2026 Prelims Paper 2 UPSC Question Paper

Directions for the next 2 (two) items:
Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers should be based solely on the passage.
Passage:
Sport is not just about winning medals or getting jobs through a sports quota. Today's generation is struggling with issues like depression and anxiety. Parents often say that their children are inactive and rarely leave the house. Sport can help tackle these problems. From sport you can learn time management, fitness, teamwork, coordination, and so much more. We need to develop a culture in which sport is seen as a way of life - a path to building a healthier, happier society.
Which of the following conclusions are valid?
1. Sport is more than just games; it is a way of life.
2. Sport can help mitigate the problems of seclusion among the young.
3. Earning laurels in sport can help one secure a job on the basis of an assigned quota.
4. Standard corporate sector skills cannot be learnt through sport.
Select the answer using the code given below.

Which of the following statement(s) is/are correct?
1. Parents are not encouraging enough when it comes to children playing sport.
2. Participation in sporting activities can help develop life skills.
3. Sport as a way of life can help evolve the very nature of society itself.
Select the answer using the code given below.

A toy T jumps forward or backward. In each forward jump, it moves 5' forward whereas in each backward jump, it moves 2' backward. If in 31 jumps, T moves exactly 15' forward, then what is the difference of the number of forward and backward jumps?

Eight persons P, Q, R, S, T, U, V and W sit around a round table in eight different seats placed with equal distance between any two consecutive seats. Both P and R are adjacent to Q. Both T and R are adjacent to S. Both U and W are adjacent to V. S and W are on opposite chairs. If while going in the clockwise direction around the table from P, one meets R before T, then how many persons shall Q cross while moving in the clockwise direction around the table before meeting W?

The top of a table is rectangular and its dimensions are 6' x 10'. Two rectangular portions of the table top are painted in blue colour; these two portions have dimensions 2.5' x 8' and each of them has exactly two sides common with two edges of the table top. If the table is fixed to the ground and the remaining portion of the table top is painted in white colour, how many different patterns (from above) are possible?

Directions for the next 2 (two) items:
Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers should be based solely on the passage.
Passage:
How is deflation done? Most countries use a method called 'double deflation', where input and output prices are deflated separately. Suppose a manufacturer is importing oil for use in production. If oil prices fall, output prices do not fall, and quantities remain unchanged, real value added should not change. But if the same deflator is used for both inputs and outputs, as happens in India, it would appear as if that manufacturer's productivity had increased further.
Which of the following statements is/are correct?
1. With falling oil prices, with static output cost and unchanged quantities, real value change should not happen.
2. Deflators are to be used separately for inputs and outputs, and this is a practice universally adopted by all economies.
Select the answer using the code given below.

Which of the following assumptions is/are valid?
1. Deflation strategies can be used to make manufacturers appear to be doing better than they actually are.
2. When input and output prices are both deflated against a single input price, it is referred to as 'double deflation'.
Select the answer using the code given below.

A pattern formed by two characters a and b is repeated more than once in the following string:
x b x a x a x x a x a x bab
What is xx in the 7th and 8th positions from the left in the above string?

If 10^m x 1000 x n = 75²⁵ x 25³² x 32⁷⁵, where n is not divisible by 10, then the value of m is

The speed of a train T is 100 km per hour and the speed of a person P is 4 km per hour. T crosses P in 15 seconds, if P travels along the direction of motion of T. If P travels along the opposite direction of T, then in how much time does T cross P, in seconds, approximately?