68 questions from the UPSC 2011 examination.
68 questions
According to the passage, what could be the traditional obstacles to the education of girls? 1. Inability of parents to fight a legal battle when the Right to Education is denied to their children. 2. The traditional way of thinking about girl's role in society. 3. The prejudice against the intellectual potential of girls. 4. Improper system of education. Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
In a queue, Mr. X is fourteenth from the front and Mr. Y is seventeenth from the end, while Mr. Z is exactly in between Mr. X and Mr. Y. If Mr. X is ahead of Mr. Y and there are 48 persons in the queue, how many persons are there between Mr. X and Mr. Z?
A contract on construction job specifies a penalty for delay in completion of the work beyond a certain date is as follows: Rs. 200 for the first day, Rs. 250 for the second day, Rs. 300 for the third day etc., the penalty for each succeeding day being Rs. 50 more than that of the preceding day. How much penalty should the contractor pay if he delays the work by 10 days?
Female polar bears give birth during
According to the passage, the strategy of inclusive growth can be effected by focussing on
When the night fell, he slept
With reference to the passage, consider the following statements. Expanding human' population has an adverse effect on: 1. Spiritual fulfilment 2. Aesthetic enjoyment 3. Potable fresh water 4. Production of food and fibre 5. Biodiversity Which of the statements given above are correct?
 Which region indicates the person began showing infection symptoms?
The passage mentions that "some people have actually been harmed by these changes." What does it imply? 1. The rapid expansion of population has adversely affected some people. 2. Sufficient efforts have not been made to increase the production of food and fibre. 3. In the short term some people may be harmed, but in the long term everyone will benefit from modifications In the Earth's ecosystems. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
A person has only Rs. 1 and Rs. 2 coins with her. If the total number of coins that she has is 50 and the amount of money with her is Rs. 75, then the number of Rs. 1 and Rs. 2 coins are, respectively
With reference to the passage consider the following statements: 1. To be a creative society, it is essential to have a variety of social movements. 2. To be a creative society, it is imperative to have potential contradictions and conflicts. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Whose wife is the teacher?
With reference to the passage, the following assumptions have been made: 1. Polar bears fast as long as eight months due to non-availability of prey. 2. Polar bears always give birth to triplets. Which of the assumptions given above is/are valid?
A student on her first 3 tests receives on an average score of N points. If she exceeds her previous average score by 20 points on her fourth test, then what is the average score for the first 4 tests?
If a bus travels 160 km in 4 hours and a train travels 320 km in 5 hours at uniform speeds, then what is the ratio of the distances travelled by them in one hour?
Which one of the following statements conveys the key message of the passage?
You have taken up a project to create night-shelters for homeless people during the winter season. Within a week of establishing the shelters, you have received complaints from the residents of the area about the increase in theft cases with a demand to remove the shelters. You would
Que 31. Consider the following argument: "In, order to be a teacher one must graduate from college. All poets are poor. Some Mathematicians are poets. No college graduate is poor." Which one of the following is not a valid conclusion regarding the above argument?
 In the figure shown above, OP1 and OP2 are two plane mirrors kept perpendicular to each other. S is the direction of a beam of light falling on the mirror OP1. The direction of the reflected beam of light from the mirror OP2 will be
Recently, “oil zapper” was in the news. What is it? [2011]
With reference to the passage, consider the following statements: 1. It is imperative to modify the Earth's ecosystems for the wellbeing of mankind. 2. Technology can never replace all the goods and services provided by ecosystems. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
With reference to the passage, consider the following statements: 1. Mussels-are generally the dominant species in intertidal ecosystems. 2. The survival of sea stars is generally determined by the abundance of mussels. which of the statements given above is /are correct?
Que 28. Consider the following three statements: [2011/9] 1. Only students can participate in the race. 2. Some participants in the race are girls. 3. All girl participants in the race are invited for coaching. Which one of the following conclusions can be drawn from the above statements?
With reference to the passage, consider the following statements: 1. He was walking through the countryside, 2. The cottagers and farmers gave his enough food so that he could sleep at night without feeling hungry. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
 In a party a person’s infection curve has regions A–E. Which region(s) correspond to incubation phase?
There are 100 students in a particular class. 60% students play cricket, 30% student play football and 10% students play both the games. What is the number of students who play neither cricket nor football?
 What can we say about persons with more than one disease from these pie charts?
He soon fell asleep because
What is the crux of the passage?
 Pie charts show disease categories in Town A and Town B (% of patients). Which town has higher number of persons with Diabetes?
Which curve indicates exponential growth? [2011/13] 
Which of the following statements is the nearest definition of moral action, according to the writer?
The passage mentions that "this world is evidently not meant for them". It refers to people who 1. seek freedom from foreign domination. 2. live in starvation and misery. 3. become revolutionaries. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Which of the following is/are implied by the passage? 1. Mussels are always hard competitors for sea stars. 2. Sea stars of the Pacific coast have reached the climax of their evolution. 3. Sea stars constitute an important component in the energy flow in intertidal ecosystem. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
A village having a population of 4000 requires 150 litres of water per head per day. It has a tank measuring 20 m x 15 m x 6 m. The water of this tank will last for
Why is the State unable to deliver "all that is needed"? 1. It does not have sufficient bureaucracy. 2. It does not promote inclusive growth. Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
 A square is divided into four rectangles as shown above. The lengths of the sides of rectangles are natural numbers. The areas of two rectangles are indicated in the figure. What is the length of each side of the square?
