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UPSC CSE CSAT 2018 · Question 55 · Reading comprehension

What is the most logical and rational inference that can be made from the above passage?

Passage—7

The practice of dieting has become an epidemic; everyone is looking out for a way to attain that perfect body. We are all different with respect to our ethnicity, genetics, family history, gender, age, physical and mental and spiritual health status, lifestyles and preferences. Thereby we also differ in what foods we tolerate or are sensitive to. So we really cannot reduce so many complexities into one diet or diet book. This explains the failure of diets across the world in curbing obesity. Unless the reasons for weight gain are well understood and addressed and unless habits are changed permanently, no diet is likely to succeed.

CSAT 2018 · Q55

Reading comprehension Easy

What is the most logical and rational inference that can be made from the above passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) There is no perfect diet or one solution for obesity.

People differ in genetics, age, health, lifestyle and the foods they tolerate, so the passage says so many complexities cannot be reduced to one diet — which is why diets fail to curb obesity. The inference: no perfect diet, no single solution.

  • ✗ (a) The passage calls dieting an epidemic, not obesity; the option swaps the subject.
  • ✗ (b) That everyone seeks a perfect body is the passage's opening observation, not the inference its argument leads to.
  • ✗ (c) Diets fail unless causes are addressed and habits change — which implies obesity can be tackled, not that it is incurable.
  • ✓ (d) 'we really cannot reduce so many complexities into one diet or diet book' — no single diet suits everyone.

Remember · The inference is where the argument lands, not a restated opening line; also watch for options that swap the passage's subject.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·

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