Minimalist IAS
CSAT

CSAT · 299 questions

Reading comprehension

Every UPSC CSAT question on this topic, 2016–2026, newest first. Tap an option to check yourself; the answer and explanation open below it.

Reading comprehension questions per year: 2016: 27, 2017: 31, 2018: 26, 2019: 30, 2020: 25, 2021: 27, 2022: 27, 2023: 27, 2024: 27, 2025: 29, 2026: 23 Asked in 11 of 11 years · most in 2017 (31)

UPSC syllabus: “Comprehension;” See the full syllabus →

Showing 61–90 of 299, newest first.

CSAT 2024 · Q21

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—1) — this item is based on it

By the time children reach class 8, the bulk of them tend to be in the age range of 13 years to 15 years. But in our country, about a quarter of all children in class 8 struggle with reading simple texts and more than half are still unable to do basic arithmetic operations like division. Every year about 25 million young boys and girls from elementary school move into the life that lies for them beyond compulsory schooling. They cannot enter the workforce at least in the organized sector till they are 18. For many families, these children are the first from their families ever to get this far in school. Parents and children expect that such ‘graduates’ from school will go on to high school and college. Hardly anyone wants to go back to agriculture. On the other hand, abilities in terms of academic competencies are far lower than they should be even based on curricular expectations of class 8.

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

  1. 1.For effective school education, parents have greater role than the governments.
  2. 2.School curriculum that conforms to today’s requirements and is uniform for the entire country may address the issues brought out.

Which of the assumptions given above is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

The passage describes a gap between what class 8 children can actually do and what they and their parents expect. It never compares the role of parents with that of governments, and it does not suggest a new, uniform national curriculum as the remedy.

  • ✗ 1. Parents appear only as people who hold expectations for their children. The passage never weighs their role against the government’s.
  • ✗ 2. Competencies fall short ‘even based on curricular expectations of class 8’, so the problem is weak learning against the existing curriculum, not the absence of a new or uniform one. A nationwide uniform curriculum is the reader’s idea, not the author’s premise.

Remember · An assumption must be needed by the author’s argument; a remedy the author never hints at is not an assumption.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2024 · Q22

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—1) — this item is based on it

By the time children reach class 8, the bulk of them tend to be in the age range of 13 years to 15 years. But in our country, about a quarter of all children in class 8 struggle with reading simple texts and more than half are still unable to do basic arithmetic operations like division. Every year about 25 million young boys and girls from elementary school move into the life that lies for them beyond compulsory schooling. They cannot enter the workforce at least in the organized sector till they are 18. For many families, these children are the first from their families ever to get this far in school. Parents and children expect that such ‘graduates’ from school will go on to high school and college. Hardly anyone wants to go back to agriculture. On the other hand, abilities in terms of academic competencies are far lower than they should be even based on curricular expectations of class 8.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the central idea conveyed by the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Public policy should ensure that competencies and achievements of young people are aligned with their expectations.

The passage sets high expectations (high school, college, no return to farming) against low actual competencies. Its central concern is closing that gap, which is what option (c) says.

  • ✗ (a) Poverty is not discussed, and ‘total eradication … will resolve’ is an extreme claim the passage never makes.
  • ✗ (b) Monetary incentives to parents or teachers are not mentioned anywhere.
  • ✓ (c) Parents and children expect the ‘graduates’ to go on to high school and college, yet ‘abilities in terms of academic competencies are far lower than they should be’. Aligning competencies with expectations is the point the passage builds towards.
  • ✗ (d) The passage notes that hardly anyone wants to go back to agriculture, but it never says pass-outs should do so, and the demographic dividend is not mentioned.

Remember · The central idea usually joins the passage’s two halves; here, high expectations versus low competencies.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2024 · Q23

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—2) — this item is based on it

We take it for granted now that science has a social responsibility. The idea would not have occurred to Newton or Galileo. They thought of science as an account of the world as it is, and the only responsibility that they acknowledged was to tell the truth. The idea that science is a social enterprise is modern, and it begins at the industrial revolution. We are surprised that we cannot trace a social sense further back, because we nurse the illusion that the industrial revolution ended a golden age.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the thinking of the author about the science?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Science must pursue truth but be responsible for social welfare.

The author contrasts the older view, in which the only duty of science was to tell the truth, with today’s accepted view that science has a social responsibility. Science should therefore pursue truth and also answer for social welfare.

