UPSC Prelims 2007 · General Studies
Question 81: Geography
Consider the following statements:
- 1.Either of the two belts over the ocean at about 30°–35° N and S latitudes is known as Horse Latitude.
- 2.Horse Latitudes are low-pressure belts.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
AnswerThe answer is (a).
The Horse Latitudes are the belts of subtropical high pressure over the oceans at roughly 30-35 degrees north and south, where air descends, winds are light and the weather is dry and calm. So statement 1 is right. Statement 2 is wrong: these are high-pressure belts, not low-pressure ones. The doldrums at the equator are the low-pressure belt.
- 1. The belts lie at about 30-35 degrees N and S over the oceans.
- 2. They are high-pressure belts.
How you could have got this
- If you were sure statement 1 is correct, (b) and (d) go: each of them leaves 1 out.
What you needed to know: The belts lie at about 30-35 degrees N and S over the oceans.
- Then, if you were sure statement 2 is not correct, (c) goes: it includes 2.
What you needed to know: They are high-pressure belts.
Only (a) is left. This one needs every statement.
This follows an unofficial answer: UPSC has not published its key for this year, and if that answer is wrong, so is this path.
Which options go is worked out from UPSC’s key and the options, not by a model.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Correct: statement 1 holds, statement 2 does not.
- (b) Statement 2 is wrong; the belts are high pressure.
- (c) Statement 2 is wrong, so both cannot hold.
- (d) Statement 1 is right, so this fails.
Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2007, General Studies. UPSC's own paper isn't online; the words are from a published compilation. The paper on upsc.gov.in.