Which of the following pairs of Asian languages are official languages of the United Nations?

Introduction / Context:
The United Nations works in several official languages to ensure that its proceedings and documents are accessible to member states around the globe. Knowledge of these official languages is a favourite area for general knowledge questions, because it links geography, culture, and international organisation structure. This question narrows the focus to pairs of Asian languages and asks which pair correctly represents languages that have official status at the United Nations.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The question is limited to Asian languages among the official UN languages.
• Four options list different combinations of Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, and Arabic.
• The full list of UN official languages is Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish, and Arabic.
• We assume that the student can match this list with the given options.

Concept / Approach:
The conceptual step is to recall the complete list of six official United Nations languages and then focus on which of those can be categorised as Asian. Among the six, Chinese and Arabic are clearly Asian languages by geographic and cultural origin. Japanese and Hindi are important Asian languages but do not have official status at the United Nations. Therefore, the only correct pair among the options is Chinese and Arabic.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: List the six official UN languages from memory, which are Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish, and Arabic.Step 2: Identify which of these six are Asian, namely Chinese and Arabic.Step 3: Examine each option to see which pair matches these two languages.Step 4: Note that options involving Japanese or Hindi include at least one language that is not an official UN language.Step 5: Choose Chinese and Arabic as given in option D as the correct pair.

Verification / Alternative check:
Another verification method is to recall where UN headquarters and major offices are located and which languages are typically used in official signage and documents. Images and news coverage from the United Nations clearly show multilingual nameplates and documents listing Chinese and Arabic, but not Hindi or Japanese, among the official languages. Also, official UN information pages list these six languages explicitly, reinforcing that Chinese and Arabic are both official, while Japanese and Hindi are not.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A, Chinese and Japanese, is wrong because Japanese is not an official language of the United Nations.Option B, Chinese and Hindi, is wrong because Hindi, despite being widely spoken, does not have official United Nations language status.Option C, Japanese and Arabic, is wrong because Japanese again is not among the six official UN languages.

Common Pitfalls:
Many students assume that languages with large numbers of speakers, such as Hindi or Japanese, must be official languages of the UN. However, official status depends on historical and political negotiations rather than solely on number of speakers. Another pitfall is to remember only the English and French components and forget the rest, leading to confusion when faced with partial lists involving Asian languages. Regular revision of the complete list of six official United Nations languages can easily prevent this type of mistake.

Final Answer:
Chinese and Arabic