UPSC Prelims 2021 CSAT Paper — 79 Questions with Answers

CSAT Paper II of the 2021 Preliminary examination, held on 10 October 2021. 80 questions · 200 marks · qualifying at 33%. The questions broke down as Comprehension 27, Basic Numeracy 26, Mental Ability 14, Logical Reasoning 8, Data Interpretation 4.

  1. Q1 Which one of the following statements best reflects the most critical inference that can be made from the passage given above ?
    Comprehension· medium
  2. Q2 On the basis of the passage given above, the following assumptions have been made : 1. Sustainable production of India’s cereal food grains is impossible without the diversity of pollinating animals. 2. Monoculture of horticultural crops hampers the survival…
    Comprehension· medium
  3. Q3 Which one of the following statements best reflects the crux of the passage given above ?
    Comprehension· medium
  4. Q4 On the basis of the passage given above, the following assumptions have been made : 1. BPA may alter embryonic development in vivo. 2. Biochemical and cell-based assays are useful in finding out treatments for pollution-induced diseases. 3. Embryonic stem…
    Comprehension· medium
  5. Q5 If 3^2019 is divided by 10, then what is the remainder ?
    Basic Numeracy· easy
  6. Q6 The number 3798125P369 is divisible by 7. What is the value of the digit P ?
    Basic Numeracy· medium
  7. Q7 From January 1, 2021, the price of petrol (in Rupees per litre) on m^th day of the year is 80 + 0·1m, where m = 1, 2, 3, ..., 100 and thereafter remains constant. On the other hand, the price of diesel (in Rupees per litre) on n^th day of 2021 is 69 + 0·15n…
    Basic Numeracy· medium
  8. Q8 A biology class at high school predicted that a local population of animals will double in size every 12 years. The population at the beginning of the year 2021 was estimated to be 50 animals. If P represents the population after n years, then which one of…
    Basic Numeracy· easy
  9. Q9 In a class, 60% of students are from India and 50% of the students are girls. If 30% of the Indian students are girls, then what percentage of foreign students are boys ?
    Basic Numeracy· medium
  10. Q10 A Statement followed by Conclusion-I and Conclusion-II is given below. You have to take the Statement to be true even if it seems to be at variance from the commonly known facts. Read all Conclusions and then decide which of the given Conclusion(s) logically…
    Logical Reasoning· medium
  11. Q11 On the basis of the passage given above, the following assumptions have been made : 1. Fig trees can often be keystone species in natural forests. 2. Fig trees can grow where other large woody species cannot grow. 3. Sacred trees can have a role in…
    Comprehension· medium
  12. Q12 Consider the following : 1. Cover crops 2. Fertigation 3. Hydroponics 4. Mixed farming 5. Polyculture 6. Vertical farming Which of the above farming practices can be compatible with agroecology, as implied by the passage ?
    Comprehension· medium
  13. Q13 Which one of the following statements best reflects the most critical inference that can be made from the passage given above ?
    Comprehension· easy
  14. Q14 On the basis of the passage given above, the following assumptions have been made : 1. People who are obsessed with personal hygiene tend to ignore the community hygiene. 2. Emergence of multi-drug resistant germs can be prevented by personal cleanliness. 3…
    Comprehension· medium
  15. Q15 A Statement followed by Conclusion-I and Conclusion-II is given below. You have to take the Statement to be true even if it seems to be at variance from the commonly known facts. Read all Conclusions and then decide which of the given Conclusion(s) logically…
    Logical Reasoning· medium
  16. Q16 A boy plays with a ball and he drops it from a height of 1·5 m. Every time the ball hits the ground, it bounces back to attain a height 4/5th of the previous height. The ball does not bounce further if the previous height is less than 50 cm. What is the…
    Basic Numeracy· medium
  17. Q17 Images of consonants of the English alphabet (Capitals) are observed in a mirror. What is the number of images of these which do not look like their original shapes ?
