According to the passage, natural selection cannot anticipate future environments on the earth as
- 1.species not fully prepared to face the environmental changes that await them will face extinction
- 2.all the existing species would get extinct as their genomes will not withstand biological mishaps
- 3.inability of the genome to withstand environmental changes would result in extinction
- 4.extinction of species is a common feature
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) 1, 3 and 4
The passage says unprepared species go extinct, that this is due to genomes unable to withstand geological vagaries or biological mishaps, and that extinction “has been a major feature”. It never says that all existing species will go extinct.
- ✓ 1. “The set of existing organisms can never be fully prepared for environmental catastrophes… An outcome of this is the extinction of those species which cannot overcome environmental adversity.”
- ✗ 2. Too extreme: extinction is said to strike “those species which cannot overcome” adversity, not all existing species.
- ✓ 3. “This failure to survive… can be attributed to the genomes which are unable to withstand geological vagaries or biological mishaps.”
- ✓ 4. “Extinction of species has been a major feature”, and more than 90% of species that ever lived are now extinct.
Remember · Knock out the ‘all’ statement first: if the passage limits a claim to ‘those which…’, a universal claim fails.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·