  • ✗ (a) The commitment of scientists is not the author’s theme.
  • ✗ (b) The passage does not call science a product of civilized society, and it says nothing about promoting scientific awareness.
  • ✗ (c) The passage says the idea of science as a social enterprise began at the industrial revolution; it does not say that science made the revolution possible.
  • ✓ (d) Newton and Galileo acknowledged only the duty ‘to tell the truth’, while ‘We take it for granted now that science has a social responsibility.’ Truth together with social responsibility is the author’s view.

Remember · When a passage contrasts an older view with the present one, the answer often keeps the old duty and adds the new one.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2024 · Q31

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—1) — this item is based on it

“The history of science is the real history of mankind.” In this striking epigram, a nineteenth-century writer links science with its background. Like most epigrams, its power lies in emphasizing by contrast an aspect of truth which may be easily overlooked. In this case, it is easy to overlook the relations between science and mankind, and to treat the former as some abstract third party, which can sometimes be praised for its beneficial influences, but frequently and conveniently blamed for the horrors of war. Science and mankind cannot be divorced from time to time at men’s convenience. Yet we have seen that, in spite of countless opportunities of improvement, the opening years of the present period of civilization have been dominated by international conflict. Is this the inevitable result of the progress of science or does the fault lie elsewhere?

Which of the following is/are emphatically conveyed by the author of the passage?

  1. 1.Without science, mankind could not have continued to exist till today.
  2. 2.It is the science that will ultimately determine the destiny of mankind.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

The author stresses that science and mankind cannot be separated, and asks whether war is the inevitable result of science or whether the fault lies elsewhere. The passage never says mankind survives because of science, nor that science will decide mankind’s destiny.

  • ✗ 1. Mankind’s survival is not discussed. The passage is about the relation between science and mankind, not about mankind depending on science to exist.
  • ✗ 2. The author leans the other way: science should not be treated as ‘some abstract third party’, and the closing question suggests the fault may ‘lie elsewhere’, that is, with men. Science is not presented as the force that decides destiny.

Remember · ‘Emphatically conveyed’ needs a point the author clearly makes; reject statements giving science a decisive role the author questions.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2024 · Q32

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—1) — this item is based on it

“The history of science is the real history of mankind.” In this striking epigram, a nineteenth-century writer links science with its background. Like most epigrams, its power lies in emphasizing by contrast an aspect of truth which may be easily overlooked. In this case, it is easy to overlook the relations between science and mankind, and to treat the former as some abstract third party, which can sometimes be praised for its beneficial influences, but frequently and conveniently blamed for the horrors of war. Science and mankind cannot be divorced from time to time at men’s convenience. Yet we have seen that, in spite of countless opportunities of improvement, the opening years of the present period of civilization have been dominated by international conflict. Is this the inevitable result of the progress of science or does the fault lie elsewhere?

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

  1. 1.The horrors of modern life are the inevitable result of the progress of science.
  2. 2.The aspect of truth likely to be overlooked is that science is what man has made it.

Which of the assumptions given above is/are correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 2 only

The aspect ‘easily overlooked’ is the relation between science and mankind: science is not an abstract third party but is shaped by men. The author questions, rather than assumes, that the horrors of war are the inevitable result of science.

  • ✗ 1. The author asks ‘Is this the inevitable result of the progress of science or does the fault lie elsewhere?’ and says science is ‘conveniently blamed’. That is the opposite of assuming inevitability.
  • ✓ 2. The overlooked aspect is ‘the relations between science and mankind’. Since the two ‘cannot be divorced’ and science is not an abstract third party, science is what man has made of it.

Remember · A question the author raises is not an assumption. Words like ‘conveniently blamed’ show where the author really stands.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2024 · Q33

Easy
Read the passage (Passage—2) — this item is based on it

Only with long experience and opening of his wares on many a beach where his language is not spoken, will the merchant come to know the worth of what he carries, and what is parochial and what is universal in his choice. Such delicate goods as justice, love and honour, courtesy, and indeed all the things we care for, are valid everywhere but they are variously moulded and often differently handled, and sometimes nearly unrecognizable if you meet them in a foreign land, and the art of learning fundamental common values is perhaps the greatest gain of travel to those who wish to live at ease among their fellows.

When we meet other people while we travel, we learn to differentiate between

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) local values and universal values

Through travel the merchant learns ‘what is parochial and what is universal’, and the passage calls learning ‘fundamental common values’ the greatest gain of travel. Parochial means local, so the contrast is between local and universal values.

