UPSC Prelims 2018— Question 18

**Concept and analysis:** During the period around 2017–2018, Yemen and South Sudan were among the world's most severe humanitarian crises, with conflict, displacement, food insecurity and acute malnutrition. The question's combination of war/ethnic conflict and famine-like conditions is therefore associated with these two countries rather than Angola, Zambia, Morocco, Tunisia, Venezuela or Colombia in the specific context described. The question is testing precise UPSC-level identification rather than a broad association. The key is to distinguish the exact institutional, constitutional, historical, geographical, economic or scientific feature being asked. **Option-wise evaluation** **Option A:** Incorrect. Angola and Zambia is a different institution, place, definition, proposition or description and does not satisfy the specific requirement of the question. **Option B:** Incorrect. Morocco and Tunisia is a different institution, place, definition, proposition or description and does not satisfy the specific requirement of the question. **Option C:** Incorrect. Venezuela and Colombia is a different institution, place, definition, proposition or description and does not satisfy the specific requirement of the question. **Option D:** Correct. Yemen and South Sudan directly matches the concept or factual identification established in the analysis. **UPSC takeaway:** The safest way to solve this type of question is to anchor the answer in the defining feature of the concept and then test every option against that feature. Closely related institutions or terms are often used as distractors. In statement-based questions, do not judge the option as a whole before checking each statement independently. In factual questions, compare the wording of each option with the exact definition, location, institutional role, chronology or scientific property. The correct answer follows from that verification rather than from familiarity with a keyword.