UPSC EPFO EO/AO 2023 · Question 1
Question 1 of the UPSC EPFO EO/AO Recruitment Test 2023 (General Ability Test) (2 July 2023). Try it first, then open the answer and explanation.
The first and sixth sentences of a passage are given as S1 and S6. The four sentences in between have been jumbled up and labelled P, Q, R and S. Choose the proper sequence of the four sentences. S1: Geological mapping, when properly done, demands skill and judgment. S6: Nothing is more naive than to believe that a field geologist should gather only 'facts', the interpretation of which is to be made at a later date. P: While the field work progresses he should conceive as many interpretations as are consistent with the known facts. Q: As the field work progresses and the larger geological picture begins to unfold, experience and judgment are essential if the geologist is to evaluate properly the vast number of facts gathered from thousands of outcrops. R: Such mapping requires keen observation and a knowledge of what data are significant. S: Above all, the field geologist must use the method of "working multiple hypotheses" to deduce the geological structure.
- SRQP
- RQSP
- PSQR
- SRPQ
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Answer: (2) RQSP
The order is RQSP. R must come first because "Such mapping" refers back to the geological mapping of S1 and spells out the skill it demands: keen observation and knowing which data matter. Q moves on to the progress of the field work, when experience and judgment are needed to evaluate the facts. S ("Above all") gives the most important requirement, the method of multiple hypotheses, and P explains it: "he", the field geologist of S, should form many interpretations while the work goes on. That leads into S6, which rejects gathering facts now and interpreting them later. Only RQSP begins with R.