    Mental Ability· medium
  18. Q18 A bank employee drives 10 km towards South from her house and turns to her left and drives another 20 km. She again turns left and drives 40 km, then she turns to her right and drives for another 5 km. She again turns to her right and drives another 30 km to…
    Logical Reasoning· medium
  19. Q19 Integers are listed from 700 to 1000. In how many integers is the sum of the digits 10 ?
    Mental Ability· medium
  20. Q20 A woman runs 12 km towards her North, then 6 km towards her South and then 8 km towards her East. In which direction is she from her starting point ?
    Logical Reasoning· easy
  21. Q21 Which one of the following statements best reflects the critical message conveyed by the passage given above ?
    Comprehension· medium
  22. Q22 Which one of the following statements best reflects the critical message conveyed by the passage given above ?
    Comprehension· medium
  23. Q23 With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made : 1. Oil producing countries are one of the reasons for high food prices. 2. If there is a food crisis in the world in the near future, it will be in the emerging economies. Which…
    Comprehension· medium
  24. Q24 With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made : 1. Rising GDP is essential for a country to be a developed country. 2. Rising GDP guarantees a reasonable distribution of income to all households. Which of the above assumptions…
    Comprehension· easy
  25. Q25 Seven books P, Q, R, S, T, U and V are placed side by side. R, Q and T have blue covers and other books have red covers. Only S and U are new books and the rest are old. P, R and S are law reports; the rest are Gazetteers. Books of old Gazetteers with blue…
    Logical Reasoning· medium
  26. Q26 Replace the incorrect term by the correct term in the given sequence 3, 2, 7, 4, 13, 10, 21, 18, 31, 28, 43, 40 where odd terms and even terms follow the same pattern.
    Mental Ability· medium
  27. Q27 Following is a matrix of certain entries. The entries follow a certain trend row-wise. Choose the missing entry (?) accordingly. 7B 10A 3C 3C 9B 6A 10A 13C ?
    Mental Ability· medium
  28. Q28 You are given two identical sequences in two rows : Sequence-I : 8, 4, 6, 15, 52·5, 236·25 Sequence-II : 5, A, B, C, D, E What is the entry in the place of C for the Sequence-II ?
    Mental Ability· medium
  29. Q29 A person X from a place A and another person Y from a place B set out at the same time to walk towards each other. The places are separated by a distance of 15 km. X walks with a uniform speed of 1·5 km/hr and Y walks with a uniform speed of 1 km/hr in the…
    Basic Numeracy· medium
  30. Q30 A student appeared in 6 papers. The maximum marks are the same for each paper. His marks in these papers are in the proportion of 5 : 6 : 7 : 8 : 9 : 10. Overall he scored 60%. In how many number of papers did he score less than 60% of the maximum marks ?
    Basic Numeracy· medium
  31. Q31 What is the most logical assumption that can be made from the passage given above ?
    Comprehension· medium
  32. Q32 Which among the following is the most logical and rational inference that can be made from the passage given above ?
    Comprehension· medium
  33. Q33 With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made : 1. Equality is a prerequisite for people to participate in the multiple transactions of society from a position of confidence. 2. Occurrence of inequality is detrimental to the…
    Comprehension· medium
  34. Q34 Which one of the following statements best reflects the crux of the passage given above ?
    Comprehension· medium
  35. Q35 In a group of 120 persons, 80 are Indians and rest are foreigners. Further, 70 persons in the group can speak English. The number of Indians who can speak English is
    Basic Numeracy· easy
  36. Q36 Consider all 3-digit numbers (without repetition of digits) obtained using three non-zero digits which are multiples of 3. Let S be their sum. Which of the following is/are correct ? 1. S is always divisible by 74. 2. S is always divisible by 9. Select the…
    Basic Numeracy· medium
  37. Q37 There are two Classes A and B having 25 and 30 students respectively. In Class-A the highest score is 21 and lowest score is 17. In Class-B the highest score is 30 and lowest score is 22. Four students are shifted from Class-A to Class-B. Consider the…
    Basic Numeracy· medium
  38. Q38 Consider two Statements and a Question : Statement-1 : Priya is 4 ranks below Seema and is 31st from the bottom. Statement-2 : Ena is 2 ranks above Seema and is 37th from the bottom. Question : What is Seema's rank from the top in the class of 40 students ?…
    Data Interpretation· easy
  39. Q40 In the English alphabet, the first 4 letters are written in opposite order; and the next 4 letters are written in opposite order and so on; and at the end Y and Z are interchanged. Which will be the fourth letter to the right of the 13th letter ?
