UPSC Prelims 2013 · CSAT

Question 41: Reading Comprehension

Passage beginning “The law in many parts of the world…” — Passage – 1 · as printed by UPSC

What is the central theme of this passage ?

aAppropriate legislation is essential to protect the environment.

bModern agriculture is responsible for the destruction of environment.

cImproper waste disposal from agriculture can destroy the aquatic ecosystems.

dUse of chemical fertilizers is undesirable in agriculture.

AnswerUPSC’s answer is (c).

The passage moves from the legal restriction on discharging slurry, to how excess nutrients from runoff push lakes into eutrophication, to oceanic dead zones near river outlets. Its theme is the harm that improper disposal of farm waste does to aquatic ecosystems. Legislation is mentioned only in passing. Blaming modern agriculture as a whole, or calling chemical fertilizer undesirable, is broader than what the passage argues. For central-theme questions, choose the idea that covers the whole passage and no more.

Why each option is right or wrong

(a) Wrong. Law appears only at the start, not as the theme.
(b) Wrong. Too sweeping; the concern is improper waste and runoff, not all of modern agriculture.
(c) Right. Improper disposal of agricultural waste harms aquatic ecosystems.
(d) Wrong. The passage targets excess and improper release of nutrients, not the use of fertilizer as such.

Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2013, General Studies Paper II (CSAT), Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.