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CSAT 2021 paper

UPSC CSE CSAT 2021 · Question 11 · Reading comprehension

On the basis of the passage given above, the following assumptions have been made:

Directions for the following 4 (four) items: Read the following four passages and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only.

Passage—1

Fig trees (genus Ficus) are considered sacred in India, East Asia and Africa and are common in agricultural and urban landscapes where other large trees are absent. In natural forests, fig trees provide food for wildlife when other resources are scarce and support a high density and diversity of frugivores (fruit-eating animals). If frugivorous birds and bats continue to visit fig trees located in sites with high human disturbance, sacred fig trees may promote frugivore abundance. Under favourable microclimate, plenty of seedlings of other tree species would grow around fig trees.

CSAT 2021 · Q11

Reading comprehension Medium

On the basis of the passage given above, the following assumptions have been made:

  1. 1.Fig trees can often be keystone species in natural forests.
  2. 2.Fig trees can grow where other large woody species cannot grow.
  3. 3.Sacred trees can have a role in biodiversity conservation.
  4. 4.Fig trees have a role in the seed dispersal of other tree species.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) 1, 3 and 4 only

Fig trees feed a dense, varied crowd of frugivores when other food is scarce (a keystone role), sacred figs keep frugivores around even in disturbed sites (a conservation role), and seedlings of other trees come up around them because visiting birds and bats drop seeds. The passage only says other large trees are absent in such places, not that they cannot grow.

  • ✓ 1. Fig trees 'provide food for wildlife when other resources are scarce and support a high density and diversity of frugivores' — many species depend on them, which is what a keystone species is.
  • ✗ 2. The passage says figs are common where other large trees 'are absent' — absence (perhaps because they were cleared) is not the same as 'cannot grow'.
  • ✓ 3. Sacred fig trees 'may promote frugivore abundance' even in sites with high human disturbance — their sacred status helps sustain wildlife.
  • ✓ 4. Frugivorous birds and bats visit fig trees and 'plenty of seedlings of other tree species' grow around them — the visitors bring seeds of other trees, so figs aid their dispersal.

Remember · Don't turn 'absent' into 'cannot exist' — assumptions that harden an observation into an impossibility are usually invalid.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·

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