  • ✗ (a) Imagination and understanding are not contrasted anywhere in the passage.
  • ✗ (b) Communities and nationalities are not the subject; the passage speaks of values that are ‘valid everywhere’ but moulded differently in different places.
  • ✓ (c) The merchant comes to know ‘what is parochial and what is universal in his choice’; parochial means local.
  • ✗ (d) Friends and foes are not mentioned; the passage speaks of living ‘at ease among their fellows’.

Remember · Find the passage’s own contrasting pair (parochial/universal) and pick the option that restates it.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2024 · Q34

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—2) — this item is based on it

Only with long experience and opening of his wares on many a beach where his language is not spoken, will the merchant come to know the worth of what he carries, and what is parochial and what is universal in his choice. Such delicate goods as justice, love and honour, courtesy, and indeed all the things we care for, are valid everywhere but they are variously moulded and often differently handled, and sometimes nearly unrecognizable if you meet them in a foreign land, and the art of learning fundamental common values is perhaps the greatest gain of travel to those who wish to live at ease among their fellows.

With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:

  1. 1.Travel leads to an understanding of humans.
  2. 2.Travel helps those who wish to learn fundamental common values.
  3. 3.A person with long experience in travel can resolve differences amongst people.

Which of the assumptions given above are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

Travel, the passage says, shows how the same values are shaped differently among people, and learning fundamental common values is its greatest gain for those who seek it. Nowhere does it say that experienced travellers can resolve differences between people.

  • ✓ 1. Meeting people abroad shows how shared values like justice, love and honour are ‘variously moulded and often differently handled’; this is an understanding of humans.
  • ✓ 2. ‘the art of learning fundamental common values is perhaps the greatest gain of travel to those who wish to live at ease among their fellows.’
  • ✗ 3. The traveller learns to recognise common values so that he can live at ease among others. Resolving differences amongst other people is a much bigger claim that the passage does not make.

Remember · Separate ‘understands’ from ‘solves’: a passage about learning rarely supports claims about settling others’ differences.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2024 · Q41

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—1) — this item is based on it

Conventional classrooms, by emphasizing fixed duration over learning effectiveness, resign themselves to variable outcomes. The tyranny of the classroom is that every learner is subjected to the same set of lectures in the same way for the same duration. In the end, a few learners shine, some survive, and the rest are left behind. After the fixed duration, the classroom model moves on, with not a thought spared for those left behind. This is how we end up with 10 percent employability in our graduates after a decade and half of formal education. Repeating the same ineffectual script in the realm of skill education will not produce different results.

Which of the following statements best reflects/reflect the most logical and rational inference/inferences that can be made from the passage?

  1. 1.In conventional classroom learning, the central goal is duration of learning rather than attainment of competency.
  2. 2.Conventional classrooms encourage one-size-fits-all approach and stamp out all differentiation.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

The passage says conventional classrooms emphasise ‘fixed duration over learning effectiveness’ and put every learner through the same lectures, in the same way, for the same time. The two statements restate these two ideas.

  • ✓ 1. Classrooms work ‘by emphasizing fixed duration over learning effectiveness’, and after the fixed duration the model ‘moves on’ whatever has been learnt. Time spent, not competency reached, is the goal.
  • ✓ 2. ‘every learner is subjected to the same set of lectures in the same way for the same duration’ is one-size-fits-all. The author calls it ‘the tyranny of the classroom’ because it makes no allowance for different learners.

Remember · A statement that closely paraphrases a sentence of the passage is a valid inference, even if its wording is a little sharper.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2024 · Q42

Easy
Read the passage (Passage—1) — this item is based on it

Conventional classrooms, by emphasizing fixed duration over learning effectiveness, resign themselves to variable outcomes. The tyranny of the classroom is that every learner is subjected to the same set of lectures in the same way for the same duration. In the end, a few learners shine, some survive, and the rest are left behind. After the fixed duration, the classroom model moves on, with not a thought spared for those left behind. This is how we end up with 10 percent employability in our graduates after a decade and half of formal education. Repeating the same ineffectual script in the realm of skill education will not produce different results.

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

  1. 1.As a large number of workers in our country are employed in unorganized sector, India does not need to change its present conventional classroom system of education.
  2. 2.Even with its present conventional classroom system of education, India produces sufficient number of skilled workers to fully realize the benefits of demographic dividend.

Which of the assumptions given above is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

The passage blames the conventional classroom for ‘10 percent employability’ among graduates and warns against repeating it in skill education. Both statements defend the present system, so neither can be an assumption of this passage.

