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Model Questions for UPSC PRE CSAT PAPER SET - 80

Passage 1

Among the fundamental qualities a citizen of democracy must have is a deep concern for the good life of his fellows. He must have a sense of social responsibility and the will to sink his own immediate interests and the interests of his class in the common good; to do his full share in working for the community.

But, these qualities alone might lead one to be a well-meaning dictator or an unthinking follower. The citizen of democracy must also be a man of independent judgement, he must respect the individualities of others and therefore be tolerant of opinion in conflict with his own; he must prefer methods of discussion and persuasion to methods of force. The citizen of democracy also needs certain intellectual qualities. It is not enough to love truth, one must learn how to find it. It is easy to teachstudent to reason correctly in the physical sciences. It is more difficult to reason correctly in the social science where their own prejudices and passions are involved. They must be taught habit of clear thinking in order that they may acquire the power of recognizing their own prejudices and of-discussing political and economic questions with the same calm, with the same desire to understand other person’s position, with the same precision and absence of over statesman that they would bring to the discussion of a problem in mathematics.

1. Which quality has been highly talked of by the author?

(a) independent judgement
(b) reasoning ability
(c) predilection
(d) assimilative ability

2. Which of the following is unstated in the light of the above passage?

(a) identifying one’s own prejudices
(b) tolerance of opinions
(c) a feeling of compassion
(d) absence of overstatement

Passage 2

Widows, deserted, separated, abandoned, walked and, thrown out, older and younger unmarried single women remain unrecognised by both the society and government. The most ‘forgotten’ women of the country, there is very little information available on their numbers and even less information on how they survive. According to the 2002 census, there are 39.8 million single women in the country. The National Forum for single women’s rights is a collective of more than 50,000 women across different states that organises, struggles and lobbies with governments for their rights. These are widows, separated, divorced, unmarried mothers, women whose husbands rare missing and those single women living with HIS’/
AIDS. In short, “A woman who is not living with a man in a marital-like relationship.” The women came together as a collective to reiterate not only their demand to constitutional rights, but also to fight against the feudal and patriarchal society that denies them a dignified existence. The organisation includes woman like Sharifa from Ahmedabad, who fights with maulanas for abolishment of iddat (customary home confinement) for divorced Muslim women and government officials in Gandhinagar who refuse to release grains sanctioned for widows. The organization also includes woman like Saraswati from Jharkhand, who has first hand witnessed the Adivasi’s ‘daayan’ pratha, where widows are branded as witches and ostracised by the community. And this is to curb her from claiming her property rights after her husbands’s death.

3. Which one of the following statements conveys the key message of the passage?

(a) The most unforgotten women of the country are the ones who remain unrecognised by both the society and government.
(b) Pathetic condition of single women in the country.
(c) Insensitivity of society and government towards single women.
(d) A significant portion of the female population that finds no mention in government agendas are single women.

4. According to the passage, “a woman who is not living with a man in a marital like relationship” can be

(a) Unmarried woman whose husbands are missing.
(b) Sex-workers living with HIV/AIDS
(c) Single mothers
(d) Adivasi unmarried woman

5. With reference to the passage which of the following statements is/are true-

1. Feudal and patriarchal societies have denied a dignified existence to women.
2. The National Forum for single women’s rights struggles and lobbies with the government fortheir constitutional rights and protection against the feudal and patriarchal society that denies them a dignified existence.

Select the correct answer from the following code-

(a) Only 1
(b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

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6. Customary laws like “iddat” and “daayan pratha” are not allowing-

(a) Emancipation of a woman not living with a man in a marital-like relationship from the clutches of the dogmatic society which denies then equality.
(b) Widowed muslim women to access grains sanctioned for them in Gujarat.
(c) Adivasi women in Jharkhand to enjoy their constitutional right to property.
(d) Contribution of unmarried single women in nation- building.

Passage 3

After interest rates, the licensing of new commercial banks has become the latest issue on which the Central government and the Reserve Bank of India can’t seem to see eye to eye. According to reports, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has asked the RBI to expedite the process of issuing new commercial bank licences by first finalising existing draft guidelines, as a prelude to receiving new applications. The RBI, on its part, does not want to move forward unless it is legally empowered to regulate the new entities more comprehensively than is possible now. That would include powers to supersede the boards of directors of recalcitrant banks if the need arises. Existing regulations, in the RBI’s view, are not sufficient to check possible violations by banks promoted by those for whom banking may not be the core or even the main business. A specific concern has been the need to ensure that promoter groups are kept at arm’s length from the new banks. The failure by big business houses to adhere to this basic principle with regard to banks in which they were major shareholders was one of the principal reasons behind Indira Gandhi’s bank nationalisation drive in 1969. Since then, the door has been shut for them.Even with the onset of liberalisation, while new private banks have come into being, none of them has had any connection with industrial houses.

7. With reference to the passage, consider the following statements-

1. None of the private banks which came into being after liberalisation were allowed to be started by any industrial house.
2. The RBI and the Central government do not agree on the issue of licensing of new commercial banks having any connection with Industrial houses.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct’’

(a) Only 1
(b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 & 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

8. What is holding the RBI from finalising the existing draft guidelines before issuing new commercial bank licenses?

1. Existing regulations in the RBI’s views are not sufficient to address any possible violations by industrial houses who are already entrenched in different kinds of business.
2. As of now the RBI is not legally empowered tosupersede the boards of directors of recalcitrant banks if the need arises.

(a) Only 2
(b) Both 1 & 2
(c) Neither 1 nor 2
(d) None of these

9. Which of the following is the theme of the passage

(a) To stop industrial houses who are promoters of such business, other than banking.
(b) To point out the bone of contention in policy making between the Central government and the Central Bank of India.
(c) To point out the reason behind Indira Gandhi’s bank nationalisation drive in 1969.
(d) To emphasise upon the need of an effective regulation before finalising any draft guideline or issuing licenses to commercial banks promoted by big industrial houses of diverse business.

Passage 4

There is a Portuguese word ‘Saudade’, a word that makes into lists of those hardest to translate into English. It describes a deep, heart-crushing nostalgic longing for something someone loves, something someone lost. That is the word to describe the emotion that must have driven Housefull: The Golden Age of Hindi Cinema, edited by Ziya Us Salam. This record of notable films from the 1950s and 1960s is written by journalists Ziya Us Salam, Suresh Kohli, Anuj Kumar, and Vijay Lokapally.

How do you write about films you obviously love? It is a tricky feat to accomplish. You could part the curtains and delve into the inside story, which could slip into gossip magazine territory. Or you could start analysing these movies as compositions of images and signs. It could range from insightful to boring, at worst pretentious. Or you use the movies as a starting point and funnel out the discussion into the social, economic, and political context, and then land in academic territory.

10. What according to the passage is difficult to achieve?

1. The homesickness in translating a work into English which is close to ones heart.
2. To find out a way of how to start writing about a film which is very close to ones heart.

(a) Only 1
(b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor2