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CSAT 2021 paper

UPSC CSE CSAT 2021 · Question 2 · Reading comprehension

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

Passage—2

Approximately 80 percent of all flowering plant species are pollinated by animals, including birds and mammals, but the main pollinators are insects. Pollination is responsible for providing us with a wide variety of food, as well as many plant-derived medicines. At least one-third of the world’s agricultural crops depend upon pollination. Bees are the most dominant taxa when it comes to pollination and they are crucial to more than four hundred crops. Pollination is an essential service that is the result of intricate relationships between plants and animals, and the reduction or loss of either affects the survival of both. Effective pollination requires resources, such as refuges of pristine natural vegetation.

CSAT 2021 · Q2

Reading comprehension Medium

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

  1. 1.Sustainable production of India’s cereal food grains is impossible without the diversity of pollinating animals.
  2. 2.Monoculture of horticultural crops hampers the survival of insects.
  3. 3.Pollinators become scarce in cultivated areas devoid of natural vegetation.
  4. 4.Diversity in insects induces diversity of plants.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) 3 and 4 only

The passage ties plants and pollinators together — the loss of either hurts both — and says pollination needs refuges of natural vegetation. That supports 3 and 4; India's cereals and monoculture are topics the passage never raises.

  • ✗ 1. The passage speaks of crops in general ('at least one-third'), not India's cereals, and 'impossible' is far stronger than anything it says.
  • ✗ 2. Monoculture and horticulture are not mentioned; this brings in a new subject.
  • ✓ 3. 'Effective pollination requires resources, such as refuges of pristine natural vegetation' — where such vegetation is missing, pollinators lose their support.
  • ✓ 4. Pollination rests on 'intricate relationships between plants and animals', and the loss of either affects both; so a richer variety of insect pollinators sustains a richer variety of plants.

Remember · An assumption must rest on a line of the passage; reject statements that add a new subject or an absolute word like 'impossible'.

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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