  • ✗ 1. The unorganized sector is not mentioned, and the author clearly wants the classroom model changed: ‘Repeating the same ineffectual script … will not produce different results.’
  • ✗ 2. The passage cites ‘10 percent employability in our graduates’, which contradicts the claim that the present system yields enough skilled workers. The demographic dividend is not mentioned.

Remember · An assumption must support the author’s argument; statements that contradict the author’s stand are invalid.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2024 · Q43

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—2) — this item is based on it

When a child reaches adolescence, there is apt to be a conflict between the parents and the child, since the latter considers himself to be by now quite capable of managing his own affairs, while the former are filled with parental solicitude, which is often a disguise for love of power. Parents consider, usually, that the various moral problems which arise in adolescence are peculiarly their province. The options they express, however, are so dogmatic that the young seldom confide in them, and usually go their own way in secret.

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

  1. 1.The adolescent does not feel comfortable with his parents because they tend to be dominating and assertive.
  2. 2.The adolescent of modern times does not have much respect for parents.

Which of the assumptions given above is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) 1 only

The passage says parental concern is often ‘a disguise for love of power’ and that parents’ views are so dogmatic that the young seldom confide in them. So the adolescent’s discomfort comes from domineering parents; a lack of respect among young people of ‘modern times’ is not suggested.

  • ✓ 1. Parental solicitude is ‘often a disguise for love of power’, and parents express views ‘so dogmatic that the young seldom confide in them’. Dominating, assertive parents make the adolescent uncomfortable.
  • ✗ 2. The passage describes a conflict that arises at adolescence in general, not a feature of ‘modern times’. The young keep things secret because parents are dogmatic, not because they lack respect.

Remember · Watch for added qualifiers like ‘of modern times’; if the passage speaks generally, a time-bound assumption is invalid.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2024 · Q44

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—2) — this item is based on it

When a child reaches adolescence, there is apt to be a conflict between the parents and the child, since the latter considers himself to be by now quite capable of managing his own affairs, while the former are filled with parental solicitude, which is often a disguise for love of power. Parents consider, usually, that the various moral problems which arise in adolescence are peculiarly their province. The options they express, however, are so dogmatic that the young seldom confide in them, and usually go their own way in secret.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the central idea of the above passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) Parents in general may not be of much help when children are on their way to becoming adults.

Because parents tend to be possessive and dogmatic, adolescents ‘seldom confide in them’ and go their own way in secret. The central idea is that parents often cannot help much as children move towards adulthood.

  • ✓ (a) The young ‘seldom confide in them, and usually go their own way in secret’, so parents, as they usually behave, are of little help at this stage. ‘In general’ and ‘may not’ keep the claim suitably soft.
  • ✗ (b) The passage criticises how parents get involved, not whether they should be; calling their involvement ‘unnecessary’ goes too far.
  • ✗ (c) Nuclear families are not mentioned.
  • ✗ (d) The passage blames parental dogmatism; it does not label adolescents stubborn, disobedient or careless.

Remember · Prefer the option with soft words (‘may not’, ‘in general’) over absolutes like ‘unnecessary’ or ‘not capable’.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2024 · Q51

Easy
Read the passage (Passage—1) — this item is based on it

When an international team of scientists pumped a carbon dioxide and water mix into underground basalt rocks, basic chemistry took over. The acidic mixture dissolved rocks’ calcium and magnesium and formed limestone. Basically carbon dioxide is converted into stone, exclaimed the scientists.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the most logical, rational and practical suggestion implied by the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) This can be used as one of the methods of carbon sequestration.

Carbon dioxide pumped into basalt ends up locked in stone (limestone). The practical suggestion is to use this as a way of storing carbon dioxide permanently, that is, carbon sequestration.

  • ✗ (a) The passage says nothing about cost or about commercial limestone for building; its point is where the carbon dioxide goes.
  • ✓ (b) ‘Basically carbon dioxide is converted into stone’: locking carbon dioxide away in solid rock underground is carbon sequestration.
  • ✗ (c) The rock’s calcium and magnesium are used up in forming limestone; the method does not make basalt a source of these minerals.
  • ✗ (d) The acidic mixture is only a step in the process; making acid is not what the finding is useful for.

Remember · Ask what problem the finding solves. The key word here is carbon dioxide, so the answer concerns climate, not construction.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2024 · Q52

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—2) — this item is based on it

Geographers analyzed 175 satellite images of ocean colour, which is an indicator of phytoplankton productivity at the ocean’s surface, and found that giant icebergs are responsible for storing up to 20 percent of carbon in the Southern Ocean. The researchers discovered that melting water from giant icebergs which contains iron and other nutrients, supports hitherto unexpectedly high levels of phytoplankton growth.

