2024 CSAT, all questions

UPSC Prelims 2024 · CSAT

Question 52: Reading Comprehension

Passage—2 · as printed by UPSC
Passage beginning “Geographers analyzed 175 satellite images of…”

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

  1. 1.Giant icebergs have a bearing on primary productivity and food chains of the Southern Ocean.
  2. 2.Melting of giant icebergs can produce climate change effects and impact world fisheries.

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).

The passage says giant icebergs hold a large share of the Southern Ocean's carbon, and that their meltwater carries iron and nutrients that boost phytoplankton growth. Assumption 1 follows: phytoplankton are the base of marine food chains, so icebergs affect primary productivity and food chains. Assumption 2 follows too: carbon storage ties icebergs to climate, and a changed food-chain base can affect fish stocks. Both are valid.

  • 1. Meltwater nutrients raise phytoplankton growth, which is primary productivity and the base of food chains.
  • 2. Carbon storage links icebergs to climate, and phytoplankton underpin fisheries.

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: Meltwater nutrients raise phytoplankton growth, which is primary productivity and the base of food chains.

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

    What you needed to know: Carbon storage links icebergs to climate, and phytoplankton underpin fisheries.

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 also supported by the carbon and food-chain links.
  • (b) Wrong. Assumption 2 is valid, but so is assumption 1.
  • (c) Right. Both rest on the carbon storage and phytoplankton findings.
  • (d) Wrong. Both assumptions are supported.

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.