    Logical Reasoning· medium
  40. Q41 Which one of the following statements best reflects the central idea of the passage given above ?
    Comprehension· medium
  41. Q42 Which of the following statements best reflect the rational, plausible and practical implications that can be derived from the passage given above ? 1. Too much globalization is not in the best interests of any country. 2. Modern technologies are increasingly…
    Comprehension· hard
  42. Q43 Which one of the following statements best reflects the most logical, rational and practical suggestion implied by the passage given above ?
    Comprehension· medium
  43. Q44 Which one of the following statements best reflects the corollary to the passage given above ?
    Comprehension· medium
  44. Q45 Consider the following Table : Player | Runs scored in the First Innings | Balls faced in the First Innings | Runs scored in the Second Innings | Balls faced in the Second Innings A | 61 | 99 | 14 | 76 B | 05 | 12 | 50 | 85 C | 15 | 75 | 20 | 50 D | 13 | 55 |…
    Data Interpretation· easy
  45. Q46 Half of the villagers of a certain village have their own houses. One-fifth of the villagers cultivate paddy. One-third of the villagers are literate. Four-fifth of the villagers are under 25 years of age. Which one of the following statements is certainly…
    Basic Numeracy· medium
  46. Q47 Consider two Statements and a Question : Statement-1 : The last day of the month is a Wednesday. Statement-2 : The third Saturday of the month was the seventeenth day. Question : What day is the fourteenth of the given month ? Which one of the following is…
    Data Interpretation· medium
  47. Q48 Which day is 10th October, 2027 ?
    Mental Ability· medium
  48. Q49 Consider two Statements and four Conclusions given below. You have to take the Statements to be true even if they seem to be at variance from the commonly known facts. Read all Conclusions and then decide which of the given Conclusion(s) logically…
    Logical Reasoning· easy
  49. Q50 What is the value of 'X' in the sequence 2, 7, 22, 67, 202, X, 1822 ?
    Mental Ability· medium
  50. Q51 Which one of the following statements best reflects the central idea of the passage given above ?
    Comprehension· medium
  51. Q52 Which among the following is the most logical and rational inference that can be made from the passage given above ?
    Comprehension· medium
  52. Q53 Jay and Vijay spent an equal amount of money to buy some pens and special pencils of the same quality from the same store. If Jay bought 3 pens and 5 pencils, and Vijay bought 2 pens and 7 pencils, then which one of the following is correct ?
    Basic Numeracy· easy
  53. Q54 P scored 40 marks more than Q in an examination. If Q scored 10% less marks than P, then how much did Q score ?
    Basic Numeracy· easy
  54. Q55 A person P asks one of his three friends X as to how much money he had. X replied, "If Y gives me ₹ 40, then Y will have half of as much as Z, but if Z gives me ₹ 40, then three of us will have equal amount." What is the total amount of money that X, Y and Z…
    Basic Numeracy· medium
  55. Q56 In a code language 'MATHEMATICS' is written as 'LBSIDNZUHDR'. How is 'CHEMISTRY' written in that code language ?
    Logical Reasoning· medium
  56. Q57 At which one of the following times, do the hour hand and the minute hand of the clock make an angle of 180° with each other ?
    Mental Ability· medium
  57. Q58 In an objective type test of 90 questions, 5 marks are allotted for every correct answer and 2 marks are deducted for every wrong answer. After attempting all the 90 questions, a student got a total of 387 marks. What is the number of incorrect responses ?
    Basic Numeracy· easy
  58. Q59 Consider the following addition problem : 3P + 4P + PP + PP = RQ2; where P, Q and R are different digits. What is the arithmetic mean of all such possible sums ?
