UPSC Prelims 2016 · CSAT

Question 66: Reading Comprehension

Passage beginning “The conceptual difficulties in National Income…” — Passage-3 · as printed by UPSC

In the above statement, the author implies that :

athe entire national output produced and consumed in industrialized countries passes through commercial channels

bthe existence of a non-commercialized sector in different underdeveloped countries renders the national income comparisons over countries difficult

cno part of national output should be produced and consumed without passing through commercial channels

da part of the national output being produced and consumed without passing through commercial channels is a sign of underdevelopment

AnswerUPSC’s answer is (b).

The author says comparing national income between poor and industrialised countries is hard because some output in the poor countries never passes through commercial channels, so it goes unmeasured. The implication is that the existence of such a non-commercialised sector makes cross-country comparisons difficult. Options (a) and (c) say things about industrialised countries or about what should happen that are not stated, and (d) turns a measurement problem into a claim about underdevelopment.

Why each option is right or wrong

(a) Nothing is said about all output in industrialised countries being commercial.
(b) Right: the non-commercialised sector makes comparisons difficult.
(c) A statement about what should happen; the author gives no such norm.
(d) Turns a measurement problem into a claim about underdevelopment.

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

Practise this paper timedPrevious question Next question

Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2016, General Studies Paper II (CSAT), Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.