UPSC Prelims PYQs with explanations
Real questions from official papers, mapped to syllabus topics. Attempt each one; the answer and the reason appear instantly.
The following table gives population and total income of a city for four years :
| Year | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population in lakhs | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| Income in crores (₹) | 1010 | 1111 | 1225 | 1345 |
Which one of the following statements is correct in respect of the above data ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Per capita income was always above ₹5,000 (c). Step 1: income is in crores and population in lakhs. ₹1 crore ÷ 1 lakh people = ₹100 per person. So per capita income = (income ÷ population) × 100. Step 2: 1992: 1,010 ÷ 20 × 100 = ₹5,050. 1993: about ₹5,290. 1994: about ₹5,570. 1995: about ₹5,850. All are above ₹5,000, so (c) is right. Step 3: option (d) is wrong: the highest is 1995. Option (a) is wrong: population rising from 22 to 23 is under 5%. Option (b) is wrong: income rising from 1,225 to 1,345 is under 10%.
Tip: sort out units (crore, lakh) first. Then test the quickest option to check.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Read the passage
Passage - 2
Cynthia was a shy girl. She believed that she was plain and untalented. One day her teacher ordered the entire class to show up for audition for the school play. Cynthia nearly died of fright when she was told that she would have to stand on stage in front of the entire class and deliver dialogues. The mere thought of it made her feel sick. But a remarkable transformation occurred during the audition. A thin, shy girl, her knees quaking, her stomach churning in terror, began to stun everyone with her excellent performance. Her bored classmates suddenly stopped their noisy chat to stare at her slender figure on the stage. At the end of her audition, the entire room erupted in thunderous applause.
Cynthia's classmates were chatting because
No official answer (question dropped) & notes
The answer is (b), they were bored. UPSC did not evaluate the six English-only items of 2014 (Q70 to Q75), so this answer is for practice. Step 1: find the phrase. The passage calls them "her bored classmates", who "suddenly stopped their noisy chat" when Cynthia performed. So they were chatting because they were bored of the auditions. Step 2: test the others. Option (a) is wrong: nothing says it was their turn next. Option (c) is the opposite: Cynthia acted so well that they stopped chatting. Option (d) is wrong: the teacher's control is not mentioned.
Tip: an adjective placed right before a noun, like "bored classmates", often answers a "why" question directly. Watch for options that reverse what happened.
UPSC did not evaluate the six English-only items of 2014 (Q70 to Q75), so there is no official key. The answer given in the explanation is for practice.
UPSC dropped this question from evaluation; there is no official answer.
Every year, a monthlong ecologically important campaign/festival is held during which certain communities/tribes plant saplings of fruit-bearing trees. Which of the following are such communities/tribes?
Answer (b) & explanation
The Gond and Korku tribes of Madhya Pradesh, mainly in Betul and Harda districts, hold a month-long tree-planting festival in the monsoon, planting saplings of fruit trees such as mango and jamun (b). The other pairs are real tribes but not linked to this festival: Bhutia and Lepcha of Sikkim, Irula and Toda of the Nilgiris, and Sahariya and Agariya of central India.
It is a living example of community conservation, where faith and custom protect nature. Notice how this echoes sacred groves, the Bishnois of Rajasthan and the Chipko movement: forests often survive best where people see themselves as their keepers.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
A Constitutional Government is one which
- 1. places effective restrictions on individual liberty in the interest of State Authority
- 2. places effective restrictions on the Authority of the State in the interest of individual liberty
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (b) & explanation
A constitutional government is one where the constitution limits the power of the State so that individuals stay free (2 correct). Statement 1 puts it backwards: placing restrictions on liberty in the interest of State authority describes an authoritarian state, not a constitutional one. So the answer is (b).
This idea is called constitutionalism: rule of law, separation of powers, fundamental rights and judicial review all work to keep power in check. UPSC has returned to it in 2014, 2020, 2021 and 2023. Notice how Fundamental Rights in Part III are written mainly as limits on the State.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Ibadat Khana at Fatehpur Sikri was
Answer (c) & explanation
Akbar built the Ibadat Khana (house of worship) at Fatehpur Sikri in 1575 as a hall for discussions with scholars of various religions (c). At first only Sunni scholars debated there. From 1578 Shias, Hindus, Jains, Zoroastrians and Jesuit priests joined. It was not a royal mosque (a), a private prayer room (b) or a meeting room for nobles (d).
