UPSC EPFO EO/AO 2023 · Question 4
Question 4 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: Income inequality in less-developed countries is worse than most estimates. S6: The tax regime in these countries needs to be progressive and futuristic. P: There is a staggering level of difference between the income metrics and the actual income of the prosperous in such countries. Q: The effective tax rates are not really progressive with regard to income. R: They need to be reengineered to bring into the tax net the enormous sums of 'missing' income. S: They are even less so with regard to wealth.
- PQSR
- QSPR
- QSRP
- SRPQ
Show answer
Answer: (2) QSPR
The keyed order is QSPR. Q and S are a fixed pair: "even less so" in S needs "not really progressive" in Q (on income, then wealth). P then points to the gap between measured income and the actual income of the prosperous, and R gives the remedy: reengineer the tax rates to bring this "missing" income into the tax net, as S6 sums up. SRPQ fails because S cannot open, and QSRP mentions the "missing" income before P explains it. PQSR, with P explaining S1's "worse than most estimates" and R's "They" directly after S's "They", reads at least as naturally. (Official key; some sources differ.)