UPSC Prelims 2006 · General Studies

Question 47: Science and Technology

Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched? Recent Scientific Achievement : Country

aCreating the World’s first mouse : United Kingdom

bCloning a human embryo for the first time : Germany

cGuiding a spacecraft for collision with a comet : United States of America

dLanding a spacecraft on an asteroid : Japan

AnswerThe answer is (b).

The first claim of cloning a human embryo is linked to the United States (2001) and to South Korea's Hwang Woo-suk (2004), whose later claims were found to be fabricated; it is not a German achievement, so that pair is the wrong one. NASA's Deep Impact probe struck comet Tempel 1 in 2005, and Japan's Hayabusa landed on the asteroid Itokawa in 2005. The mouse pair is treated as correct in the question.

Why each option is right or wrong

(a) Treated as correctly matched in the question.
(b) Human embryo cloning is not credited to Germany; this is the wrong pair.
(c) NASA's Deep Impact struck comet Tempel 1 in 2005.
(d) Japan's Hayabusa touched down on the asteroid Itokawa in 2005.

Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2006, General Studies. UPSC's own paper isn't online; the words are from a published compilation. The paper on upsc.gov.in.