The debates led to the mahzar of 1579 and Akbar's ideal of sulh-i-kul (peace with all). Notice how this spirit of dialogue echoes Ashoka's dhamma and later Indian secular thought.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
A gardener increased the area of his rectangular garden by increasing its length by 40% and decreasing its width by 20%. The area of the new garden
Answer (b) & explanation
The area increases by 12% (b). Step 1: take the old garden as length 10 and width 10, so area = 100. Step 2: the length goes up 40%, to 14. The width goes down 20%, to 8. Step 3: new area = 14 × 8 = 112. That is 12 more than 100, a 12% increase. Option (a) is the trap: simply doing 40 − 20 = 20% ignores how the two changes multiply. Options (c) and (d) are also wrong.
Tip: quick formula for two percentage changes: a + b + (a × b ÷ 100). Here 40 + (−20) + (40 × −20 ÷ 100) = 40 − 20 − 8 = 12%.
40 – 20 = 20% adds percentages that should be multiplied.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Read the passage
Many nations now place their faith in capitalism and governments choose it as the strategy to create wealth for their people. The spectacular economic growth seen in Brazil, China and India after the liberalisation of their economies is proof of its enormous potential and success. However, the global banking crisis and the economic recession have left many bewildered. The debates tend to focus on free market operations and forces, their efficiency and their ability for self correction. Issues of justice, integrity and honesty are rarely elaborated to highlight the failure of the global banking system. The apologists of the system continue to justify the success of capitalism and argue that the recent crisis was a blip. Their arguments betray an ideological bias with the assumptions that an unregulated market is fair and competent, and that the exercise of private greed will be in the larger public interest.
Few recognize the bidirectional relationship between capitalism and greed; that each reinforces the other. Surely, a more honest conceptualisation of the conflicts of interest among the rich and powerful players who have benefited from the system, their biases and ideology is needed; the focus on the wealth creation should also highlight the resultant gross inequity.
The apologists of the “Free Market System”, according to the passage, believe in
Answer (c) & explanation
They believe in the market's ability to self-correct (c). Step 1: find the apologists. They "continue to justify the success of capitalism and argue that the recent crisis was a blip". The debates focus on the market's "ability for self correction". Calling the crisis a blip means they trust the market to fix itself. Step 2: test the others. Option (a) is close, but the passage stresses self-correction, not just the absence of control. Option (b) is wrong: protection by government is not discussed. Option (d) is wrong: free goods means goods that cost nothing, which is unrelated.
Tip: a "blip" is a short, temporary problem. Words like this reveal what a group believes.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Programme/Project | Ministry
| 1. Drought-Prone Area Programme | Ministry of Agriculture
| 2. Desert Development Programme | Ministry of Environment and Forests
| 3. National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas | Ministry of Rural Development
Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?
Answer (d) & explanation
Every pair is swapped, so the answer is none (d). The Drought-Prone Area Programme (1973) and the Desert Development Programme (1977) were area programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development (Department of Land Resources), not Agriculture or Environment. The National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas (1990) was run by the Ministry of Agriculture, not Rural Development.
All three were merged into the Integrated Watershed Management Programme in 2009, which is now the watershed component of PMKSY. Notice how drought, desert and rainfed farming all lead back to one idea: managing water at the level of the watershed.
the names sound like Agriculture or Environment. UPSC tests which ministry actually ran them.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to Agni-IV Missile, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- 1. It is a surface-to-surface missile.
- 2. It is fuelled by liquid propellant only.
- 3. It can deliver one-tonne nuclear warheads about 7500 km away.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (a) & explanation
Agni-IV is a surface-to-surface ballistic missile (1 correct). It has two solid-fuel stages, so statement 2 is wrong, and it carries a one-tonne warhead about 4,000 km, not 7,500 km, so statement 3 is wrong too.
The longer range of 5,000 km and more belongs to Agni-V, which tested MIRV technology in Mission Divyastra in 2024. The Agni series is built by DRDO and grew out of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme led by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Notice how solid fuel matters: such missiles can be stored ready and launched quickly.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The power of the Supreme Court of India to decide disputes between the Centre and the States falls under its
Answer (c) & explanation
Article 131 gives the Supreme Court exclusive original jurisdiction over disputes between the Union and the States, or between States (c). Such cases begin directly in the Supreme Court. Advisory jurisdiction (a) under Article 143 lets the President seek the Court's opinion. Appellate jurisdiction (b) covers appeals from High Courts, and writ jurisdiction (d) under Article 32 protects Fundamental Rights.
Disputes over inter-State river waters are excluded from Article 131 by Article 262 and go to tribunals. Notice how these jurisdictions keep the federal balance, with the Court as umpire.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Partition of Bengal made by Lord Curzon in 1905 lasted until
Answer (b) & explanation
At the Delhi Durbar of December 1911, King George V announced that the partition of Bengal would be annulled and the capital moved from Calcutta to Delhi (b). It did not end during the First World War (a), which began in 1914, or with the Civil Disobedience Movement (c) of 1930. Option (d) confuses it with the 1947 Partition, a different event.
