UPSC 2013 Prelims Questions with Answers

The passage explains that if everyone used liberty without limits, universal chaos would result. The old lady failed to understand that individual liberty is limited by others' equal rights.

Her reply, "I'm going to walk where I like. We've got liberty now," shows that she believed liberty allowed her to do whatever she liked.

The passage says the pavement was the proper place for foot-passengers. Since the lady was walking, she was a pedestrian and should have used the pavement.

The map suggested the town was about fifteen kilometres away, but even after twenty kilometres there was no sign of it. This naturally made them worry that they had lost their way.

They set out because the map showed the town was only about fifteen kilometres away and they expected to find a bed there for the night.

The passage says rain began to fall, making it difficult at times to see the road; immediately after this the author asked John to drive more slowly.

Jim returned the watch only after examining the bicycle and saying "All right". This implies he had kept the watch as security and returned it once satisfied with the bicycle's condition.

The passage says the parents were upset that Jim had given away the bicycle and, when four o'clock passed without its return, they became anxious. Upset here expresses worry about the fate of the expensive bicycle, not anger directed at Jim - in fact they were secretly proud of his kindness and faith. Hence they were worried.

Walking both ways takes 10 hours, so walking one way takes 5 hours. Walking one way and driving back takes 6 hours, so driving one way takes 1 hour. Driving both ways takes 2 hours.

A full tank equals 10 days of the old daily use. If daily use rises by 25%, the new daily use is 1.25 times the old use. Duration = 10/1.25 = 8 days.

Food for 1000 soldiers for 30 days equals 30,000 soldier-days. After 10 days, 20,000 soldier-days remain. With 2000 soldiers present, the remaining food lasts 20,000/2000 = 10 days.

There are 70 males, 50 females and 80 licence-holders. Minimum males with licence occurs when all 50 females have licences, leaving 30 males. Maximum is 70 males. The ratio is 30:70 = 3:7.

Let the seven prizes be a, a-20, a-40, ..., a-120. Their sum is 7a - 420 = 700, so a = 160. The least prize is 160 - 120 = Rs. 40.

He needs a square arrangement with equal rows and columns. The next perfect square after 1000 is 32^2 = 1024, so he needs 1024 - 1000 = 24 more plants.

Let the initial number of gold coins be x and non-gold coins be 3x. After adding 10 gold coins, (x+10):3x = 1:2. So 2x + 20 = 3x, giving x = 20. The new total is 30 gold plus 60 non-gold = 90.

The passage says disruption of forest continuity affects extinction-prone wildlife and is a serious threat to biodiversity conservation. The purpose of maintaining continuity and corridors is preservation of biodiversity, not mineral-resource management or granting forest land.

The passage repeatedly discusses fragmentation of forest habitat by mining, highways and other intrusions, and its effects on biodiversity. The central focus is therefore disruption of habitat.

The central shape alternates circle, square, circle, square and so on, so the seventh has a central circle. The arrows continue their clockwise positional cycle, matching the option with arrows at upper-left, right and bottom-left.

Psychology professors total 4 + 6 = 10. If this is 2% of all professors in the University, total professors = 10 / 0.02 = 500.

Physics professors total 40, and 30% are aged 25-34, so that age group has 12 professors. Female professors are 25% of 12 = 3, leaving 9 male professors.

Psychology has 4 male and 6 female professors, total 10. Female percentage = 6/10 x 100 = 60%.

Male-to-female ratios are Physics 32:8 = 4, Mathematics 28:8 = 3.5, Chemistry 16:22, and Economics 24:8 = 3. Physics has the highest ratio.

Physics professors total 32 male + 8 female = 40. The 35-44 age group is 40% of Physics professors, so 0.40 x 40 = 16.

From the three cube views, face 1 is adjacent to 6, 4, 3 and 2, so 5 is opposite 1. Face 3 is adjacent to 1, 2, 5 and 6, so 4 is opposite 3; the remaining opposite pair is 2 and 6. With 5 on the right face, the possible visible arrangement among the options is front 2 and top 3.

The pattern is top-left number = (bottom-left number x bottom-right number) / 2. Thus 84 = 14 x 12 / 2 and 81 = 18 x 9 / 2. For the third figure, 88 = ? x 11 / 2, so ? = 16.

