2015 CSAT, all questions

UPSC Prelims 2015 · CSAT

Question 45: Reading Comprehension

Passage – 5 · as printed by UPSC
Passage beginning “The existence/establishment of formal financial institutions…”

With reference to the above passage, consider the following statements :

  1. 1.Indian financial institutions do not offer any financial instruments to rural households to mobilise their savings.
  2. 2.Poor households tend to spend their earnings/savings due to lack of access to appropriate financial instruments.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

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

AnswerUPSC’s answer is (b).

The passage says savings need access to formal institutions and suitable instruments, that such access is not always available in developing countries and more so in rural areas, and that poor households without a formal savings mechanism give in to spending temptations. Statement 2 follows. Statement 1 is too strong: the passage says access is not always available, not that no instruments are offered at all. A single word like 'any' can make a statement wrong.

  • 1. The passage says access is not always available, not that institutions offer nothing.
  • 2. Households with no formal savings route are said to give in to immediate spending.

How you could have got this

  1. If you were sure statement 1 is not correct, (a) and (c) go: each of them includes 1.

    What you needed to know: The passage says access is not always available, not that institutions offer nothing.

  2. Then, if you were sure statement 2 is correct, (d) goes: it leaves 2 out.

    What you needed to know: Households with no formal savings route are said to give in to immediate spending.

Only (b) is left. This one needs every statement.

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) Wrong: statement 1 overstates limited access into no instruments at all.
  • (b) Right: only statement 2 follows from the passage.
  • (c) Wrong: statement 1 is too strong.
  • (d) Wrong: statement 2 is directly supported.

Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2015, General Studies Paper II (CSAT), Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.