UPSC Prelims 2018— Question 24

**Concept and analysis:** The two-state solution refers to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the idea of establishing two states, Israel and Palestine, living alongside each other. It is therefore a West Asian geopolitical and diplomatic concept, not a term describing China, Iraq or Yemen. 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. China is a different institution, place, definition, proposition or description and does not satisfy the specific requirement of the question. **Option B:** Correct. Israel directly matches the concept or factual identification established in the analysis. **Option C:** Incorrect. Iraq is a different institution, place, definition, proposition or description and does not satisfy the specific requirement of the question. **Option D:** Incorrect. Yemen is a different institution, place, definition, proposition or description and does not satisfy the specific requirement of the question. **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.