UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — IAS candidates may have to sit for screening test

Q1. The preliminary screening examination deliberated in 1975–76, and the present-day Civil Services Examination, are conducted by which one of the following bodies?

  • A. Staff Selection Commission
  • B. Union Public Service Commission
  • C. Department of Personnel and Training
  • D. Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration

Q2. Successful Civil Services Examination candidates allotted to the Indian Administrative Service come under a cadre-controlling authority that is vested solely in which one of the following?

  • A. Ministry of Home Affairs
  • B. Union Public Service Commission
  • C. Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
  • D. Ministry of External Affairs

Q3. With reference to the structure of the Civil Services Examination as it evolved after the 1970s, which of the following are correctly identified?

  1. The Preliminary Examination is an objective-type screening test whose marks are not carried to the final merit list.
  2. The Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) was introduced as Paper-II of the Preliminary Examination in 2011.
  3. The final stage of selection is a personality test (interview).
  4. The Preliminary Examination was introduced along with the commencement of the Constitution in 1950.
  • A. 1 and 4
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 1, 3 and 4

Q4. With reference to the constitutional provisions governing the Union Public Service Commission, which of the following are correctly identified?

  1. The UPSC is established under Article 315 of the Constitution.
  2. The Chairman and other members of the UPSC are appointed by the President of India.
  3. At least one-half of the members of the Commission must be persons who have held office for at least ten years under the Government of India or a State Government.
  4. A member of the UPSC can be removed by a simple-majority resolution of Parliament.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 1 and 4 only
  • C. 2 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q5. Under the Constitution, a member of the Union Public Service Commission holds office for a term of how many years, or until attaining the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier?

  • A. 3 years
  • B. 5 years
  • C. 6 years
  • D. 10 years

Q6. In the present two-paper Civil Services Preliminary Examination, which one of the following is the merit-deciding paper whose score alone determines qualification for the Main Examination?

  • A. General Studies Paper-I
  • B. General Studies Paper-II (CSAT)
  • C. The optional subject paper
  • D. The Essay paper

Q7. From which year was the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT), i.e. Paper-II of the Preliminary Examination, made a purely qualifying paper whose marks are no longer counted in the cut-off?

  • A. 2011
  • B. 2013
  • C. 2015
  • D. 2017

Q8. The expert committee constituted by the UPSC to review the scheme of the Civil Services Examination — including its age-limit and attempt provisions — whose report recommended, among other things, raising the annual IAS intake, was chaired by whom?

  • A. B. S. Baswan
  • B. D. S. Kothari
  • C. Satish Chandra
  • D. Y. K. Alagh

Q9. In the context of the eligibility rules for the Civil Services Examination, an 'attempt' by a candidate is counted when the candidate—

  • A. appears in at least one paper of the Preliminary Examination
  • B. merely submits the online application form
  • C. appears in the Main (written) Examination
  • D. is called for the personality test (interview)