With reference to the passage, the following assumptions have been made:
- 1.Only species that have the ability to overcome environmental catastrophes will survive and perpetuate.
- 2.More than 90% of the species on the earth are in the danger of getting extinct due to drastic changes in the environment.
- 3.Darwin’s theory explains all the natural phenomena.
Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) 1 only
The passage implies that only species able to overcome environmental adversity survive. The 90% figure is about species that ever lived and are now extinct, not present species at risk, and the passage never claims Darwin’s theory explains all natural phenomena.
- ✓ 1. Extinction is “the extinction of those species which cannot overcome environmental adversity”; so only those that can overcome it survive and carry on.
- ✗ 2. Misreads the figure: “more than 90% of species that have ever lived on the earth are now extinct” is about the past, not about present species being in danger.
- ✗ 3. Overreach: Darwinian laws are compared with the laws of Copernicus, Galileo, Newton and Einstein that “explain natural phenomena”; the passage does not say Darwin’s theory explains all of them.
Remember · Check what a statistic actually counts; wrong options often shift its time frame or the group it covers.
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). ·