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CSAT 2024 paper

UPSC CSE CSAT 2024 · Question 2 · Reading comprehension

Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:

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

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally. Food is lost or wasted throughout the supply chain, from initial agricultural production to final household consumption. The increasing wastage also results in land degradation by about 45%, mainly due to deforestation, unsustainable agricultural practices, and excessive groundwater extraction. The energy spent over wasted food results in about 3.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide production every year. Decay also leads to harmful emissions of other gases in the atmosphere. Addressing the loss and wastage of food in all forms is critical to complete the cycle of food sufficiency and food sustainability.

CSAT 2024 · Q2

Reading comprehension Medium

Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:

  1. 1.The food distribution mechanism needs to be reimagined and made effective to reduce the loss and wastage of food.
  2. 2.Ensuring the reduction of wastage and loss of food is a social and moral responsibility of all citizens.

Which of the assumptions given above is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

The passage says food is lost at every stage from the farm to the household, and that tackling loss and wastage ‘in all forms’ is critical because of its heavy cost to land and climate. That presumes both a better distribution system and every citizen’s own effort.

  • ✓ 1. Food is lost ‘throughout the supply chain’, and distribution is part of that chain. For loss ‘in all forms’ to be addressed, the distribution mechanism has to work better; the author takes this for granted.
  • ✓ 2. Waste also happens at ‘final household consumption’, and its costs (land degradation, carbon dioxide, other harmful gases) fall on society as a whole. Asking that waste ‘in all forms’ be addressed presumes that every citizen shares this duty.

Remember · An assumption is what the author must take for granted. Check each stage the passage names: farm, supply chain, household.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·

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