Minimalist IAS
CSAT 2022 paper

UPSC CSE CSAT 2022 · Question 32 · Reading comprehension

The passage suggests that Darwinian theory of evolution is not a theory at all because

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

Passage—1

Natural selection cannot anticipate future environments on the earth. Therefore, the set of existing organisms can never be fully prepared for environmental catastrophes that await life. An outcome of this is the extinction of those species which cannot overcome environmental adversity. This failure to survive, in modern terms, can be attributed to the genomes which are unable to withstand geological vagaries or biological mishaps (infections, diseases and so on). In biological evolution on the earth, extinction of species has been a major feature. The earth may presently have up to ten million species, yet more than 90% of species that have ever lived on the earth are now extinct. Once again, the creationist doctrines fail to satisfactorily address why a divine creator will firstly bother to create millions of species and then allow them to perish. The Darwinian explanation for extinct life is once again simple, elegant and at once convincing—organisms go extinct as a function of environmental or biological assaults for which their inheritance deems them ill-equipped. Therefore, the so-called Darwinian theory of evolution is not a theory at all. Evolution happens—this is a fact. The mechanism of evolution (Darwin proposed natural selection) is amply supported by scientific data. Indeed, to date no single zoological, botanical, geological, paleontological, genetic or physical evidence has refuted either of the central two main Darwinian ideas. If religion is not taken into consideration, Darwinian laws are acceptable just like the laws proposed by Copernicus, Galileo, Newton and Einstein—sets of natural laws that explain natural phenomena in the universe.

CSAT 2022 · Q32

Reading comprehension Medium

The passage suggests that Darwinian theory of evolution is not a theory at all because

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) extinction is a function of environment and biological assaults

“Therefore, the so-called Darwinian theory of evolution is not a theory at all” follows directly from the Darwinian explanation that organisms go extinct “as a function of environmental or biological assaults”. That explanation, being simple and convincing, is what makes the author treat evolution as fact rather than theory.

  • ✗ (a) The author criticises creationist doctrines; failing to satisfy them is not offered as the reason.
  • ✓ (b) The “Therefore” rests on the preceding sentence: organisms go extinct “as a function of environmental or biological assaults for which their inheritance deems them ill-equipped”.
  • ✗ (c) That no evidence has refuted Darwin’s ideas comes later, as support for the mechanism of evolution; it is not the reason attached to “not a theory at all”.
  • ✗ (d) Reverses the passage — attributing organisms to a creator is the creationist view the author rejects.

Remember · For ‘why does the author say X’, read the sentence just before the ‘Therefore’ — that is the stated reason.

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). ·

More on Reading comprehension

All Reading comprehension questions →