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Prelims

UPSC Prelims Questions

Practice UPSC Prelims MCQs by subject and year. Free questions with explanations for focused revision.

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  2. /Prelims Questions
Q.12043·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy

This rule of always trying to do things as well as one can do them has an important bearing upon the problem of ambition. No man or woman should be without ambition, which is the inspiration of activity. But if one allows ambition to drive one to attempt things which are beyond one’s own personal capacity, then unhappiness will result. If one imagines that one can do everything better than other people, then envy and jealousy, those twin monsters, will come to sadden one’s days. But if one concentrates one’s attention upon developing one’s own special capacities, the things one is best at, then one does not worry over much if other people are more successful.   Which one of the following statements best reflects the underlying tone of the passage?

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Q.12044·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy

A shopkeeper sells his articles at their cost price but uses a faulty balance which reads 1000 g for 800 g. What is his actual profit percentage?

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Q.12045·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy

This rule of always trying to do things as well as one can do them has an important bearing upon the problem of ambition. No man or woman should be without ambition, which is the inspiration of activity. But if one allows ambition to drive one to attempt things which are beyond one’s own personal capacity, then unhappiness will result. If one imagines that one can do everything better than other people, then envy and jealousy, those twin monsters, will come to sadden one’s days. But if one concentrates one’s attention upon developing one’s own special capacities, the things one is best at, then one does not worry over much if other people are more successful.   Which one of the following statements can be assumed to be true?

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Q.12046·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy

An earthquake comes like a thief in the night, without warning. It was necessary, therefore, to invent instruments that neither slumbered nor slept. Some devices were quite simple. One, for instance, consisted of rods of various lengths and thicknesses which would stand up on end like ninepins. When a shock came it shook the rigid table upon which these stood. If it were gentle, only the more unstable rods fell. If it were severe, they all fell. Thus the rods by falling and by the direction in which they fell, recorded for the slumbering scientist, the strength of a shock that was too weak to waken him and the direction from which it came. But, instruments far more delicate than that were needed if any really serious advance was to be made. The ideal to be aimed at was to devise an instrument that could record with a pen on paper the movements, of the ground or of the table, as the quake passed by. While I write my pen moves but the paper keeps still. With practice, no doubt, I could, in time, learn to write by holding the pen still while the paper moved. That sounds a silly suggestion, but that was precisely the idea adopted in some of the early instruments (seismometers) for recording earthquake waves. But when table, penholder and paper are all moving how is it possible to write legibly? The key to a solution of that problem lay in an everyday observation. Why does a person standing in a bus or train tend to fall when a sudden start is made? It is because his feet move on, but his head stays still. The passage says that early instruments for measuring earthquakes were:

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Q.12047·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy

An earthquake comes like a thief in the night, without warning. It was necessary, therefore, to invent instruments that neither slumbered nor slept. Some devices were quite simple. One, for instance, consisted of rods of various lengths and thicknesses which would stand up on end like ninepins. When a shock came it shook the rigid table upon which these stood. If it were gentle, only the more unstable rods fell. If it were severe, they all fell. Thus the rods by falling and by the direction in which they fell, recorded for the slumbering scientist, the strength of a shock that was too weak to waken him and the direction from which it came. But, instruments far more delicate than that were needed if any really serious advance was to be made. The ideal to be aimed at was to devise an instrument that could record with a pen on paper the movements, of the ground or of the table, as the quake passed by. While I write my pen moves but the paper keeps still. With practice, no doubt, I could, in time, learn to write by holding the pen still while the paper moved. That sounds a silly suggestion, but that was precisely the idea adopted in some of the early instruments (seismometers) for recording earthquake waves. But when table, penholder and paper are all moving how is it possible to write legibly? The key to a solution of that problem lay in an everyday observation. Why does a person standing in a bus or train tend to fall when a sudden start is made? It is because his feet move on, but his head stays still.   Why was it necessary to invent instruments to observe an earthquake?

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Q.12048·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy

An earthquake comes like a thief in the night, without warning. It was necessary, therefore, to invent instruments that neither slumbered nor slept. Some devices were quite simple. One, for instance, consisted of rods of various lengths and thicknesses which would stand up on end like ninepins. When a shock came it shook the rigid table upon which these stood. If it were gentle, only the more unstable rods fell. If it were severe, they all fell. Thus the rods by falling and by the direction in which they fell, recorded for the slumbering scientist, the strength of a shock that was too weak to waken him and the direction from which it came. But, instruments far more delicate than that were needed if any really serious advance was to be made. The ideal to be aimed at was to devise an instrument that could record with a pen on paper the movements, of the ground or of the table, as the quake passed by. While I write my pen moves but the paper keeps still. With practice, no doubt, I could, in time, learn to write by holding the pen still while the paper moved. That sounds a silly suggestion, but that was precisely the idea adopted in some of the early instruments (seismometers) for recording earthquake waves. But when table, penholder and paper are all moving how is it possible to write legibly? The key to a solution of that problem lay in an everyday observation. Why does a person standing in a bus or train tend to fall when a sudden start is made? It is because his feet move on, but his head stays still.   A simple device which consisted of rods that stood up on end like ninepins was replaced by a more sophisticated one because it failed:

