UPSC Prelims 2017 · CSAT (Paper II): Which among the following is the most crucial message conveyed by the above passage?
Read the passage
During the summer in the Arctic Ocean, sea ice has been melting earlier and faster, and the winter freeze has been coming later. In the last three decades, the extent of summer ice has declined by about 30 per cent. The lengthening period of summer melt threatens to undermine the whole Arctic food web, atop which stand polar bears.
Which among the following is the most crucial message conveyed by the above passage?
Answer (d) & explanation
The crucial message is that climate change threatens the survival of polar bears (d). Step 1: the passage says the longer melt season "threatens to undermine the whole Arctic food web, atop which stand polar bears". So the bears' survival is at risk. Step 2: option (a) says Arctic summer is getting shorter. The passage says it is getting longer. Step 3: option (c) reverses cause and effect: the food web supports the bears, not the other way round. Option (b), moving bears to the South Pole, is never suggested.
Tip: watch for options that flip a fact (longer to shorter) or reverse a cause. These small changes are common traps.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
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Related questions from other years
Question : X receives three coins of different denominations : 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20. If the total amount received by X is m, does X receive a coin of denomination 5?
Statement I : m is not a prime number.
Statement II : The sum of the digits of m is greater than 5.
Answer (a) & explanation
Statement II alone is enough; Statement I alone is not (a). Step 1: three different coins from 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 give ten totals. With a 5: 8, 16, 17, 26, 27, 35. Without a 5: 13, 23, 31, 32. Step 2: Statement I (m not prime): 8, 16, 26, 27, 35 have a 5, but 32 (2 + 10 + 20) does not. Mixed answers, so I fails. Step 3: Statement II (digit sum above 5): 8, 16, 17, 26, 27, 35 qualify, and every one has a 5. (13, 23, 31, 32 have digit sums 4, 5, 4, 5.) So II answers "yes". Options (b), (c) and (d) fail.
Tip: when cases are few, list them all. Then check each statement against the full list.
don't assume both statements are needed. Listing all ten cases takes thirty seconds and settles it.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Read the passage
How is deflation done? Most countries use a method called ‘double deflation’, where input and output prices are deflated separately. Consider a manufacturer importing oil for use in production. If oil prices fall, output prices do not and quantities remain the same, real value added should not change. But if the same deflator is used for inputs and outputs, as in India, it would look as if the manufacturer had become more productive.
Which of the following assumptions is/are valid?
- 1. Deflation strategies can be used to make manufacturers appear to be doing better than they actually are.
- 2. When input and output prices are both deflated against a single input price, it is referred to as ‘double deflation’.
Select the answer using the code given below.
Answer (a) & explanation
Only assumption 1 is valid (a). Step 1: the passage says that using one deflator for inputs and outputs, as in India, makes it "look as if the manufacturer had become more productive". So deflation methods can make firms appear better than they are (1). Step 2: assumption 2 says double deflation means deflating both against a single price. But the passage defines double deflation as deflating inputs and outputs separately. So 2 reverses the definition. Step 3: options (b), (c) and (d) fail.
Tip: check definitions word for word against the passage. Deflating means removing the effect of price changes to find real growth, as in real GDP.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
P, Q, R, S and T are ranked 1 to 5 (not necessarily in that order). The rank of P is 4, the rank of Q is not 5, the rank of R is 1, the rank of S is not 2, the rank of T is not 3. Then which of the following is/are correct?
- I. If the rank of S is 3, then that of T is 2.
- II. If the rank of Q is 3, then that of T is 5.
Select the answer using the code given below.
Answer (d) & explanation
Neither statement is correct (d). Step 1: P = 4 and R = 1 are fixed. Ranks 2, 3 and 5 remain for Q, S and T, with rules: Q is not 5, S is not 2, T is not 3. Step 2: statement I: if S = 3, then Q and T share 2 and 5. Q cannot be 5, so Q = 2 and T = 5, not 2. I is wrong. Step 3: statement II: if Q = 3, then S and T share 2 and 5. S cannot be 2, so S = 5 and T = 2, not 5. II is wrong. Options (a), (b) and (c) fail.
Tip: fix the known ranks first, then apply each "if" condition and let the "not" rules decide the rest. Write the small table on paper.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
How many times does 5 appear in all two-digit positive integers?
Answer (b) & explanation
The digit 5 appears 19 times (b). Step 1: 5 in the tens place: 50, 51, …, 59 = 10 times. Step 2: 5 in the units place: 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85, 95 = 9 times (05 is not a two-digit number). Step 3: total = 10 + 9 = 19. The number 55 has two 5s, and both are counted. Option (a), 18, counts 55 once. Options (c) and (d) wrongly add 05 or 5.
Tip: count place by place. The question asks how many times the digit appears, not how many numbers contain it (that would be 18).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.