1. CSAT 2013 Official Answerkey Released
  2. Decision making
  3. Swamp deer
  4. Balance of Payment
  5. GDP
  6. Ecosystem productivity
  7. Temperature coastal vs interior
  8. Dynamic Changes on Earth surface
  9. Nirvana
  10. Sankhya School
  11. Ball bearing

CSAT 2013 Official Answerkey Released

  • After almost one year wait, UPSC has uploaded the answer key of the civil service and forest service prelim exam CSAT-2013 exam. Click ME
  • But we need original question paper to ā€œfindā€ the ā€˜question numberā€™. here are the links
MS-Word Format PDF Format
  1. General Studies Paper
  2. Aptitude Paper
  1. General studies paper
  2. Aptitude
  • Not every question Ā converted properly from PDF to word,
  • but ā€œFindā€ option works reasonably good, just type a few key phrases.
 text unsearchable, and PDF too big in size.

After prelim-2013 I had published answer keys myself, but was unable to locate exact reference to some of the MCQs. So, letā€™s check what UPSC answer key has to say..

Decision making

CSAT Paper II (2013) Decision Making Question No. 75 to 80
Question number (Booklet A) UPSC official answerkey
75. House-allotment to personal Secretary
  • A-explain him why allotment can’t be done.
  • C-Agree with office note to show unbiasedness.
76. Delhi taxi driver paying bribe to transport office. Should you turn blind eye?
  • A-ask clerk to give back money
  • C-take note of incident, later complaint
77. poor man came to complain collector, but collector busy
  • C-call senior subordinate, ask him to solve.
  • D-take complaint yourself and ask a few relevant questions
78. sugar quota order vs friendā€™s wedding
  • B-refuse to give extra sugar
  • C-show him copy
79. How to communicate to junta to adopt family planning?
  • A-it improves health and living std.
  • C-incentives for adopting a family planning devices.
80. collegue asking you to leak university paper for his ā€˜last attemptā€™ son.
  • B-refuse
  • C-explain violation of trust.

My own answerkey (under CSAT strategy article) Ā matches with UPSCā€™s. Just slight difference in just one single question: family planning communication:

  • UPSC says A or C
  • I had taken A or D

In short, by and large, Mrunalā€™s EBDTM (eliminate bad decision) technique works. Click to learn the technique on how to eliminate wrong decision.
Anyways, letā€™s move on, some GS MCQs that had debatable answers due to lack of clear cut reference. In all of the following questions, Iā€™m using Question booklet A.

Swamp deer

Q87. Consider the following fauna of India:

  1. Gharial
  2. Leatherback turtle
  3. Swamp deer

Which of the above is/are endangered?

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 3 only
  3. 1, 2 and 3
  4. None
Why was it debatable? UPSCā€™s official answer
India government websites click-me say Swamp deer endangered, while IUCN says it is only vulnerable. Hence debate between option A and C.
  • C: 1, 2 and 3
  • Meaning if sarkari sites say Swamp deer endangered then its endangered. The Examiner doesnā€™t refer to IUCN redlist.
  • I was taking IUCN as reference hence got wrong here.

Balance of Payment

41. The balance of payments of a country is a systematic record of

  1. all import and export transactions of a country during a given period of time, normally a year
  2. goods exported from a country during a year
  3. economic transaction between the government of one country to another
  4. capital movements from one country to another
Why was it debatable? UPSCā€™s official answer
None of the given options fully described all components of Balance of Payment. (observe chart below)
  • A
  • As such my answerkey also picked A, due to the mess. But my Personal opinion ā€“ that all options are wrongly framed.
  • Import export is just Balance of Trade.
  • While Balance of payment is a bigger thing that includes investment, remittance etc. observe the following chart. So from there, none of the options are correct.
UPSC official answerkey doesn't agree with this BoP classification

Balance of Payment (Click to Enlarge)

GDP

Q99. The national income of a country for a given period is equal to the

  1. total value of goods and services produced by the nationals
  2. sum of total consumption and investment expenditure
  3. sum of personal income of all individuals
  4. money value of final goods and services produced
Why was it debatable? UPSCā€™s official answer
Different books gave different formulas and people interpreted it in multiple ways.
  • D. money value of final goods and services produced.
  • My answerkey had ā€œAā€- so I was wrong in the interpretation here.

