UPSC CIVIL SERVICES PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION

UPSC Prelims 2023— Question 97

2023General Studies Paper-IInternational RelationsGeopoliticsmoderate
Q97

Question

Consider the following pairs : Area of conflict Country where mentioned in news it is located 1. Don bas Syria 2. Kachin Ethiopia 3. Tigray North Yemen How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?

Options

A
Only one
B
Only two
C
All three
D
None✓ Correct Answer
AnswerOption D

Explanation

This question tests Donbas, Kachin and Tigray under Conflict Geography. The central point is Donbas is Ukraine, Kachin is Myanmar and Tigray is Ethiopia. Option A: Only one. This distractor is not the keyed answer because it conflicts with the specific factual relationship, chronology, institutional role, geographic association or conceptual distinction tested in the question. Option B: Only two. This distractor is not the keyed answer because it conflicts with the specific factual relationship, chronology, institutional role, geographic association or conceptual distinction tested in the question. Option C: All three. This distractor is not the keyed answer because it conflicts with the specific factual relationship, chronology, institutional role, geographic association or conceptual distinction tested in the question. Option D: None. This is the keyed answer because it matches the governing fact or concept: Donbas is Ukraine, Kachin is Myanmar and Tigray is Ethiopia. The question should be approached by checking each statement independently rather than accepting a familiar phrase at face value. This is particularly important in UPSC questions where a single incorrect institutional attribution, location, chronology, absolute word or causal link can invalidate an otherwise plausible option. The broader revision takeaway is to connect the keyed answer with the underlying concept rather than memorizing only the letter. The options also illustrate how UPSC constructs distractors by mixing correct facts with one altered detail. In revision, candidates should therefore retain both the positive fact and the nearest contrasting fact so that the same concept can be recognized when the framing changes in another year.

Question Classification

SubjectInternational Relations
TopicGeopolitics
SubtopicTerminal topic
Question TypeStatement-based MCQ
Difficultymoderate
VerificationVerified