UPSC Prelims 2020 · CSAT
Question 2: Reading Comprehension
On the basis of the above passage, the following assumptions have been made :
- 1.State should have some institutions to ensure its appropriate role in a digital society.
- 2.State should ensure that private parties do not violate the citizens' right to privacy.
- 3.Digital economy is not compatible with the idea of not violating the citizens' privacy.
Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?
AnswerUPSC’s answer is (a).
The passage says a right is real only if it works for everyone in every situation, and that the State must do more than stay away: it must actively stop private parties from blocking the right. Applied to privacy in the digital age, assumption 2 is valid, and some machinery to perform that active role (assumption 1) follows from it. Nothing says the digital economy and privacy cannot go together, so assumption 3 is not valid.
- 1. An active duty to protect rights against private parties implies the State needs bodies to carry it out.
- 2. The passage makes the State responsible for ensuring private parties cannot block a right.
- 3. The passage does not set the digital economy against privacy; it only says the right must work in new situations.
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: An active duty to protect rights against private parties implies the State needs bodies to carry it out.
- Then, if you were sure statement 2 is correct, (c) goes: it leaves 2 out.
What you needed to know: The passage makes the State responsible for ensuring private parties cannot block a right.
Only (a) is left. You didn’t need statement 3.
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: 1 and 2 are both supported; 3 is not.
- (b) 3 is not valid: the passage never calls the digital economy incompatible with privacy.
- (c) 3 is not valid, so pairing it with 1 is wrong.
- (d) 2 is valid, but 1 is also valid since an active State role needs institutions, so 2 alone is incomplete.
Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2020, General Studies Paper II (CSAT), Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.