 Distance–Time graph for three athletes A, B and C in a 30 km race. Which statements are correct? [2011/23] 1. Race was won by A. 2. B was ahead of A up to 25–26 km. 3. C ran very slowly from the beginning.
His toothbrush is finally
What is the minimum number of different colours required to paint the figure given above such that no two adjacent regions have the same colour? [2011/37] 
What makes his life miserable whenever he undertakes travelling?
How is D related to E?
The passage thematically centres on
You are the officer-in-charge of a village administering distribution of vaccine in an isolated epidemic hit village, and you are left with only one vaccine. There is a requirement of that vaccine from the Gram Pradhan and also a poor villager. You are being pressurised by the Gram Pradhan to issue the vaccine to him. You would
What constitutes an enabling Government? 1. A large bureaucracy. 2. Implementation of welfare programmes through representatives. 3. Creating an ethos that helps individual enterprise 4. Providing resources to those who are underprivileged. 5. Offering direct help to the poor regarding basic services. Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
Three persons start walking together and their steps measure 40 cm, 42 cm and 45 cm respectively. What is the minimum distance each should walk so that each can cover the same distance in complete steps?
According to the passage, the torture of the mind and spirit is caused
With reference to the passage, consider the following statements: 1. When children are denied education, adult society does not act on behalf of them. 2. Right to Education as a law cannot be enforced in the country. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Which of the following statements best describe/describes the thought of the writer? 1. A moral act calls for using our discretion. 2. Man should react to a situation immediately. 3. Man must do his duty. 4. Man should be able to defy convention in order to be moral. Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
The houses of A and B face each other on a road going north-south, A's being on the western side. A comes out of his house, turns left, travels 5 km, turns right, travels 5 km to the front of D's house. B does exactly the same and reaches the front of C's house. In this context, which one of the following statements is correct?
In a group of persons, 70% of the persons are male and 30% of the persons are married. If two-sevenths of the males are married, what fraction of the females is single?
Consider the following assumptions: 1. The food chains/food web in an ecosystem are influenced by keystone species. 2. The presence of keystone species is a specific characteristic of aquatic ecosystems. 3. If the keystone species is completely removed from an ecosystem, it will lead to the collapse of the ecosystem. With reference to the passage, which of the above assumptions is/are valid?
On the basis of the passage, consider the following statement: 1. Right to Education is a legal right and not a fundamental right 2. For realising the goal of universal education, the education system in the country must be made identical to that of developed countries. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
 Which age pyramid indicates declining population?
When he was going to close the bag, the idea that occurred to him was
 Which region indicates that the treatment yielded effective relief?
You have been asked to give an explanation for not attending an important official meeting. Your immediate boss who has not informed you about the meeting is now putting pressure on you not to place an allegation against him/her. You would
What according to the passage are the manifestations of social movements? 1. Aggressiveness and being incendiary. 2. Instigation by external forces. 3. Quest for social equality and individual freedom. 4. Urge for granting privileges and self- respect to disparaged sections of the society. Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
Que 29. Examine the following statements: [2011/10] 1. All animals are carnivorous. 2. Some animals are not carnivorous. 3. Animals are not carnivorous. 4. Some animals are carnivorous. Codes:
What does the author imply by "creative society"? 1. A society where diverse art forms and literary writings seek incentive. 2. A society where social inequalities are accepted as the norm. 3. A society where a large number of contradictions are recognised. 4. A society where' the exploited and the oppressed groups grow conscious of their human rights and upliftment. Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
Consider the following figure and answer the item that follows: What is total number of triangles in the above grid? [2011/26] 
A local thug (bad element) has started illegal construction on your vacant plot. He has refused your request to vacate and threatened you of dire consequences in case you do not sell the property at a cheap price to him. You would…
There are four routes to travel from city A to city B and six routes from city B to city C. How many routes are possible to travel from the city A to city C?
In a survey regarding a proposed measure to be introduced, 2878 person took part of which 1652 were males. 1226 persons voted against the proposal of which 796 were males. 1425 persons vote for the proposai. 196 females were undecided. How many females were not in favour the proposal?
You have been made responsible to hire boats at a short notice to be used for an area under flood. On seeing the price mentioned by the boat owners you found that the lowest price was approximately three times more than the approved rate of the Government. You would
What is essential message being conveyed by the author of the passage?
Mother bear
The passage contains a statement "lets himself be swept along like a log of wood by a current." Among the following statements, which is/are nearest in meaning to this? 1. A person does not use his own reason. 2. He is susceptible to influence/pressure. 3. He cannot withstand difficulties/challenges. 4. He is like a log of wood. Select the correct answer using the codes given below: