2023 Prelims Paper 2 UPSC Question Paper

Directions for the following 3 (three) item:
Read the following three passages and answer the items that follow the passages. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only.
Passage – 1
The emissions humans put into the atmosphere now will affect the climate in the middle of the century and onwards. Technological change, meanwhile, could make a future transition away from fossil fuels cheap or it might not, leaving the world with a terrible choice between sharply reducing emissions at huge cost or suffering through the effects of unabated warming. Businesses that do not hedge against the threat of uncertain outcomes fail. The world cannot afford such recklessness on climate change.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the crucial message conveyed by the author of the passage?

Passage – 2
Environmental problems cause health problems. Substantial changes in lifestyle can reduce environmental or health problems, but this idea appears almost impossible to adopt. With environmental problems, individual efforts can be perceived as having a negligible effect and therefore lead to inertia. With health, on the other hand, individual choices can make the difference between life and death, literally. And yet, barring a few, there seems to be the same collective lethargy towards making their choices.

Which one of the following statements best implies the most rational assumption that can be made from the passage?

Passage –3
Many people are not eating the right food. For some, it is simply a decision to stick with food they enjoy but which is not too healthy. This is leading to an increase in non-communicable diseases. This in turn leads to major burden on our health-care systems that have the potential to derail the economic progress which is essential for the poor to improve their lives. For others, it is about limited access to nutritious food or a lack of affordability, leading to monotonous diets that do not provide the daily nutrients for them to develop fully. Part of the reason nutrition is under threat worldwide is that our food systems are not properly responding to nutritional needs. Somewhere along that long road from farm to fork, there are serious detours taking place.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the crux of the passage?

Three of the five positive integers p, q, r, s, t are even and two of them are odd (not necessarily in order). Consider the following:
1. p + q + r – s - t is definitely even.
2. 2p + q + 2r - 2s + t is definitely odd.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?

Consider the following in respect of prime number p and composite number c.
1. (p+c)/(p-c) can be even.
2. 2p+c can be odd.
3. pc can be odd.
Which of the statements given above are correct?

A 3-digit number ABC, on multiplication with D gives 37DD where A, B, C and D are different non-zero digits. What is the value of A+B+C?

For any choices of values of X, Y and Z, the 6-digit number of the form XYZXYZ is divisible by:

125 identical cubes are arranged in the form of a cubical block. How many cubes are surrounded by other cubes from each side?

How many distinct 8-digit numbers can be formed by rearranging the digits of the number 11223344 such that odd digits occupy odd positions and even digits occupy even positions?

A, B, C working independently can do a piece of work in 8, 16 and 12 days respectively. A alone works on Monday, B alone works on Tuesday, C alone works on Wednesday; A alone, again works on Thursday and so on. consider the following statements:
1. The work will be finished on Thursday.
2. The work will be finished in 10 days.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?