MAINS SELF STUDY GUIDE: Insights Mock Test – 20 (GS-4)
TIMETABLE
NOTE: Those who want to write in notebook should treat this as a Real Exam and try to complete the paper within One and Half Hours. You can download PDF copy of the same HERE. The Timetable is HERE.
Insights Mains Offline Test Series 2015
GENERAL STUDIES – 4
Mock Test – 20
09 November 2015
Duration: 3 Hours
Section – A
Answer ALL the questions in this section in NOT more than 150 words:
- (a) If scientists find native life on Mars and if colonizing this planet becomes a possibility, will it be ethical to colonize? Critically comment.
(b) With real life examples, illustrate the differences between teleological and deontological ethics.
- (a) Is affirmative action or reservation by the government for scheduled castes, tribes and backward classes ethical? Justify.
(b) One of the big questions in moral philosophy is whether or not there are unchanging moral rules that apply in all cultures and at all times. Are there moral rules that apply to everyone? Examine.
- (a) Are sting operations ethical? Critically comment.
(b) Can War be just and ethical? Comment.
- (a) Is it ethical to lie under certain circumstances? Discuss.
(b) What are the essential constituents of empathy? Elaborate.
- (a) A public servant like everyone has a personal life, but she also has huge responsibility towards public welfare. What steps you should take so as to balance both your personal and professional life?
(b) It is said that India is becoming an intolerant society. What values does one require to be tolerant? Why do you think intolerance is on the rise? Discuss.
- Nowadays, ethics and morality of surveillance is debated all over the world. What are the ethical challenges posed by surveillance? Analyze.
- “A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral.” Do you agree with this view? Critically comment.
- A private medical university, reputed for discovering life saving drugs, is entirely funded from profits gained by selling tobacco products. Is it unethical for university to continue to operate using such funds? Critically comment.
Section – B
In the following questions, carefully study the cases presented and then answer the questions that follow:
- You are an inmate in a concentration camp. A sadistic guard is about to hang your son who tried to escape and wants you to pull the chair from underneath him. He says that if you don’t he will not only kill your son but some other innocent inmate as well. You don’t have any doubt that he means what he says.
What Options are available to you? What is the best course of action for you? Justify. (150 Words)
If you were in your son’s position, what would you advise your father and why? (100 Words)
- You are working as HR manager in a private company. You have been given several awards at young age by company’s top management in recognition of your efficiency and honesty. Recently, a very close friend of yours, who has lost both his parents and looking for a job after completing his education from a charity college approaches you to provide him a job in your company. He has required qualifications to fill a job post for which the company has recently published an advertisement but he wants you to choose him over others if there are more qualified persons so as to help him overcome his difficulties in life. But many people have applied for this job that are even more qualified. Your friend is reeling under extreme poverty and this job can change his life for better. He has come to you because you are the only person whom he knows in the city and whom he trusts to help him in the hour of need. He also reminds you gently and politely the promise you had made to him few years ago, to help him find a job.
Is it ethical to recruit your friend to the job bypassing other qualified aspirants? Justify (150 Words)
Is your friend justified in seeking favour from you knowing that he will be snatching job from more qualified person than him? Justify (100 Words)
- In India, especially in metro cities, divorce and breakup rates among young couples are on the rise. This trend is causing serious problems to affected individuals and families. Can you analyze this problem in detail and examine socio-economic, emotional and attitudinal factors responsible for this problem? Also, distinctly bring out how –
(i) Working women are affected by this trend?
(ii) It will affect family values and culture?
What feasible steps can you suggest to control this problem in India?
- Raksha clears civil services rank and gets IAS in her very first attempt. In the training academy she meets her batch mates and finds that few individuals lack the kind of commitment, values and ethics needed to become civil servants. In her chat she finds that a person who has secured a rank in top 25 boasts too much about his influential background and why he chose civil services. He keeps saying that he chose IAS because he feels this service provides him opportunity to make powerful friends and help his father expand his business using powerful links in government. He says he has no problem in receiving bribes from rich people as long as it doesn’t land him in trouble. Another guy tells her that he got bored of private job and he chose IAS just to enjoy power that comes with it. Raksha feels disgusted with such individuals. However, fortunately she finds that majority trainees are ethical and have concern for society. But she thinks that it is her duty to write a confidential report to the academy director, to the President of India and to other concerned authorities about trainees whom she thinks do not deserve to be IAS officers. She buys tiny spy cameras and decides to record conversations of such individuals to send a detailed report with evidence. She wants such individuals to be removed from service.
Is Raksha justified in her actions? Critically comment. (150 Words)
What would you do if you were in her position? Justify. (100 Words)
- As a secretary, you have access to confidential information in the urban development ministry concerning future projects. Your son is a realty developer. He is under severe debt and has slipped into depression ever since banks and private lenders have approached him for the repayment of loan. Many have issued threats to him too. You come to know of ministry’s plan to notify thousand acres outside city for the creation of Tech Township. If the land is notified, the surrounding land prices will increase many folds. Looking at the condition of your son, you decide to ask your son to buy few acres of land adjacent to the land that will be notified shortly. But your husband, who also works in your department, wants you to remain silent. He thinks it is unethical to do so. But if you do not help your son, chances are that he might commit suicide.
What options are available to you in this situation? Which option will you choose? Justify. (200 Words)
- A madman who has threatened to explode several bombs in crowded areas has been apprehended. Unfortunately, he has already planted the bombs and they are scheduled to go off in a short time. It is possible that hundreds of people may die. The authorities cannot make him divulge the location of the bombs by conventional methods. He refuses to say anything and requests a lawyer to protect his right against self-incrimination (make him admit he is guilty). In exasperation, some high level official suggests torture. This would be illegal, of course, but the official thinks that it is nevertheless the right thing to do in this desperate situation. Do you agree? If you do, would it also be morally justifiable to torture the mad bomber’s innocent wife if that is the only way to make him talk? Why? (250 Words)
