VISION IAS www.visionias.in www.visionias.wordpress.com CSAT: IAS PRELIM 2013: Question Paper & Solution B GENERAL STUDIES – PAPER II TEST BOOKLET APTITUDE PAPER 2013 May 26 , 2013 Time Allowed: Two Hours Maximum Marks: 200 INSTRUCTION 1. IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE EXAMINATION, YOU SHOULD CHECK THAT THIS BOOKLET DOES NOT HAVE ANY UNPRINTED OR TURN OR MISSING PAGES OR ITEMS ,ETC. IF SO, GET IT REPLACED BY A COMPLETE TEST BOOKLET. 2. ENCODE CLEARLY THE TEST BOOKLET SERIES A, B, C OR D AS THE CASE MAY BE IN THE APPROPRIATE PLACE IN THE ANSWER SHEET. 3. You have to enter your Roll Number on the Test Booklet in the Box provided alongside. Do NOT write anything else on the Test Booklet. 4. This Test Booklet contains 80 items (Questions). Each item is printed in English. Each item comprises four responses (answers). You will select the response which you want to mark on the Answer Sheet. In case you feel that there is more than one correct response with you consider the best. In any case, choose ONLY ONE response for each item. 5. You have to mark all your responses ONLY on the separate Answer Sheet provided. See direction in the answers sheet. 6. All items carry equal marks. 7. Before you proceed to mark in the Answer sheet the response to various items in the Test booklet, you have to fill in some particulars in the answer sheets as per instruction sent to you with your Admission Certificate. 8. After you have completed filling in all responses on the answer sheet and the examination has concluded, you should hand over to Invigilator only the answer sheet. You are permitted to take away with you the Test Booklet. 9. Sheet for rough work are appended in the Test Booklet at the end. 10. Penalty for Wrong answers: THERE WILL BE PENALTY FOR WRONG ANSWERS MARKED BY THE CANDIDATE EXCEPT FOR QUESTIONS FROM 75 TO 80, WHICH DO NOT CARRY ANY PENALTY FOR WRONG ANSWER. i. There are four alternatives for the answer to every question. For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate, one-third (0.33) of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty. ii. If a candidate gives more than one answer, it will be treated as a wrong answer even if one of the given answers happens to be correct and there will be same penalty as above to that question. iii. If a question is left blank, i.e., no answer is given by the candidate, there will be no penalty for that question. DO NOT OPEN THIS BOOKLET UNTIL YOU ARE ASKED TO DO SO ©VISION IAS www.visionias.wordpress.com 1 Directions for the following 2 (two items): Read the following passage and answer the two 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 Ans (d) 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 Ans (a) 3. In a rare coin collection, there is one gold coin for every three 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 Ans (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 ©VISION IAS www.visionias.wordpress.com 2 (d) 34 Ans (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 price 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 Ans (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 Ans (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 be soldiers be able to carry on with the remaining food? (a) 25 days (b) 20 days (c) 15 days (d) 10 days Ans (d) 8. The tank-full petrol in Arun’s motor-cycle lasts for 10 days. If he starts using 25% more everyday, how many days will the tank-full petrol last? (a) 5 (b) 6 (c) 7 (d) 8 Ans (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 hour (d) Four hours Ans (a) ©VISION IAS www.visionias.wordpress.com 3 Directions for the following 8 (eight) items: Read the following four passages and answer the items that follow each passage. Your answers to these items should be based on these passages 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’, of 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 extraordinarily 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. In 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 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. Ans (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 Ans (d) ©VISION IAS www.visionias.wordpress.com 4 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 Ans (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 Ans (a) ©VISION IAS www.visionias.wordpress.com 5 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. Ans (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 code given below: (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 Ans (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 stocks 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 at 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. ©VISION IAS www.visionias.wordpress.com 6 16. The need for policy intervention