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Q.12049·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy

An earthquake comes like a thief in the night, without warning. It was necessary, therefore, to invent instruments that neither slumbered nor slept. Some devices were quite simple. One, for instance, consisted of rods of various lengths and thicknesses which would stand up on end like ninepins. When a shock came it shook the rigid table upon which these stood. If it were gentle, only the more unstable rods fell. If it were severe, they all fell. Thus the rods by falling and by the direction in which they fell, recorded for the slumbering scientist, the strength of a shock that was too weak to waken him and the direction from which it came. But, instruments far more delicate than that were needed if any really serious advance was to be made. The ideal to be aimed at was to devise an instrument that could record with a pen on paper the movements, of the ground or of the table, as the quake passed by. While I write my pen moves but the paper keeps still. With practice, no doubt, I could, in time, learn to write by holding the pen still while the paper moved. That sounds a silly suggestion, but that was precisely the idea adopted in some of the early instruments (seismometers) for recording earthquake waves. But when table, penholder and paper are all moving how is it possible to write legibly? The key to a solution of that problem lay in an everyday observation. Why does a person standing in a bus or train tend to fall when a sudden start is made? It is because his feet move on, but his head stays still.   The everyday observation referred to in the passage relates to:

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Q.12050·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy

An earthquake comes like a thief in the night, without warning. It was necessary, therefore, to invent instruments that neither slumbered nor slept. Some devices were quite simple. One, for instance, consisted of rods of various lengths and thicknesses which would stand up on end like ninepins. When a shock came it shook the rigid table upon which these stood. If it were gentle, only the more unstable rods fell. If it were severe, they all fell. Thus the rods by falling and by the direction in which they fell, recorded for the slumbering scientist, the strength of a shock that was too weak to waken him and the direction from which it came. But, instruments far more delicate than that were needed if any really serious advance was to be made. The ideal to be aimed at was to devise an instrument that could record with a pen on paper the movements, of the ground or of the table, as the quake passed by. While I write my pen moves but the paper keeps still. With practice, no doubt, I could, in time, learn to write by holding the pen still while the paper moved. That sounds a silly suggestion, but that was precisely the idea adopted in some of the early instruments (seismometers) for recording earthquake waves. But when table, penholder and paper are all moving how is it possible to write legibly? The key to a solution of that problem lay in an everyday observation. Why does a person standing in a bus or train tend to fall when a sudden start is made? It is because his feet move on, but his head stays still.   The early seismometers adopted the idea that in order to record the earthquake, it is:

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Q.12051·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy

There must be countries now in which peasants can spend several years in universities (P) so that (Q) a lot of young persons (R) a re going without substantial meals (S) The proper sequence should be:

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Q.12052·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy

Athens it was also (P) the first democracy in the world (Q) was not only (R) an almost perfect democracy (S) The proper sequence should be:

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Q.12053·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy

The practice of taking performance-boosting drugs among athletes but checking it is not going to be easy (P) is generally conceded to be unfair (Q) of the detection technology (R) for the user is generally one jump ahead (S) The proper sequence should be:

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Q.12054·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy

All religions are to advance the cause of peace (P) i n a holy partnership (Q) justice and freedom (R) bound together (S) The proper sequence should be:

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Q.12055·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy

Seventy-two people reports PTI (P) were affected by food poisoning (Q) i ncluding several women and children (R) o f the central part of the city (S) The proper sequence should be:

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Q.12056·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy

The Prime Minister declared that those states (P) will get all help and aid (Q) where family planning (R) is effected very efficiently (S) The proper sequence should be:

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Q.12057·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy

A sum of money becomes 3 times in 5 years at simple interest. In how many years will the same sum become 6 times at the same rate of simple interest?

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Q.12058·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy

My friend when he was going to his office (P) met with an accident (Q) on his scooter (R) due to rash driving (S) The proper sequence should be:

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Q.12059·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy

The boy said I am not going to the school (P) with my friends in the class room (Q) w here my teacher scolds me (R) when I want to play (S) The proper sequence should be:

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Q.12060·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy

Mohan, the son of my friend, gave me a set of pens (P) which is very precious (Q) while working in Japan (R) who died in an accident (S) The proper sequence should be:

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