UPSC CSE Prelims CSAT (Paper II) previous year questions on Work and Time (Quantitative Ability), asked from 2013–2025, with answers. There are 13 questions in this post. Attempt each question, then click Show Answer to check.
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1] A set (X) of 20 pipes can fill 70% of a tank in 14 minutes. Another set (Y) of 10 pipes fills 3/8th of the tank in 6 minutes. A third set (Z) of 16 pipes can empty half of the tank in 20 minutes. If half of the pipes of set X are closed and only half of the pipes of set Y are open, and all pipes of the set (Z) are open, then how long will it take to fill 50% of the tank? [2025/45]
(a) 8 minutes
(b) 10 minutes
(c) 12 minutes
(d) 16 minutes
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Ans: (d) 16 minutes
2] X can complete one-third of a certain work in 6 days, Y can complete one-third of the same work in 8 days and Z can complete three-fourth of the same work in 12 days. All of them work together for n days and then X and Z quit and Y alone finishes the remaining work in 8⅔ days. What is n equal to? [2025/59]
(a) 3
(b) 4
(c) 5
(d) 6
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Ans: (b) 4
3] A certain number of men can complete a piece of work in 6k days, where k is a natural number. By what percent should the number of men be increased so that the work can be completed in 5k days? [2024/7]
(a) 10 %
(b) (50/3) %
(c) 20%
(d) 25%
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Ans: (c) 20%
4] X, Y and Z can complete a piece of work individually in 6 hours, 8 hours and 8 hours respectively. However, only one person at a time can work in each hour and nobody can work for two consecutive hours. All are engaged to finish the work. What is the minimum amount of time that they will take to finish the work? [2024/8]
(a) 6 hours 15 minutes
(b) 6 hours 30 minutes
(c) 6 hours 45 minutes
(d) 7 hours
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Ans: (c) 6 hours 45 minutes
5] A, B, C working independently can do a piece of work in 8, 16 and 12 days respectively. A alone works on Monday. B alone works on Tuesday, C alone works on Wednesday, A alone, again works on Thursday and so on. Consider the following statements:
1. The work will be finished on Thursday.
2. The work will be finished in 10 days.
Which of the above statements is/are correct? [2023/20]
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
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Ans: (a) 1 only
6] 24 men and 12 women can do a piece of work in 30 days. In how many days can 12 men and 24 women do the same piece of work? [2022/57]
(a) 30 days
(b) More than 30 days
(c) Less than 30 days or more than 30 days
(d) Data is inadequate to draw any conclusion
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Ans: (d) Data is inadequate to draw any conclusion
7] A man completes 7/8 of a job in 21 days. How many more days will it take him to finish the job if quantum of work is further increased by 50%? [2021/80]
(a) 24
(b) 21
(c) 18
(d) 15
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Ans: (d) 15
8] P works thrice as fast as Q, whereas P and Q together can work four times as fast as R. If P, Q and R together work on a job, in what ratio should they share the earnings? [2017/54]
(a) 3:1:1
(b) 3:2:4
(c) 4:3:4
(d) 3:1:4
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Ans: (a) 3:1:1
9] There is an order of 19000 quantity of a particular product from a customer. The firm produces 1000 quantity of that product per day out of which 5% are unfit for sale. In how many days will the order be completed? [2016/20]
(a) 18
(b) 19
(c) 20
(d) 22
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Ans: (c) 20
10] Ram and Shyam work on a job together for four days and complete 60% of it. Ram takes leave then and Shyam works for eight more days to complete the job. How long would Ram take to complete the entire job alone? [2016/60]
(a) 6 days
(b) 8 days
(c) 10 days
(d) 11 days
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Ans: (c) 10 days
11] W can do 25% of a work-in 30 days, X can do 1/4 of the work in 10 days, Y can do 40% of the work in 40 days and Z can do 1/3 of the work in 13 days. Who will complete the work first? [2016/76]
(a) W
(b) X
(c) Y
(d) Z
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Ans: (d) Z
12] Two pipes A and B can independently fill a tank completely in 20 and 30 minutes respectively. If both the pipes are opened simultaneously, how much time will they take to fill the tank completely? [2015/53]
(a) 10 minutes
(b) 12 minutes
(c) 15 minutes
(d) 25 minutes
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Ans: (b) 12 minutes
13] Consider the following diagrams:
x men, working at constant speed, do a certain job in y days. Which one of these diagrams shows the relation between x and y? [2013/47]
(a) Diagram I
(b) Diagram II
(c) Diagram III
(d) Diagram IV
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Ans: (d) Diagram IV
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