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CSAT 2017 paper

UPSC CSE CSAT 2017 · Question 61 · Reading comprehension

Which among the following is the most logical and rational inference that can be made from the…

Directions for the following 7 (seven) items: Read the following seven passages and answer the items that follow the passages. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only.

Passage—1

An air quality index (AQI) is a way to combine measurements of multiple air pollutants into a single number or rating. This index is ideally kept constantly updated and available in different places. The AQI is most useful when lots of pollution data are being gathered and when pollution levels are normally, but not always, low. In such cases, if pollution levels spike for a few days, the public can quickly take preventive action (like staying indoors) in response to an air quality warning. Unfortunately, that is not urban India. Pollution levels in many large Indian cities are so high that they remain well above any health or regulatory standard for large part of the year. If our index stays in the ‘Red/Dangerous’ region day after day, there is not much any one can do, other than getting used to ignoring it.

CSAT 2017 · Q61

Reading comprehension Easy

Which among the following is the most logical and rational inference that can be made from the above passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Air quality index is not helpful to the residents of many of our large cities.

An AQI helps when pollution is usually low and only spikes now and then, so people can act on a warning. In many large Indian cities pollution stays in the danger zone for much of the year, so the index gives residents little they can act on.

  • ✗ (a) Governments are not blamed; the passage is about how useful the index is.
  • ✗ (b) 'Absolutely no need' is extreme, and 'our country' overgeneralises — the passage speaks of many large cities and says the AQI is useful in other conditions.
  • ✓ (c) When the index stays 'Red/Dangerous' day after day, there is 'not much any one can do' — so it does not help residents of many large cities.
  • ✗ (d) Public awareness is not the passage's concern; its point is that warnings lose value when pollution is always high.

Remember · Match the scope of the inference to the passage: 'many large cities' supports a limited claim, not 'the whole country' or 'every city'.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·

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