UPSC Prelims 2023 · CSAT

Question 35: Reading Comprehension

Passage beginning “Food consumption patterns have changed substantially…” — Passage – 3 · as printed by UPSC

Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made :

1.To implement the Sustainable Development Goals and to achieve zero-hunger goal, monoculture agriculture practices are inevitable even if they do not address malnutrition.
2.Dependence on a few crops has negative consequences for human health and the ecosystem.
3.Government policies regarding food planning need to incorporate nutritional security.
4.For the present monoculture agriculture practices, farmers receive subsidies in various ways and government offers remunerative prices for grains and therefore they do not tend to consider crop diversity.

Which of the above assumptions are valid ?

a1, 2 and 4 only

b2 and 3 only

c3 and 4 only

d1, 2, 3 and 4

AnswerUPSC’s answer is (b).

Check each against the passage. Statement 1 fails: monoculture is said to degrade land, water and food and to keep nutrition insecurity alive, so it is not inevitable. Statement 2 holds: reliance on a few staples harms nutrition and the ecosystem. Statement 3 holds: a production focus alone left malnutrition unsolved, so policy must cover nutritional security. Statement 4 is not stated: subsidies and remunerative prices are never mentioned. Valid: 2 and 3.

1. Monoculture is said to worsen the nutrition problem, so it is not inevitable.
2. Reliance on few crops harms nutrition, land, water and food quality.
3. Production alone has not fixed malnutrition, so policy must address nutritional security.
4. Subsidies and remunerative prices are not mentioned.

How you could have got this

If you were sure statement 4 is not correct, (a), (c) and (d) go: each of them includes 4.
What you needed to know: Subsidies and remunerative prices are not mentioned.

Only (b) is left. You didn’t need statements 1, 2 or 3.

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: 1 contradicts the passage and 4 is not mentioned.
(b) Right: 2 and 3 follow from the passage.
(c) Wrong: 4 is not mentioned, and 2 is left out.
(d) Wrong: includes 1 and 4, which are not supported.

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

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2023, General Studies Paper II (CSAT), Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.