2024 Prelims Paper 2 UPSC Question Paper

2024 Prelims Paper 2 UPSC Questions

21.

Direction for the following 3 (three) items :
Read the following two passages and answer the items that follow the passages. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only.
Passage-1
By the time children reach class 8, the bulk of them tend to be in the age range of 13 years to 15 years. But in our country, about a quarter of all children in class 8 struggle with reading simple texts and more than half are still unable to do basic arithmetic operations like division. Every year about 25 million young boys and girls from elementary school move into the life that lies for them beyond compulsory schooling. They cannot enter the workforce at least in the organized sector till they are 18. For many families, these children are the first from their families ever to get this far in school. Parents and children expect that such ‘graduates’ from school will go on to high school and college. Hardly anyone wants to go back to agriculture. On the other hand, abilities in terms of academic competencies are far lower than they should be even based on curricular expectations of class 8.
Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made :
1. For effective school education, parents have greater role than the governments.
2. School curriculum that conforms to today’s requirements and is uniform for the entire country may address the issues brought out.
Which of the assumptions given above is/are valid?

A.

1 only

B.

2 only

C.

Both 1 and 2

D.

Neither 1 nor 2

ANSWER :

D. Neither 1 nor 2

22.
Which one of the following statements best reflects the central idea conveyed by the passage?
A.
Total eradication of poverty in the country will resolve the issue of under-performance of our school-children.
B.
Monetary incentives to parents and teachers is a strategy to improve the childrenโ€™s academic performance.
C.
Public policy should ensure that competencies and achievements of young people are aligned with their expectations.
D.
India is not going to take advantage of the demographic dividend unless some school pass-outs go back to agriculture.
ANSWER :
C. Public policy should ensure that competencies and achievements of young people are aligned with their expectations.
23.
Passage-2
We take it for granted now that science has a social responsibility. The idea would not have occurred to Newton or Galileo. They thought of science as an account of the world as it is, and the only responsibility that they acknowledged was to tell the truth. The idea that science is a social enterprise is modern, and it begins at the industrial revolution. We are surprised that we cannot trace a social sense further back, because we nurse the illusion that the industrial revolution ended a golden age.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the thinking of the author about the science?
A.
Science must value the commitment of the scientists.
B.
Science is a product of civilized society and must be used for the promotion of scientific awareness in people.
C.
Industrial revolution was made possible by the advancements in science.
D.
Science must pursue truth but be responsible for social welfare.
ANSWER :
D. Science must pursue truth but be responsible for social welfare.
24.
Consider the sequence A_BCD_BBCDABC_DABC_D that follows a certain pattern. Which one of the following completes the sequence?
A.
B, A, D, C
B.
B, A, C, D
C.
A, A, C, D
D.
A, A, D, C
ANSWER :
C. A, A, C, D
25.
Two persons P and Q enter into a business. P puts โ‚น 14,000 more than Q, but P has invested for 8 months and Q has invested for 10 months. If P's share is โ‚น 400 more than Q's share out of the total profit of โ‚น 2,000, what is the capital contributed by P?
A.
โ‚น 30,000
B.
โ‚น 26,000
C.
โ‚น 24,000
D.
โ‚น 20,000
ANSWER :
A. โ‚น 30,000
26.
Pโ€™s salary is 20% lower than Qโ€™s salary which is 20% lower than Rโ€™s salary. By how much percent is Rโ€™s salary more than Pโ€™s salary?
A.
48.75%
B.
56.25%
C.
60.50%
D.
62.25%
ANSWER :
B. 56.25%
27.
A number is mistakenly divided by 4 instead of multiplying by 4. What is the percentage change in the result due to this mistake?
A.
25%
B.
50%
C.
72.75%
D.
93.75%
ANSWER :
D. 93.75%
28.
In an examination, 80% of students passed in English, 70% of students passed in Hindi and 15% failed in both the subjects. What is the percentage of students who failed in only one subject?
A.
15%
B.
20%
C.
25%
D.
35%
ANSWER :
B. 20%
29.
A father said to his son, โ€œn years back I was as old as you are now. My present age is four times your age n years backโ€. If the sum of the present ages of the father and the son is 130 years, what is the difference of their ages?
A.
30 years
B.
32 years
C.
34 years
D.
36 years
ANSWER :
A. 30 years
30.

Consider the following :
1. 1000 litres = 1m3
2. 1 metric ton = 1000 kg
3. 1 hectare = 10000 m2
Which of the above are correct?

A.

1 and 2 only

B.

2 and 3 only

C.

1 and 3 only

D.

1, 2 and 3

ANSWER :

D. 1, 2 and 3