UPSC Prelims 2021 · CSAT
Question 11: Reading Comprehension
On the basis of the passage given above, the following assumptions have been made :
- 1.Fig trees can often be keystone species in natural forests.
- 2.Fig trees can grow where other large woody species cannot grow.
- 3.Sacred trees can have a role in biodiversity conservation.
- 4.Fig trees have a role in the seed dispersal of other tree species.
Which of the above assumptions is/are valid ?
AnswerUPSC’s answer is (d).
Check each assumption against the passage. Fig trees supply food to wildlife when little else is available and support many fruit-eating animals, which points to a keystone role (1). Sacred fig trees may keep fruit-eater numbers up even in disturbed sites, so sacred trees can help conserve biodiversity (3). Seedlings of other tree species come up around them, implying that visiting animals disperse those seeds (4). Being common where other large trees are absent shows where they stand, not that they can grow where others cannot (2). Remember: separate where a plant is found from where it alone can survive.
- 1. Food for wildlife in lean times and support for many fruit-eaters mark a keystone role.
- 2. Being common where other large trees are absent does not show they grow where others cannot; those trees may simply have been cleared.
- 3. Sacred figs may sustain fruit-eating animals even in disturbed sites, which helps biodiversity.
- 4. Seedlings of other species growing around fig trees imply that visitors drop their seeds there.
How you could have got this
- If you were sure statement 1 is correct, (b) and (c) go: each of them leaves 1 out.
What you needed to know: Food for wildlife in lean times and support for many fruit-eaters mark a keystone role.
- Then, if you were sure statement 2 is not correct, (a) goes: it includes 2.
What you needed to know: Being common where other large trees are absent does not show they grow where others cannot; those trees may simply have been cleared.
Only (d) 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) Includes 2, which confuses where fig trees are found with where they alone can grow, and omits the valid 3 and 4.
- (b) 3 is valid but not the only valid one; 1 and 4 also follow.
- (c) 2 does not follow, and this leaves out the valid 1 and 3.
- (d) Right: 1, 3 and 4 follow from the passage; 2 does not.
Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2021, General Studies Paper II (CSAT), Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.