UPSC Prelims 2012 · CSAT
Question 11: Reading Comprehension
What does low-carbon growth imply in the present context ?
- 1.More emphasis on the use of renewable sources of energy.
- 2.Less emphasis on manufacturing sector and more emphasis on agriculture sector.
- 3.Switching over from monoculture practices to mixed farming.
- 4.Less demand for goods and services.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below :
AnswerUPSC’s answer is (a).
Low-carbon growth means expanding the economy while emitting less carbon for each unit of output. The passage notes that developing economies use far less energy per head than today's developed ones did at similar incomes, which shows room for lower-carbon growth. Shifting toward renewable energy cuts emissions without cutting growth, so statement 1 fits. Statements 2 and 4 would reshape or shrink the economy rather than decarbonise it, and statement 3 is a farming practice, not a carbon measure. Remember: low-carbon is not no-growth.
- 1. Renewable energy lowers the carbon content of growth, the core of low-carbon growth.
- 2. Low-carbon growth does not require shrinking manufacturing in favour of agriculture.
- 3. Mixed farming over monoculture is a farming practice, not what low-carbon growth means here.
- 4. Growth with fewer emissions does not mean lower demand for goods and services.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Right. Renewable energy is the one statement that matches low-carbon growth.
- (b) Wrong. Statements 2, 3 and 4 do not describe low-carbon growth.
- (c) Wrong. Statement 4 equates low-carbon growth with lower demand, which it does not mean.
- (d) Wrong. Statement 1, more renewable energy, does describe low-carbon growth.
Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2012, General Studies Paper II (CSAT), Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.