UPSC Prelims 2018— Question 39

**Concept and analysis:** A Speaker of a State Legislative Assembly ceases to hold office when he or she ceases to be a member of the Assembly. However, dissolution of the Assembly does not immediately vacate the Speaker's office; Article 179 specifically provides that the Speaker continues until immediately before the first meeting of the new Assembly. Hence only the first statement is correct. 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:** Correct. It selects statements 1; these are the statements supported by the relevant constitutional, economic, historical, scientific or geographical facts. **Option B:** Incorrect. It selects 2only, but that combination does not match the verified statement-level assessment; it either includes a false statement or omits a true one. **Option C:** Incorrect. It selects Both 1 and 2, but that combination does not match the verified statement-level assessment; it either includes a false statement or omits a true one. **Option D:** Incorrect. It selects Neither 1 nor 2, but that combination does not match the verified statement-level assessment; it either includes a false statement or omits a true one. **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.