UPSC Prelims 2024 · CSAT
Question 21: Reading Comprehension
Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made :
- 1.For effective school education, parents have greater role than the governments.
- 2.School curriculum that conforms to today's requirements and is uniform for the entire country may address the issues brought out.
Which of the assumptions given above is/are valid?
AnswerUPSC’s answer is (d).
Neither assumption holds. The passage is about the gap between what school leavers expect and what they can actually do: weak basic skills, many young people leaving school each year, and almost none wanting to return to farming. It says nothing about parents having a bigger role than governments (assumption 1), nor about a uniform national curriculum as a remedy (assumption 2). An assumption must be something the passage relies on; here neither is.
- 1. The passage never compares the roles of parents and governments.
- 2. No curriculum remedy, uniform or otherwise, is proposed.
How you could have got this
- 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 never compares the roles of parents and governments.
- Then, if you were sure statement 2 is not correct, (b) goes: it includes 2.
What you needed to know: No curriculum remedy, uniform or otherwise, is proposed.
Only (d) 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 does not weigh parents against governments.
- (b) Wrong. A uniform curriculum is never suggested.
- (c) Wrong. Neither assumption is supported.
- (d) Right. Neither assumption is something the passage relies on.
Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2024, General Studies Paper II (CSAT), Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.