    Mental Ability· medium
  59. Q60 Consider the following multiplication problem : (PQ) × 3 = RQQ, where P, Q and R are different digits and R ≠ 0. What is the value of (P + R) ÷ Q ?
    Mental Ability· medium
  60. Q61 With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made : 1. Modern democracies rely on the market forces to enable them to be welfare states. 2. Markets ensure sufficient economic growth necessary for democracies to be effective. 3…
    Comprehension· medium
  61. Q62 Which one of the following statements best reflects the central idea of the passage given above ?
    Comprehension· medium
  62. Q63 There are three points P, Q and R on a straight line such that PQ : QR = 3 : 5. If n is the number of possible values of PQ : PR, then what is n equal to ?
    Basic Numeracy· medium
  63. Q64 On a chess board, in how many different ways can 6 consecutive squares be chosen on the diagonals along a straight path ?
    Mental Ability· medium
  64. Q65 In the series _b_a_ba_b_abab_aab; fill in the six blanks ( _ ) using one of the following given four choices such that the series follows a specific order.
    Mental Ability· medium
  65. Q66 Using 2, 2, 3, 3, 3 as digits, how many distinct numbers greater than 30000 can be formed ?
    Mental Ability· medium
  66. Q67 Consider the following statements : 1. The sum of 5 consecutive integers can be 100. 2. The product of three consecutive natural numbers can be equal to their sum. Which of the above statements is/are correct ?
    Basic Numeracy· easy
  67. Q68 A cubical vessel of side 1 m is filled completely with water. How many millilitres of water is contained in it (neglect thickness of the vessel) ?
    Basic Numeracy· easy
  68. Q69 There are 6 persons arranged in a row. Another person has to shake hands with 3 of them so that he should not shake hands with two consecutive persons. In how many distinct possible combinations can the handshakes take place ?
    Mental Ability· medium
  69. Q70 An amount of money was distributed among A, B and C in the ratio p : q : r. Consider the following statements : 1. A gets the maximum share if p is greater than (q + r). 2. C gets the minimum share if r is less than (p + q). Which of the above statements…
    Basic Numeracy· medium
  70. Q71 Which one of the following statements best sums up the passage given above ?
    Comprehension· medium
  71. Q72 The idea which the first part of the passage mentions is
    Comprehension· medium
  72. Q73 Which one of the following habits is found more often in good people ?
    Comprehension· easy
  73. Q74 A pie diagram shows the percentage distribution of proteins, water and other dry elements in the human body. Given that proteins correspond to 16% and water corresponds to 70%. If both proteins and the other dry elements correspond to p%, then what is the…
    Data Interpretation· easy
  74. Q75 Joseph visits the club on every 5th day, Harsh visits on every 24th day, while Sumit visits on every 9th day. If all three of them met at the club on a Sunday, then on which day will all three of them meet again ?
    Basic Numeracy· medium
  75. Q76 The difference between a 2-digit number and the number obtained by interchanging the positions of the digits is 54. Consider the following statements : 1. The sum of the two digits of the number can be determined only if the product of the two digits is…
    Basic Numeracy· medium
  76. Q77 X said to Y, "At the time of your birth I was twice as old as you are at present." If the present age of X is 42 years, then consider the following statements : 1. 8 years ago, the age of X was five times the age of Y. 2. After 14 years, the age of X would be…
    Basic Numeracy· medium
  77. Q78 If the price of an article is decreased by 20% and then the new price is increased by 25%, then what is the net change in the price ?
    Basic Numeracy· easy
  78. Q79 When a certain number is multiplied by 7, the product entirely comprises ones only (1111...). What is the smallest such number ?
    Basic Numeracy· medium
  79. Q80 A man completes 7/8 of a job in 21 days. How many more days will it take him to finish the job if quantum of work is further increased by 50% ?
    Basic Numeracy· easy

Question paper and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanations: UPSC Answer Check. Practise this paper with a timer →