UPSC Prelims 2019 · CSAT
Question 8: Reading Comprehension
Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made :
- 1.Global warming has a bearing on the planet's biological evolution.
- 2.Separation of land masses causes the release of huge quantities of carbon into the atmosphere.
- 3.Increased warming of Earth's atmosphere can change the composition of its flora and fauna.
- 4.The present man-made global warming will finally lead to conditions similar to those which happened 56 million years ago.
Which of the assumptions given above are valid ?
AnswerUPSC’s answer is (c).
The passage describes a sudden, massive carbon release about 56 million years ago that warmed Earth rapidly, brought droughts, floods and a few extinctions, and left life drastically different. So warming affects biological evolution (1) and can change the mix of plants and animals (3). It does not say that separating continents released carbon (2), nor that today's human-driven warming will reproduce those conditions (4); it only compares the amounts of carbon.
- 1. The warming episode left life drastically different, so warming bears on evolution.
- 2. No link between separating land masses and carbon release is made.
- 3. Warming brought extinctions and changed life, so it can alter flora and fauna.
- 4. The passage compares carbon amounts but does not predict the same outcome today.
How you could have got this
- If you were sure statement 1 is correct, (b) and (d) go: each of them leaves 1 out.
What you needed to know: The warming episode left life drastically different, so warming bears on evolution.
- Then, if you were sure statement 2 is not correct, (a) goes: it includes 2.
What you needed to know: No link between separating land masses and carbon release is made.
Only (c) is left. You didn’t need statements 3 or 4.
Which options go is worked out from UPSC’s key and the options, not by a model.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Wrong: 2 is not stated; the opening of the Atlantic is only background.
- (b) Wrong: 4 is a prediction the passage does not make.
- (c) Right: 1 and 3 follow from the warming episode and its effects on life.
- (d) Wrong: neither 2 nor 4 is supported.
Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2019, General Studies Paper II (CSAT), Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.