After 1911, Bihar and Orissa became a separate province (1912) and Assam was again a chief commissionership. Notice how the 1905 partition sparked the Swadeshi movement, which gave India boycott, national education and swadeshi enterprises.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Read the passage
It is often forgotten that globalization is not only about policies on international economic relationships and transactions, but has equally to do with domestic policies of a nation. Policy changes necessitated by meeting the internationally set conditions (by WTO etc.) of free trade and investment flows obviously affect domestic producers and investors. But the basic philosophy underlying globalization emphasizes absolute freedom to markets to determine prices and production and distribution patterns, and view government interventions as processes that create distortions and bring in inefficiency. Thus, public enterprises have to be privatized through disinvestments and sales; sectors and activities hitherto reserved for the public sector have to be opened to the private sector. This logic extends to the social services like education and health. Any restrictions on the adjustments in workforce by way of retrenchment of workers should also be removed and exit should be made easier by removing any restrictions on closures. Employment and wages should be governed by free play of market forces, as any measure to regulate them can discourage investment and also create inefficiency in production. Above all, in line with the overall philosophy of reduction in the role of the State, fiscal reforms should be undertaken to have generally low levels of taxation and government expenditure should be kept to the minimum to abide by the principle of fiscal prudence. All these are policy actions on the domestic front and are not directly related to the core items of the globalization agenda, namely free international flow of goods and finance.
According to the passage, the basic philosophy of globalization is to
Answer (c) & explanation
The basic philosophy is absolute freedom for markets (c). Step 1: find the sentence. The philosophy "emphasizes absolute freedom to markets to determine prices and production and distribution patterns". Later, employment and wages are also left to "free play of market forces". So (c) fits. Step 2: test the others. Options (a) and (b) are wrong: they give freedom to producers, not markets; a producer is one player, a market is the whole system. Option (d) is wrong: import and export freedom is the international part, and the passage stresses that globalization is equally about domestic policy.
Tip: one changed word, here "producers" in place of "markets", is a classic UPSC trap. Compare the subject of each option with the passage.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Read the passage
Given the statement : “Buses are the cause of more accidents than cars, and trucks cause fewer accidents than buses”
Which of the following conclusions can we draw ?
Answer (d) & explanation
No conclusion can be drawn (d). Step 1: the statement only says buses cause more accidents than cars, and trucks fewer than buses. Step 2: test option (a). Accident counts tell us nothing about how many buses and trucks there are on the road, so it fails. Step 3: test (b) and (c). More accidents could be due to more vehicles, longer hours or busier routes, not driver care or skill. Both fail. So none of the conclusions follows.
Tip: raw counts without the base number (how many vehicles, how many kilometres driven) cannot show which group is safer. This idea, comparing rates and not totals, appears often in CSAT logic questions.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Radcliffe Committee was appointed to
Answer (c) & explanation
Sir Cyril Radcliffe chaired the two Boundary Commissions, for Punjab and for Bengal, set up under the Mountbatten Plan to delimit the boundary between India and Pakistan (c). He had never visited India before and drew the lines in about five weeks using old maps and census data. The award was published on 17 August 1947, two days after independence.
The other options do not fit: minorities (a) and the Independence Bill (b) were political matters, and riots in East Bengal (d) were not his brief. Notice how the hurried line explains much of the later displacement and the Kashmir and Bengal border questions.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Hills | Region
| 1. Cardamom Hills | Coromandel Coast
| 2. Kaimur Hills | Konkan Coast
| 3. Mahadeo Hills | Central India
| 4. Mikir Hills | North-East India
Which of the above pairs are correctly matched?
Answer (c) & explanation
Pairs 3 and 4 are correct (c). The Mahadeo Hills, with Pachmarhi, are part of the Satpura range in central India. The Mikir Hills (Karbi Anglong) are in Assam in the North-East. The Cardamom Hills are in the southern Western Ghats on the Kerala–Tamil Nadu border, not the Coromandel coast. The Kaimur Hills are the eastern end of the Vindhyas in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, not the Konkan coast.
Notice how matching hills to regions becomes easy once the major ranges are fixed on a mental map of India.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the famous Sattriya dance, consider the following statements :
- 1. Sattriya is a combination of music, dance and drama.
- 2. It is a centuries-old living tradition of Vaishnavites of Assam.
