UPSC Exam-Civil Services Exam 2013 CSAT Paper -Part 1

UPSC Exam-Civil Services Exam 2013 CSAT Paper -Part 1

GENERAL STUDIES - PAPER – 2 ANSWER KEY

Test Series - B

Directions for the following 2 (two) items:

Read the following passage and answer the two items that follow. Your answer to these items should be based on the passage only.

Passage:

        Ecological research over the last quarter of the century has established the deleterious effects of habitat fragmentation due to mining highways and such other intrusions on forests. When a large block of forests gets fragmented into smaller bits, the edges of all these bits come into contact with human activities resulting in the degradation of the entire forests. Continuity of forested landscapes and corridors gets disrupted affecting several extinction-prone species of wildlife. Habitat fragmentation is therefore considered as the most serious threat to biodiversity conservation. Ad hoc grants of forest lands to mining companies coupled with rampant illegal mining is aggravating this threat.

1.      What is the central focus of this passage?

a)     Illegal mining in forests

b)     Extinction of wildlife

c)      Conservation of nature

d)     Disruption of habitat

        

Answer: b

2.      What is the purpose of maintaining the continuity of forested landscapes and corridors?

1.      Preservation of biodiversity

2.      Management of mineral resources

3.      Grant of forest lands for human activities

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

a)     1 only

b)     1 and 2

c)      2 and 3

d)     1, 2 and 3

Answer: a

3.      In a rare coin collection, there is one gold coin for every there non-gold coins. 10 more gold coins are added to the collection and the ratio of gold coins to non-gold coins would be 1:2. Based on the information, the total number of coins in the collection now becomes

a)     90

b)     80

c)      60

d)     50

Answer: a

4.      A gardener has 1000 plants. He wants to plant them in such a way that the number of rows and the number of columns remains the same. What is the minimum number of plants that he needs more for this purpose?      

a)     14

b)     24

c)      32

d)     34

Answer: b

5.      A sum of Rs. 700 has to be used to give seven cash prizes to the students of a school for their overall academic performance. If each prize is Rs. 20 less than its preceding prize, what is the least value of the prize?

a)     Rs. 30

b)     Rs. 40

c)      Rs. 60

d)     Rs. 80

Answer: b

6.   Out of 120 applications for a post, 70 are male and 80 have a driver’s license. What is the ratio between the minimum to maximum number of males having driver’s license?

      (a) 1 to 2

(b) 2 to 3

(c)  3 to 7

(d) 5 to 7

Answer: c

7.    In a garrison, there was food for 1000 soldiers for one month. After 10 days, 1000 more soldiers joined the garrison.  How long would the soldiers be able to carry on with the remaining food?

a)     25 days

b)     20 days

c)      15 days

d)     10 days

Answer: d

8.      The tank – full petrol in Arun’s motor-cycle lasts for 10 days. If he starts using 25% more every day, how many days will the tank-full petrol last?

a)  5

b)  6

c)   7

d)  8

Answer: d

9.   A person can walk a certain distance and drive back in six hours. He can also walk both ways in 10 hours.  How much time will he take to drive both ways?

a)  Two hours

b)  Two and a half hours

c)   Five and a half hours

d)  Four hours

Answer: a

Directions for the following 8 (eight) items:

Read the following four passages and answer the items that follow each passage. Your answer to these items should be based on the passage only.

Passage-1:

        The subject of democracy has become severely muddled because of the way the rhetoric surrounding it has been used in recent years. There is, increasingly, an oddly confused dichotomy between those who want to ‘impose’ democracy on countries in the non-Western world (in these countries’ ‘own interest’, for course) and those who are opposed to such ‘imposition’ (because of the respect for the countries’ ‘own ways’). But the entire language of ‘imposition’, used by both sides, is extraordinary inappropriate since it makes the implicit assumption that democracy belongs exclusively to the West, taking it to be a quintessentially ‘Western’ idea which has originated and flourished only in the West.

        But the thesis and the pessimism it generates about the possibility of democratic practice in the world would be extremely hard to justify. There were several experiments in local democracy in ancient India. Indeed, in understanding the roots of democracy in the world, we have to take an interest in the history of people participation and public reasoning in different parts of the world. We have to look beyond thinking of democracy only in terms of European and American evolution. We would fail to understand the pervasive demands for participatory living, on which Aristotle spoke with far-reaching insight, if we take democracy to be a kind of a specialized cultural product of the West.

        It cannot, of course, be doubted that the institutional structure of the contemporary practice of democracy is largely the product of European and American experience over the last few centuries. This is extremely important to recognize since these developments in institutional formats were immensely innovative and ultimately effective. There can be little doubt that there is a major ‘Western’ achievement here.

10.    Which of the following is closest to the view of democracy as mentioned in the above passage?

         a) The subject of democracy is a muddle due to a desire to portray it as a Western concept, ‘alien’ to non-Western countries.

         b) The language of imposition of democracy is inappropriate. There is, however, a need to consider this concept in the backdrop of culture of ‘own ways’ of non-Western society.

         c) While democracy is not essentially a Western idea belonging exclusively to the West, the institutional structure of current democratic practices has been their contribution.

         d) None of the Statements (a), (b) and (c) given above is correct

        

Answer: c

11.    With reference to the passage, the following assumptions have been made:

         1. Many of the non-Western countries are unable to have democracy because they take democracy to be a specialized cultural product of the West.

