UPSC Previous Year Question Paper 2026 -Indian Economic Service - Indian Statistical Service Examination-GENERAL ENGLISH

Indian Economic Service - Indian Statistical Service Examination-GENERAL ENGLISH

1. Write an essay, in about 800 words, on any one of the following topics : 30  

(a) The need for rethinking primary education in India  

(b) Social media has trained the lens on all democratic institutions  

(c) Sport reflects the economy it emerges from  

(d) The crumbling geopolitical order and the challenges for India  

(e) Economic inequality is circumscribed by social inequality  

2. Write a précis of the following passage in your own words in about one-third of the original length. Do not give it a title : 30  

The total record of human evolution suggests that from his beginnings, man has sought to free himself from the restrictions and limitations of his habitat. This is the mainspring of cultural evolution, most of which has occurred during less than one percent of human history. However, it must be borne in mind that although people may welcome technological innovations that provide them with increasing mastery over their habitat, they tend to resist the necessary accompanying changes in their organization of social relations. It is in the social sphere that people tend to exhibit their greatest conservatism, and this is one of the reasons that cultural evolution seems to have been a slow process.  

There are three other sources of cultural evolution, in addition to technological innovations : contact between groups and the resulting dissemination of information and techniques, population growth, and political innovations (especially the development of centralized states). None of these is distinctive; all of them tend to occur simultaneously. This is especially true of the relationship between population growth and political development. However, population size and political development are themselves dependent on other factors, such as the level of technological development and habitational considerations.  

Every major technological advance in the course of cultural evolution—cultivation by means of a digging stick or hoe, plowing, terracing, large- scale centralized irrigation, domestication of large herds of animals, machines driven by steam or electricity—was discovered independently in a few places, but spread from its center of development to neighboring groups. This spread of technology continued until it was halted by a natural barrier—an ocean, mountains, a desert or a habitat in which the new system of production was useless. Simple examples are the barriers presented by an arctic region to the spread of cultivation techniques or by a hinterland to the spread of an ocean- fishing technology.  

Anthropologists generally refer to the spread of cultural elements from one group to another as 'diffusion' and 'borrowing'. These terms are used not only to refer to the spread of material elements of culture but also to the spread of all other aspects of culture. Perhaps 80 percent or more of the elements in any culture may have been borrowed from others. Thus human groups add to their stores of knowledge and productive techniques not only by themselves but, more importantly, by contact with other groups.  

UPSC Previous year question paper Indian Economic Service - Indian Statistical Service Examination, 2026-GENERAL ENGLISH exam  

The borrowing and transmission of cultural elements between groups is an integral feature of culture. All groups (with the possible exception of the Eskimo and the Australian aborigines) have been in contact with other groups throughout their histories. Sometimes groups were in direct contact even though they were separated by thousands of miles and all travel was by foot or by canoe (a fact that is often forgotten by people who have become accustomed to travel by car, train, or airplane). In premodern times, such contact was always personal; individuals from different groups introduced each other to new ways. In modern times, diffusion often is impersonal—by radio, television, films, books, and newspapers—and these media have accelerated the rate at which culture diffuses. Contact between groups is not always so peaceful as these examples suggest; often, an entire way of life is changed as a result of conquest by an alien and stronger society.  

Largely because of the inevitability of diffusion and borrowing, most societies in a common geographical area are at approximately the same level of cultural development. This is not always the case, however, as the contiguity of cultivators and herders or the Kung Bushmen and their cultivator neighbors attests. Sometimes neighboring groups display different levels of adaptation because their respective habitats will not accommodate each other's technology; this often appears to be the case with neighboring herders and cultivators. In other instances, traditionalism or animosity between neighboring groups can raise barriers to diffusion and borrowing. Important cultural differences between neighboring groups at the same level of adaptation may result from their different historical backgrounds.  

Cultural borrowing does not occur at random or fortuitously. The adoption of a new technology, ceremonial pattern or religion, legal system or mode of etiquette reflects a decision (usually implicit rather than explicit) that people cannot treat lightly or allow to happen without direction. Chaos would result if every new technique, idea, or custom was adopted by a group every time someone learned about it or independently discovered it. Order, regularity, and stability are the hallmarks of social life, and they must govern the introduction and adoption of new cultural elements. Hence, cultural evolution requires decision-making and decision-implementing within the group, viewed as a unit of adaptation.  

(769 words)  

3. Write a paragraph, in about 200 words, on any one of the following expressions/statements : 10  

(a) When everyone thinks alike, no one thinks much.  

(b) Stigma is a greater barrier than impairment.  

(c) Talent is universal, opportunity is not.  

4. Use the following words, each in a single sentence. Bring out the meaning clearly without changing the form of the word. No credit will be given for a vague or ambiguous sentence : 2×5=10  

(a) Intrinsic  

(b) Unilateral  

(c) Economize  

(d) Conundrum  

(e) Hanker  

5. Use the following idioms in single sentences, so as to bring out their meaning clearly : 2×5=10  

(a) on a shoestring  

(b) bite the bullet  

(c) cook the books  

(d) barking up the wrong tree  

(e) under the weather  

6. Correct the following sentences without changing their meaning. Do not make unnecessary changes in the original sentence : 1×10=10  

(a) They must be talking about it for ages.  

(b) She said, How can you do this?  

(c) Sun is the source of life on our planet.  

(d) An extremely tall man came around the corner.  

(e) It is a walled garden, consisted of a stone arch and two sections for vegetables.  

(f) According to psychology, shop lifting is a compulsory behavioural trait.  

(g) They insisted that he consulted a psychiatrist.  

(h) I can remember it as if it was yesterday.  

(i) We wanted to discuss about the arrangements for the wedding.  

(j) It is not long enough, isn't it?

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