2010 General Studies, all questions

UPSC Prelims 2010 · General Studies

Question 73: Geography

Consider the following statements :

  1. 1.On the planet Earth, the fresh water available for use amounts to about less than 1% of the total water found.
  2. 2.Of the total fresh water found on the planet Earth 95% is bound up in polar ice caps and glaciers.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

a1 only
b2 only
cBoth 1 and 2
dNeither 1 nor 2

AnswerThe answer is (a).

Fresh water is only about 2.5 per cent of all water on Earth, and most of that is locked in ice caps and glaciers or lies deep underground. The fresh water readily available in rivers, lakes and shallow groundwater is well under 1 per cent of the total, so statement 1 is correct. Ice caps and glaciers hold roughly 70 per cent of the fresh water, not 95 per cent, so statement 2 is wrong. Remember: about 2.5 per cent is fresh, and about 70 per cent of that is frozen.

  • 1. Usable fresh water is well under 1 per cent of all water.
  • 2. Ice caps and glaciers hold roughly 70 per cent of fresh water, not 95 per cent.

How you could have got this

  1. If you were sure statement 1 is correct, (b) and (d) go: each of them leaves 1 out.

    What you needed to know: Usable fresh water is well under 1 per cent of all water.

  2. Then, if you were sure statement 2 is not correct, (c) goes: it includes 2.

    What you needed to know: Ice caps and glaciers hold roughly 70 per cent of fresh water, not 95 per cent.

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) Right: only statement 1 is correct.
  • (b) Statement 2 overstates the share in ice: it is nearer 70 per cent.
  • (c) Statement 2 is wrong, so 'both' fails.
  • (d) Statement 1 is correct, so 'neither' fails.

Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2010, General Studies, Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.