2024 CSAT, all questions

UPSC Prelims 2024 · CSAT

Question 2: Reading Comprehension

Passage—1 · as printed by UPSC
Passage beginning “According to the Food and Agriculture…”

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

  1. 1.The food distribution mechanism needs to be reimagined and made effective to reduce the loss and wastage of food.
  2. 2.Ensuring the reduction of wastage and loss of food is a social and moral responsibility of all citizens.

Which of the assumptions given above is/are valid?

a1 only
b2 only
cBoth 1 and 2
dNeither 1 nor 2

AnswerUPSC’s answer is (c).

UPSC accepts both assumptions. The passage treats loss and wastage at every point from farm to household as a problem that must be tackled for food sufficiency and sustainability, so it implies that distribution and supply-chain handling need to work better (assumption 1). It also implies a shared duty to cut wastage (assumption 2). Remember: an assumption in CSAT is an unstated premise that the passage's call to action rests on.

  • 1. Wastage across the supply chain means distribution and handling need to work better.
  • 2. A problem affecting food security and the environment calls for everyone's effort; this goes slightly beyond the text.

How you could have got this

  1. If you were sure statement 1 is correct, (b) and (d) go: each of them leaves 1 out.

    What you needed to know: Wastage across the supply chain means distribution and handling need to work better.

  2. Then, if you were sure statement 2 is correct, (a) goes: it leaves 2 out.

    What you needed to know: A problem affecting food security and the environment calls for everyone's effort; this goes slightly beyond the text.

Only (c) is left. This one needs every statement.

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. Assumption 1 is valid, but assumption 2 is accepted as well, so 'only 1' is incomplete.
  • (b) Wrong. Assumption 2 is accepted, but assumption 1 is valid too.
  • (c) Right. Both are premises that the passage's call to act on loss and wastage depends on.
  • (d) Wrong. The passage's urgency about wastage at every stage supports both assumptions.

Worth knowing: The passage never mentions a moral or social duty of citizens, so assumption 2 is an extension of it; UPSC still counts both as valid.

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

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2024, General Studies Paper II (CSAT), Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.