to mitigate risks in agriculture is because (a) farmers are extremely risk-averse. (b) farmers do not known how to mitigate risks. (c) the methods adopted by farmers and existing risk sharing institutions are not adequate. (d) majority of farmers depend on rain-fed agriculture. Ans (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. Ans (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. Ans (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 Ans (a) Directions for the following 4 (four) items: Read the following statements and answer the four items that follow: Five cities P, Q, R, S and T are connected by different modes of transport as follows: P and Q are connected by boat as well as rail. S and R are connected by bus and boat. Q and T are connected by air only. P and R are connected by boat only. T and R are connected by rail and bus. 20. Which mode of transport which help one to reach R starting from Q, but without changing the mode of transport? (a) Boat ©VISION IAS www.visionias.wordpress.com 7 (b) Rail (c) Bus (d) Air Ans (a) 21. If a person visits each of the places starting from P and gets back to P, which of the following places must he visit twice? (a) Q (b) R (c) S (d) T Ans (b) 22. Which one of the following pairs of cities is connected by any of the routes directly without going to any other city? (a) P and T (b) T and S (c) Q and R (d) None of these Ans (d) 23. Between which two cities among the pairs of cities given below are there maximum travel options available? (a) Q and S (b) P and R (c) P and T (d) Q and R Ans (a) Directions for the following 3 (three) items: Read the following passage and answer the three items that follow: A tennis coach is trying to put together a team of four players for the forthcoming tournament. For this 7 players are available: males A, B and C; and females W, X, Y and Z. All players have equal capability and at least 2 males will be there in the team. For a team of four, all players must be able to play with each other. But, B cannot play with W, C cannot play with Z and W cannot play with Y. 24. If Y is selected and B is rejected, the team will consist of which one of the following groups? (a) A, C, W and Y (b) A, C, X and Y (c) A, C, Y and Z (d) A, W, Y and Z Ans (b) ©VISION IAS www.visionias.wordpress.com 8 25. If B is selected and Y is rejected, the team will consist of which one of the following groups? (a) A, B, C and W (b) A, B, C and Z (c) A, B, C and X (d) A, W, Y and Z Ans (c) 26. If all the three males are selected, then how many combinations of four members teams are possible? (a) 1 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) 4 Ans (b) 27. The music director of a film wants to select four persons to work on different aspects of the composition of a piece of music. Seven persons are available for this work; they are Rohit, Tanya, Shobha, Kaushal, Kunal, Mukesh and Jaswant. Rohit and Tanya will not work together. Kunal and Shobha will not work together. Mukesh and Kunal want to work together. Which of the following is the most acceptable group of people that can be selected by the music director? (a) Rohit, Shobha, Kunal and Kaushal (b) Tanya, Kaushal, Shobha and Rohit (c) Tanya, Mukesh, Kunal and Jaswant (d) Shobha, Tanya, Rohit and Mukesh Ans (c) 28. Five people A, B, C, D and E, are seated about a round table. Every chair is spared equidistant from adjacent chairs. (i) C is seated next to A. (ii) A is seated two seats from D. (iii) B is not seated next to A. Which of the following must be true? (I) D is seated next to B. (II) E is seated next to A. (a) I only (b) II only (c) Both I and II (d) Neither I nor II Ans (c) ©VISION IAS www.visionias.wordpress.com 9 Directions for the following 3 (three) items: Examine carefully the following statements and answer the three items that follow: Out of four friends A, B, C and D. A and B play football and cricket. B and C play cricket and hockey. A and D play basketball and football. C and D play hockey and basketball. 29. Who does not play hockey? (a) D (b) C (c) B (d) A Ans (d) 30. Who plays football, basketball and hockey? (a) D (b) C (c) B (d) A Ans (a) 31. Which game to B, C and D play? (a) Basketball (b) Hockey (c) Cricket (d) Football Ans (b) 32. Geeta is older than her cousin Meena. Meena’s brother Bipin is older than Geeta. When Meena and Bipin visit Geeta, they like to play chess. Meena wins the game more often than Geeta. Based on the above information, four conclusions, as given below, have been made. Which one of these logically follows from the information given above? (a) While playing chess with Geeta and Meena, Bipin often loses. (b) Geeta is the oldest among the three. (c) Geeta hates to lose the game. (d) Meena is the youngest of the three. Ans (d) ©VISION IAS www.visionias.wordpress.com 10