2019 CSAT, all questions

UPSC Prelims 2019 · CSAT

Question 3: Reading Comprehension

Passage - 2 · as printed by UPSC
Passage beginning “Education plays a great transformatory role in…”

On the basis of the above passage, the following assumptions have been made :

  1. 1.A society without well educated people cannot be transformed into a modern society.
  2. 2.Without acquiring culture, a person's education is not complete.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid ?

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

AnswerUPSC’s answer is (b).

The passage says a person with plenty of information but no culture is dull, and that the aim of education is people who have both culture and expert knowledge. So education without culture falls short of the aim, which makes assumption 2 valid. Assumption 1 is too strong: the passage credits education with a transformative role but never says a society cannot modernise without well-educated people. Watch for absolutes such as 'cannot' that the text does not use.

  • 1. A transformative role is claimed, but not that modernity is impossible without well-educated people.
  • 2. Information without culture is called dull, and both qualities are the stated aim.

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: A transformative role is claimed, but not that modernity is impossible without well-educated people.

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

    What you needed to know: Information without culture is called dull, and both qualities are the stated aim.

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: the passage never says modernisation is impossible without educated people.
  • (b) Right: education lacking culture falls short, since both culture and expertise are the aim.
  • (c) Wrong: assumption 1 is an unsupported absolute.
  • (d) Wrong: assumption 2 is clearly supported.

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

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2019, General Studies Paper II (CSAT), Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.