground, it is a natural sign of

• A. A coming drought
• B. A coming cyclone in the sea
• C. An expected change in weather, especially heavy rain
• D. The start of winter

Q14. On a given day, the maximum temperature recorded in a town was 32 °C and the minimum was 18 °C. According to, the 'range of temperature' for that day is

• A. 50 °C
• B. 25 °C
• C. 14 °C
• D. 9 °C

Q15. The 'Don't Miss Out' box says that in 2023, the National Disaster Management Authority set up an Automated Weather Station at a glacial lake in

• A. Ladakh, at over 5600 metres above sea level
• B. Sikkim, at over 4800 metres above sea level
• C. Uttarakhand, at over 3000 metres above sea level
• D. Himachal Pradesh, at over 2000 metres above sea level