For each car, payment per km equals Rs. 6 plus diesel cost per km. Car A: Rs. 11/km, distance about 192.7 km, speed about 9.64 km/hr. The other cars have lower average speeds, so Car A is maximum.

Each middle number equals the sum of the cubes of the two outer numbers: 3^3 + 7^3 = 370 and 2^3 + 6^3 = 224. Thus 1^3 + X^3 = 730, so X^3 = 729 and X = 9.

For a fixed amount of work at constant speed, men and days are inversely proportional: x multiplied by y is constant. The graph of y against x is therefore a decreasing rectangular hyperbola, not a straight line.

The arrow shifts across the three vertical positions and changes direction according to the given sequence, while the bracket-like elements cycle with it. The next stage is the option with a downward arrow on the left and the central/right bracket-like vertical elements.

The outer triangle orientation and the circled plus repeat the position pattern seen from figure 1 to figure 4, while the arrow alternates direction. The fifth figure therefore returns to the left-rotated triangle with a downward arrow and the circled plus at lower right.

Across the four grid figures, the two symbols move through the diamond cells in a fixed sequence. Continuing the same positional movement places the crown/sun at the top diamond and the triangle in the lower-left corner diamond.

The author explicitly argues against physical help as the primary solution and says even charitable asylums and hospitals cannot end misery unless character changes. Therefore neither assumption is valid.

The passage repeatedly says physical help alone cannot end misery and that misery will continue until man's nature or character changes. Hence the reason is man's refusal or failure to change his character.

The passage is mainly about how agricultural slurry, fertilizer runoff and sewage add excess nutrients to water bodies, causing eutrophication, dead zones and loss of aquatic life. That makes improper agricultural waste disposal destroying aquatic ecosystems the central theme.

Cultural eutrophication causes loss of ecosystem services and harms plants, fish and invertebrates. It is driven by excess mineral nutrients, not by loss of them.

The passage says fertilizer runoff adds nutrient pollutants, enriches water bodies and fuels algal blooms. It does not say that fertilizers destroy decomposer microorganisms in soil.

Agricultural slurry discharged into watercourses is treated as a pollutant. When returned to land and decomposed by soil microorganisms, its nutrients become available to vegetation and it functions as fertilizer.

Returning slurry to land is described as economically sound because nutrients are reused, so statement 1 is valid. The passage also links nutrient discharge/runoff with eutrophication, so statement 3 is valid. Statement 2 is not the reason given; the issue is excess nutrients, not absence of microorganisms.

Let the original speed be x km/hr. Then 63/x + 72/(x+6) = 3. Solving gives x = 42, which satisfies 63/42 = 1.5 hours and 72/48 = 1.5 hours.

The relative speed is 10 - 8 = 2 km/hr, which is 2000 metres per hour. To cover a 100 metre gap, time = 100/2000 hour = 0.05 hour = 3 minutes.

After two boys join, there are 47 students. His rank from the top becomes 21st, so his rank from the end is 47 - 21 + 1 = 27th.

The passage explains that sedimentary layers become thicker and heavier; their pressure produces heat, and this heat transforms the organic remains into crude oil.

The passage says the mineral hardens into sedimentary rock and effectively shuts out oxygen, preventing complete decomposition of the marine deposits underneath.

Let the number of green balls be x. The yellow balls are 2x, and the red balls are equal to the yellow balls, so red balls are also 2x. Therefore red balls are double the number of green balls.

G can see all caps except orange, so G himself must be wearing orange. E wears indigo and cannot see red among A, B, C and D. Since red is not on E or G and is not among the four people seen by E, it must be on F.

From condition 3, C can only be P because C is not Q from condition 1 and not R, S or T from condition 3. Then A must be Q. B cannot be P, Q or R, so B is S or T. E cannot be P, Q, R or T, so E is S. Hence B is T and D is R. The statement "B belongs to S" is not correct.

The common meeting interval is the LCM of 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 days, which is 60 days. Within 180 days they all meet together on the 60th, 120th and 180th days, so the count is 3.

The passage links greater importance of risk and liquidity management to further consolidation, globalization, deregulation and diversification. Financial inclusion is not given as a reason in the passage.

The passage explicitly says that since the Indian financial system is bank dominated, banks' ability to withstand stress is critical to overall financial stability.

The opening lines connect India's exposure to global changes with growing linkages and integration of the Indian economy and financial system with the global economy.