Ecosystem productivity

23. Which one of the following is the correct sequence of ecosystems in the order of decreasing productivity?

  1. Oceans, lakes, grasslands, mangroves
  2. Mangroves, oceans, grasslands, lakes
  3. Mangroves, grasslands, lakes, oceans
  4. Oceans, mangroves, lakes, grasslands
why debatable UPSCā€™s official answer
  • Different sources gave different interpretation based on how you look at ā€œproductivityā€ i.e. rate wise or in absolute quantity?
  • Hence both C and D seemed correct. (I wasnā€™t able to decide myself)
 C. meaning they were asking in context of ā€œrateā€ of biomass production.

Temperature coastal vs interior

60. The annual range of temperature in the interior of the continents is high as compared to coastal areas. What is / are the reason / reasons?

  1. Thermal difference between land and water.
  2. Variation in altitude between continents and oceans.
  3. Presence of strong winds in the interior
  4. Heavy rains in the interior as compared to coasts.
  1. 1 only
  2. 1 and 2 only
  3. 2 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2, 3 and 4
why debatable UPSCā€™s official answer
long storyĀ click me A only 1

Dynamic Changes on Earth surface

18. Consider the following:

  1. Electromagnetic radiation
  2. Geothermal energy
  3. Gravitational force
  4. Plate movements
  5. Rotation of the earth
  6. Revolution of the earth

Which of the above are responsible for bringing dynamic changes on the surface of the earth?

  1. 1, 2, 3 and 4 only
  2. 1, 3, 5 and 6 only
  3. 2, 4, 5 and 6 only
  4. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6
why debatable UPSCā€™s official answer
long storyĀ click me D all of them responsible.

Nirvana

37. Which one of the following describes best the concept of Nirvana in Buddhism?

  1. The extinction of the flame of desire
  2. The complete annihilation of self
  3. A state of bliss and rest
  4. A mental stage beyond all comprehension
why debatable UPSCā€™s official answer
long story click me A

Sankhya School

58. With reference to the history of philosophical thought in India, consider the following statements regarding Sankhya school:

  1. Sankhya does not accept the theory of rebirth or transmigration of soul.
  2. Sankhya holds that it is the self-knowledge that leads to liberation and not any exterior influence or agent.

Which of the statements given above is /are correct?

  1. 1only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
why debatable UPSCā€™s official answer
long story click me B only 2 correct.

Ball bearing

88. Ball bearings are used in bicycles, cars, etc., because

  1. The actual area of contact between the wheel and axle is increased
  2. The effective area of contact between the wheel and axle is increased
  3. The effective area of contact between the wheel and axle is reduced
  4. None of the statements is correct
why debatable UPSCā€™s official answer
Friction is independent of surface area of contact (Pearson Objective Physics For AIEEE page 77) hence I took D as the answer. C.

^these are few of the debatable questions I can recall. Afterall ~1 year has passed. Had UPSC released answer key just after prelims, we could analyze it better. now lot of the details have evaporated from head. Anyways, here are the links to my old answerkey on CSAT-2013 (GS), in case there are any more errors let me know (post in this present articleā€™s comment section).

  1. [Answerkey] CSAT 2013 Environment & Biodiversity (EnB)
  2. [Answerkey] CSAT 2013 GS: Science: Physics, Biology
  3. [Answerkey] CSAT 2013 GS: Geography: Physical, Indian, World Geography
  4. [Answerkey] CSAT 2013 GS: History & Culture
  5. [Answerkey] CSAT 2013 GS: Economy
  6. [Answerkey] CSAT 2013 GS: Polity