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CSAT 2026 paper

UPSC CSE CSAT 2026 · Question 26 · Reading comprehension

Which of the following conclusions is/are valid?

Directions for the next 3 (three) items: Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers should be based solely on the passage.

Passage

When SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in 2019, it was a truly novel virus for the world. At that time, no one in the world had been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 or had specific immunity against it. In contrast, people across the world have been exposed to HMPV for decades and the virus is well-studied. HMPV and SARS-CoV-2 belong to two very different virus families with fundamentally different characteristics and epidemiology, with strong seasonality seen in HMPV, unlike SARS-CoV-2. Both viruses cause different severity of symptoms, particularly over the long term, and the affected population segments do not fully overlap. In general, HMPV causes milder illness with deaths being very rare and with no long-term post-viral symptoms.

CSAT 2026 · Q26

Reading comprehension Medium Provisional key

Which of the following conclusions is/are valid?

  1. 1.Though SARS-CoV-2 and HMPV are similar viruses with somewhat different epidemiology, the former became a pandemic because it was novel and people had not been exposed to it in the past.
  2. 2.The two viruses have fundamentally different impacts on human populations and should not therefore be dealt with in a similar manner.

Select the answer using the code given below.

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 2 only

The passage stresses that the two viruses are very different in family, epidemiology, severity and the people they affect, which supports not treating them alike. Statement 1 calls them 'similar viruses' and brings in a pandemic the passage never mentions.

  • ✗ 1. The passage says they belong to 'two very different virus families with fundamentally different characteristics and epidemiology' — not 'similar viruses with somewhat different epidemiology'. It also says nothing about a pandemic.
  • ✓ 2. Different severity, different long-term effects and non-overlapping affected groups add up to different impacts, which is the passage's reason for not equating HMPV with SARS-CoV-2.

Remember · Reject a statement that contradicts the passage's core contrast, even if its second half sounds reasonable.

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper II (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·

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