- 3. It is based on classical Ragas and Talas of devotional songs composed by Tulsidas, Kabir and Mirabai.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (b) & explanation
Sattriya, founded by Srimanta Sankardeva in the 15th–16th century, combines music, dance and drama (1 correct). It is a living tradition of the Vaishnava monasteries (sattras) of Assam (2 correct). Statement 3 is wrong: it is set to the borgeets of Sankardeva and Madhavdeva, not songs of Tulsidas, Kabir or Mirabai. So the answer is (b).
Sattriya was recognised as a classical dance by the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 2000. It grew out of the one-act plays called ankiya nat. Notice how the Bhakti movement shaped regional arts, from Sattriya in Assam to Odissi and Kathak.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
There are six villages A, B, C, D, E and F.
F is 1 km to the west of D.
B is 1 km to the east of E.
A is 2 km to the north of E.
C is 1 km to the east of A.
D is 1 km to the south of A.
Which three villages are in a line ?
Answer (b) & explanation
A, D and E are in a line (b). Step 1: place the villages on a simple grid. Put E at (0, 0). B is 1 km east of E, so B is at (1, 0). A is 2 km north of E, so A is at (0, 2). C is 1 km east of A, so C is at (1, 2). D is 1 km south of A, so D is at (0, 1). F is 1 km west of D, so F is at (−1, 1). Step 2: A, D and E all have the same first number, 0, so they lie on one north–south line. Step 3: check the others. A, C, B form an L shape. C, B, F and E, B, D do not line up.
Tip: draw a quick sketch with one village at the centre. Direction puzzles become easy on paper.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the table given below in which the numbers bear certain relationship among themselves along the rows :
| 29 | 13 | 18 |
|---|---|---|
| 33 | X | 19 |
| 30 | 27 | 3 |
Which one of the following numbers is the missing number indicated above by X ?
Answer (b) & explanation
UPSC's final key accepts both 15 (b) and 8 (d). Step 1: look for a rule in the complete rows. Row 1: 29 + 13 + 18 = 60. Row 3: 30 + 27 + 3 = 60. So each row adds up to 60. Step 2: apply it to row 2: 33 + X + 19 = 60. So X = 60 − 52 = 8, option (d). Step 3: the table can also be read with a different rule that gives 15, option (b). Because the pattern is not unique, UPSC accepted both answers. Options (a) and (c) fit no rule.
Tip: in number tables, try the simplest rules first: sum of the row, then difference, then product. Check the rule on two full rows before using it.
The rule is not unique, so UPSC's final key accepts both (b) 15 and (d) 8.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Read the passage
Passage - 2
Cynthia was a shy girl. She believed that she was plain and untalented. One day her teacher ordered the entire class to show up for audition for the school play. Cynthia nearly died of fright when she was told that she would have to stand on stage in front of the entire class and deliver dialogues. The mere thought of it made her feel sick. But a remarkable transformation occurred during the audition. A thin, shy girl, her knees quaking, her stomach churning in terror, began to stun everyone with her excellent performance. Her bored classmates suddenly stopped their noisy chat to stare at her slender figure on the stage. At the end of her audition, the entire room erupted in thunderous applause.
Cynthia's knees were quaking because
No official answer (question dropped) & notes
The answer is (a), she was nervous and shy. UPSC did not evaluate the six English-only items of 2014 (Q70 to Q75), so this answer is for practice. Step 1: find the line. "A thin, shy girl, her knees quaking, her stomach churning in terror." Her knees shook because she was frightened and shy, that is, nervous. Step 2: test the others. Option (b) is wrong: no scolding by the teacher is mentioned. Option (c) is wrong: she was thin, but being thin does not make knees shake; fear does. Option (d) is wrong: she feared the stage, not her classmates.
Tip: the passage gives many details in one sentence. Pick the detail that actually explains the action asked about. Here "terror" and "shy" explain the quaking knees, while "thin" just describes her.
UPSC did not evaluate the six English-only items of 2014 (Q70 to Q75), so there is no official key. The answer given in the explanation is for practice.
UPSC dropped this question from evaluation; there is no official answer.
The sales tax you pay while purchasing a toothpaste is a
Answer (d) & explanation
In 2014, sales tax (by then State VAT) on goods sold within a State was levied and collected by the State under Entry 54 of the State List (d). The Centre levied Central Sales Tax only on inter-State sales, and that too was collected by the States, so (a), (b) and (c) do not fit an ordinary toothpaste purchase.
Since July 2017 a toothpaste carries GST: CGST and SGST shared by the Centre and the State, under the 101st Amendment. Sales tax now survives only on items outside GST, such as petrol, diesel and alcohol for drinking. Notice how a question can change its answer with a reform, so read it in its year.
read the question in its 2014 setting. Today the answer would be GST, not sales tax.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.