UPSC Prelims 2018 · CSAT

Question 50: Reading Comprehension

Passage beginning “Cooking with biomass and coal in…” — Passage—2 · as printed by UPSC

Which of the following is the most crucial and logical inference that can be made from the above passage?

aRural people are giving up the use of polluting solid fuels due to their increasing awareness of health hazards.

bSubsidizing the use of clean cooking fuels will solve the problem of India's indoor air pollution.

cIndia should increase its import of natural gas and produce more electricity.

dAccess to cooking gas can reduce premature deaths in poor households.

AnswerUPSC’s answer is (d).

The passage says household air pollution from biomass and coal causes over ten lakh premature deaths a year, with women and children of poor households most at risk, while the fraction using clean fuels such as LPG rises only slowly. The inference that follows is that access to cooking gas can reduce premature deaths in poor households. Option (a) clashes with the unchanged number using solid fuels, and options (b) and (c) bring in subsidies and imports the passage never mentions.

Why each option is right or wrong

(a) The passage says the number using solid fuels has not fallen in decades.
(b) Subsidies are never mentioned, and 'will solve' is too strong.
(c) Imports of natural gas and electricity generation are not discussed.
(d) Correct: clean cooking fuel can cut deaths from household air pollution.

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

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2018, General Studies Paper II (CSAT), Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.