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

  1. 1.Giant icebergs have a bearing on primary productivity and food chains of the Southern Ocean.
  2. 2.Melting of giant icebergs can produce climate change effects and impact world fisheries.

Which of the assumptions given above is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

Iceberg meltwater brings iron and nutrients that boost phytoplankton, the base of ocean food chains, and giant icebergs account for up to 20 percent of the carbon stored in the Southern Ocean. So icebergs affect productivity and food chains, and their melting bears on climate and on fisheries.

  • ✓ 1. Phytoplankton are the ocean’s primary producers. Meltwater from giant icebergs ‘supports hitherto unexpectedly high levels of phytoplankton growth’, so icebergs bear on primary productivity and the food chains built on it.
  • ✓ 2. Giant icebergs are ‘responsible for storing up to 20 percent of carbon in the Southern Ocean’, so their melting affects carbon storage and hence climate; and the phytoplankton growth they drive is the base on which fish stocks depend.

Remember · Link each fact to its direct consequence: phytoplankton lead to food chains and fisheries; carbon storage leads to climate.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2024 · Q53

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—3) — this item is based on it

Evolution has endowed caterpillars that feed on corn with a unique ability, they can induce the plant to turn off its defence against insect predators. This helps caterpillars to eat more and grow faster. The agent that causes this effect is the caterpillar’s faeces or frass. The find could throw new light on compounds associated with plant response to pathogens like fungi or bacteria.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the most logical, rational and practical message conveyed by the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) This finding can help in the development of organic, ecologically sustainable pesticides.

The passage shows that caterpillar frass switches off a plant’s defences, and says the find could throw light on compounds linked to how plants respond to pathogens. The practical message is that understanding these natural compounds can help develop organic, ecologically sound ways to protect crops.

  • ✗ (a) The caterpillars feed on corn, a crop; nothing suggests using them against weeds.
  • ✗ (b) The compounds concern how plants respond to pathogens; ‘clinically useful’ medicines for people go well beyond the passage.
  • ✓ (c) Knowing the natural compounds that turn plant defences off (and on) can guide the development of organic, ecologically sustainable products to protect crops from pests and pathogens.
  • ✗ (d) Genetic modification of caterpillars is not suggested anywhere.

Remember · Choose the application that stays within the passage’s field (plants, pests, crop protection); avoid jumps to medicine or genetic engineering.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2024 · Q61

Easy
Read the passage (Passage—1) — this item is based on it

In a robust democracy, reality, howsoever inconvenient it may be, finds its expression both in the speech of political leaders and the other social forms of assertion. The existence of the real has to be transparent, both through its circulation in and by the media as well as its argumentative articulation in deliberative democracy. A normatively responsible media through its communication effect has the responsibility to circulate the content of reality without distortion.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the crux of the above passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) Responsible media should not distort the real in an ideal democracy.

The passage insists that in a robust democracy reality, however inconvenient, must be expressed transparently, and that a responsible media must ‘circulate the content of reality without distortion’. That is option (a).

  • ✓ (a) ‘A normatively responsible media … has the responsibility to circulate the content of reality without distortion’ in a robust democracy.
  • ✗ (b) The passage demands undistorted reality; it never treats fake news as a natural part of democracy.
  • ✗ (c) The passage is about truthful expression of reality, not about removing every restriction on free speech; ‘any kind’ is extreme.
  • ✗ (d) Controlling media or leaders is not discussed; the passage says what a responsible media ought to do.

Remember · The crux usually sits in the passage’s prescriptive sentence (‘has the responsibility to…’).

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2024 · Q62

Easy
Read the passage (Passage—2) — this item is based on it

Now-a-days there is a growing trend to use interconnected home devices. As consumers increasingly network their homes, the connected home device manufacturers and service providers will seek to overcome “thin profit margins by gathering more of our personal data—with or without our agreement—turning the home into a corporate storefront”. Corporate marketers will have powerful incentives to observe consumer behaviour to understand the buying needs and preferences of the device owners.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the most logical, rational and practical message implied by the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Interconnected devices can be at security risk and home users may have privacy risk.

Makers of connected devices will gather personal data ‘with or without our agreement’ and turn the home into ‘a corporate storefront’. The practical message is that such devices carry privacy and security risks for their users.

