Match List – I with List – II and select the correct answer by using the codes given below : List – I (Desert) – List – II (Location) A. Gobi – i. Southern Africa B. Patagonia – ii. Asia C. Victoria – iii. South America D. Kalahari – iv. Australia Codes :

Correct — option (1), A-ii, B-iii, C-iv, D-i.

A-ii, Gobi – Asia. Wikipedia describes the Gobi as a large, cold desert and grassland region in southern Mongolia and North China.

B-iii, Patagonia – South America. The Patagonian Desert lies mainly in Argentina, with areas of Chile, bounded by the Andes to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.

C-iv, Victoria – Australia. The Great Victoria Desert spans Western Australia and South Australia. Explorer Ernest Giles, the first European to cross it (1875), named it after Queen Victoria.

D-i, Kalahari – Southern Africa. The Kalahari is a semi-arid sandy savanna covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa.

Two pairs settle the code. A-ii appears only in options (1) and (3), and of those only option (1) has B-iii. Option (1), A-ii, B-iii, C-iv, D-i, is the only code with all four pairs right.

The idea to remember: Gobi–Asia, Patagonia–South America, Great Victoria–Australia, Kalahari–southern Africa.

Why the others are wrong

• (2)
  A-iv, B-ii, C-iii, D-i — Only D-i, Kalahari – Southern Africa, is right here.

  The code sends the Gobi to Australia, Patagonia to Asia and Victoria to South America. The Gobi is in Mongolia and North China, Patagonia in Argentina and Chile, and the Great Victoria Desert in Western and South Australia.

• (3)
  A-ii, B-i, C-iii, D-iv — This code gets the Gobi right but rotates the other three. It puts Patagonia in southern Africa, Victoria in South America and the Kalahari in Australia.

  The Kalahari covers much of Botswana, with parts of Namibia and South Africa; Australia's desert in this list is the Great Victoria.

• (4)
  A-iii, B-iv, C-i, D-ii — Every pair in this code is wrong: Gobi – South America, Patagonia – Australia, Victoria – southern Africa and Kalahari – Asia.

  The Patagonian Desert is South American: it lies east of the Andes, and Wikipedia says the Andes block moist westerly air from the Pacific, creating the rain shadow that forms the desert.

Deserts form for different reasons, and the reason often explains the location.

Patagonia is a rain-shadow desert: Wikipedia says the Andes to its west inhibit the westerly flow of moisture from the southern Pacific. The Gobi lies on the Mongolian Plateau; Wikipedia traces its name to the Mongolian word gov', 'dryland'.

Not every desert is sand dunes. Wikipedia calls the Gobi a cold desert and grassland region, and the Kalahari a semi-arid sandy savanna.

Key facts

• Wikipedia: the Gobi is a large, cold desert and grassland region in southern Mongolia and North China.
• Wikipedia: the Patagonian Desert lies primarily in Argentina, with areas of Chile, bounded by the Andes to the west and the Atlantic to the east.
• Wikipedia: the Andes block westerly moisture from the southern Pacific, creating the rain shadow that forms the Patagonian Desert.
• Wikipedia: the Great Victoria Desert lies in Western Australia and South Australia; Ernest Giles named it after Queen Victoria.
• Wikipedia: the Kalahari is a semi-arid sandy savanna covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa.

Common traps

• Matching 'Victoria' by the name alone: the Great Victoria Desert is in Australia, named by Ernest Giles after Queen Victoria.
• Placing the Kalahari in Australia: it covers much of Botswana, with parts of Namibia and South Africa.
• Treating Patagonia as a country: it is a region, and its desert lies mainly in Argentina, with parts of Chile.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2021 and 2016 here once those papers are published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Great Victoria Desert is located in which country?

  • (a)Mongolia
  • (b)Australia
  • (c)Chile
  • (d)Botswana
  Answer(2) — Wikipedia places the Great Victoria Desert in Western Australia and South Australia. Option (1) holds part of the Gobi; option (3) holds part of the Patagonian Desert; option (4) holds much of the Kalahari.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which desert is described as a rain-shadow desert formed east of the Andes?

  • (a)Gobi
  • (b)Kalahari
  • (c)Patagonian
  • (d)Great Victoria
  Answer(3) — Wikipedia says the Andes, to the west of the Patagonian Desert, block moisture from the southern Pacific and create its rain shadow. Option (1) is in Mongolia and China, option (2) in southern Africa and option (4) in Australia, none of them east of the Andes.