         2. Western countries are always trying to impose democracy on non-Western countries.

         Which of the above is/are valid assumption/assumptions?

a)     1 only

b)     2 only

c)      Both 1 and 2

d)     Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: d

Passage – 2

         Corporate governance is based on principles such as conducting the business with all integrity and fairness, being transparent with regard to all transactions, making all the necessary disclosures and decisions, complying with all the laws of the land, accountability and responsibility towards the stakeholders and commitment to conducting business in an ethical manner. Another point which is highlighted on corporate governance is the need for those in control to be able to distinguish between what are personal and corporate funds while managing a company.

         Fundamentally, there is a level of confidence that is associated with a company that is known to have good corporate governance. The presence of an active group of independent directors on the board contributes a great deal towards ensuring confidence in the market. Corporate governance is known to be one of the criteria that foreign institutional investors are increasingly depending on when deciding on which companies to invest in. It is also known to have a positive influence on the share price of the company. Having a clean image on the corporate governance front could also make it easier for companies to source capital at more reasonable costs. Unfortunately, corporate governance often becomes the centre of discussion only after the exposure of a large scam.

12.    According to the passage, which of the following should be the practice/practices in good corporate governance?

         1. Companies should always comply with labour and tax laws of the land.

         2. Every company in the country should have a government representative as one of the independent directors on the board to ensure transparency.

         3. The manager of a company should never invest his personal funds in the company.

         Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

a)     1 only

b)     2 and 3 only

c)      1 and 3 only

d)     1, 2 and 3

Answer: a

13.    According to the passage, which of the following is/are the major benefit/benefits of good corporate governance?

   1. Good corporate governance leads to increase in share price of the company.

   2. A company with good corporate governance always increases its business turnover rapidly.

   3.   Good corporate governance is the main criterion for foreign institutional investors when they decide to buy a company.

      Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

a)     1 only

b)     2 and 3 only

c)      1 and 3 only

d)     1, 2 and 3

        

        

Answer: a

Passage – 3

         Malnutrition most commonly occurs between the ages of six months and two years. This happens despite the child’s food requirements being less than that of an older child. Malnutrition is often attributed to poverty, but it has been found that even in households where adults eat adequate quantities of food, more than 50 per cent of children-under-five do not consume enough food. The child’s dependence on someone else to feed him/her is primarily responsible for the malnutrition. Very often the mother is working and the responsibility of feeding the young child is left to an older sibling. It is therefore crucial to increase awareness regarding the child’s food needs and how to satisfy them

14.    According to the passage, malnutrition in children can be reduced

         a)   if the children have regular intake of food

         b)   after they cross the age of five.

         c)   if the food needs of younger children are known

         d)   if the responsibility of  feeding younger children is given to adults.

        

Answer: c

15.    According to the author, poverty is not the main cause of malnutrition, but the fact that

         1.   taking care of younger ones is not a priority for working mothers.

         2.   awareness of nutritional needs is not propagated by the Public Health authorities.

         Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

a)     1 only

b)     2 only

c)      Both 1 and 2

d)     Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: a

Passage – 4

         A number of empirical studies find that farmers are risk-averse, though only moderately in many cases. There is also evidence to show        that farmers’ risk aversion results in cropping patterns and input use designed to reduce risk rather than to maximize income. Farmers adopt a number of strategies to manage and cope with agricultural risks. These include practices like crop and field diversification, non-farm employment storage of stock and strategic migration of   family members. There are also institutions ranging from share tenancy to kinship, extended family and informal credit agencies. One major obstacle to risk sharing by farmers is that the same type of risks can affect a large number of farmers in the region. Empirical studies show that the traditional methods are not adequate. Hence there is a need for policy interventions, especially measures that cut across geographical regions.

Policies   may aim to             tackling agricultural risks directly or indirectly. Examples of risk-specific policies are crop insurance, price stabilization and the development of varieties resistant to pests and diseases. Policies which affect risk indirectly are irrigation, subsidized credit and access to information. No single risk- specific policy is sufficient to reduce risk and is without side-effects, whereas policies not specific to risk influence the general situation and affect risks only indirectly. Crop insurance, as a policy measure to tackle agricultural risk directly, deserves careful consideration in the Indian context and in many other developing     countries–because the majority of farmers depend on rain-fed agriculture and in many areas yield variability is the predominant cause of their income instability.

16.    The need for policy intervention to mitigate risks in agriculture is because

         a)   Farmers are extremely risk-averse.

         b)   Farmers do not know how to mitigate risks.

         c) The methods adopted by farmers and existing risk sharing institutions are not adequate.

         d) Majority of farms depend on rain-fed agriculture.

        

Answer: c

17.    Which of the following observations emerges from the above passage?

         a) One can identify a single policy that can reduce risk without any side-effect.

         b) No single risk-specific policy is sufficient to reduce agricultural risk.

         c) Policies which affect risk indirectly can eliminate it.

         d) Government’s policy intervention can mitigate agricultural risk completely.

        

Answer: b

18.    Consider the following statements:

         i) A primary group is relatively smaller in size.

         ii) Intimacy is an essential characteristic of a primary group.

         iii) A family may be an example of a primary group.

         In the light of the above statements, which one of the following is true?

a)     All families are primary groups.

b)     All primary groups are families

c)      A group of smaller size is always a primary group

d)     Members of a primary group know each other intimately.

        

Answer: d

19.    Four friends A, B, C and D distribute some money among themselves in such a manner that A gets one less than B, C gets 5 more than D, D gets 3 more than B. Who gets the smallest amount?

         a) A

         b) B

         c) C

         d) D

        

Answer: a