UPSC Prelims 2026 · CSAT
Question 64: Reading Comprehension
Which of the following statements is/are correct?
- 1.The convergence model divides nations into three phases of economic progress.
- 2.At the heart of the convergence theory is the closing of the gap between labour and productivity.
- 3.Technology leaders typically have arrived earlier at different economic eras.
- 4.The time period covered by the convergence theory presented herein encompasses, as mentioned, 4012200 years.
Select the answer using the code given below.
AnswerUPSC’s answer is (b).
Statement 2 is accepted: convergence theory is about countries narrowing their shortfall in output per worker against the technology leader. Statement 3 is accepted: leaders such as Western Europe and North America reach each new era first and followers adopt it later. Statement 1 is wrong: the three phases divide economic eras, and the two categories divide economic entities; nations are not divided into phases. Statement 4 is wrong: the span is about three million years, and 4012200 is just the listed dates added together.
- 1. The phases divide economic eras, not nations.
- 2. Accepted by the key: followers closing their productivity gap with the leader is the core.
- 3. Leaders reach each new era first; followers adopt later.
- 4. The span is about three million years; 4012200 just adds the listed dates.
How you could have got this
- If you were sure statement 2 is correct, (c) and (d) go: each of them leaves 2 out.
What you needed to know: Accepted by the key: followers closing their productivity gap with the leader is the core.
- Then, if you were sure statement 3 is correct, (a) goes: it leaves 3 out.
What you needed to know: Leaders reach each new era first; followers adopt later.
Only (b) is left. You didn’t need statements 1 or 4.
This follows UPSC’s provisional key; the final key could change it.
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: 4 adds up dates that are each counted back from today; the span is about three million years.
- (b) Right per the key: 2 and 3.
- (c) Wrong per the key: 2 is also accepted.
- (d) Wrong: 1 misstates what is divided, and 4 is wrong.
Worth knowing: Statement 2 loosely describes the gap as between labour and productivity, whereas the passage's gap is the followers' labour-productivity shortfall against the leader; the key accepts it, but a strict reader could reject it.
Only the provisional key (27 May 2026) was found; the final key replaces it when found.
Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026, General Studies Paper II (CSAT), Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.