  • ✗ (a) Capital expenditure in manufacturing is not discussed.
  • ✗ (b) The passage is wary of this data gathering; it does not praise it as a driver of trade or national development.
  • ✗ (c) Comfort and quality of life are not mentioned; the passage dwells on the downside.
  • ✓ (d) Personal data gathered ‘with or without our agreement’ and constant observation of consumer behaviour point to privacy and security risks for home users.

Remember · Read the tone: phrases like ‘with or without our agreement’ signal a warning, so pick the cautionary option.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2024 · Q63

Easy
Read the passage (Passage—3) — this item is based on it

Green growth involves rethinking growth strategies with regard to the impacts on environmental sustainability and the environmental resources available to poor and vulnerable groups. In rethinking growth, we need to focus on the current reality of a resource-constrained world. Resource intensive and, in particular energy intensive processes will need to make way for more efficient and resource frugal development strategies if we are to avoid an economic dead end or a world in which only a small elite is able to enjoy affluence in the midst of a sea of poverty.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the crux of the above passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Maintaining high environmental standards is now a prerequisite for achieving a steady, sufficient and inclusive growth.

Green growth means rethinking growth around environmental sustainability and frugal use of resources; otherwise we face an economic dead end or affluence for a small elite amid poverty. So high environmental standards are now a condition for steady and inclusive growth.

  • ✗ (a) The passage treats sustainability as necessary for growth to continue, not as opposed to it.
  • ✗ (b) The passage warns against resource-intensive growth; it does not say environmental degradation is the price of ending poverty.
  • ✓ (c) Resource-frugal strategies are needed ‘if we are to avoid an economic dead end’ (steady, sufficient growth) or a world where ‘only a small elite’ enjoys affluence (inclusive growth).
  • ✗ (d) The passage offers a way forward; it does not call degradation and inequality inevitable.

Remember · When the passage proposes a solution, reject options that call the problem inevitable or the solution harmful.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2024 · Q71

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—1) — this item is based on it

Unlike religion and science, poetry does not posit or expect any belief in absolute truths. Those forces or individuals who claim to have absolute truths in their grasp tend to turn dictatorial and tyrannical. Truth usually does not admit any contradictions or imperfections. It is unitarian. It is, therefore, not of much use for poetry. Poetry abides by the plurality of life and existence. Perhaps poetry follows reality which is plural, anachronistic, full of contradictions. Against the tyranny of truth, poetry remains a partisan of democratic reality. Against the arrogance of power, wealth and hierarchy, poetry proposes both humility and defiance.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the most logical and rational message conveyed by the above passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) In a world of violence, tyranny and bigotry, poetry is a form of dynamic resistance.

The passage sets poetry against the ‘tyranny of truth’ and the ‘arrogance of power, wealth and hierarchy’, answering them with ‘humility and defiance’. Its message is that poetry is a form of resistance.

  • ✗ (a) The passage says poetry accepts the contradictions of reality and life; it does not speak of imperfections ‘in humans’, nor claim that only poetry recognises them.
  • ✗ (b) The passage does not say that truth is revealed through science or religion, nor that poetry is ‘anathema’ to truth; it says absolute truth is ‘not of much use for poetry’.
  • ✗ (c) ‘Romantic, imaginary’ and ‘about feeling’ are not in the passage, which is about plurality and democratic reality.
  • ✓ (d) ‘Against the tyranny of truth, poetry remains a partisan of democratic reality. Against the arrogance of power, wealth and hierarchy, poetry proposes both humility and defiance.’ Poetry stands against tyranny.

Remember · Repeated ‘Against …’ lines carry the author’s message; here, poetry as resistance to tyranny and arrogance.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2024 · Q72

Easy
Read the passage (Passage—2) — this item is based on it

The flower was not invented to please us. It flaunted its petals and spread its perfume to attract an insect. The insect carries the pollen from flower to flower so that pollen is not carried away by wind and thus not wasted. What we call a flower’s beauty is merely a by-product and a human invention. The perfume is not there to please us, it pleases us because it is there and we have been conditioned to it.

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

  1. 1.The author of the passage believes that flowers are creations of Nature’s luxury.
  2. 2.The author of the passage does not believe in the usefulness of flowers except as things of beauty.

Which of the assumptions given above is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

The author says flowers exist for a purpose, to attract insects that carry pollen, and that their beauty is only a by-product and a human invention. Both statements say the opposite.

  • ✗ 1. Flowers are not a luxury: their petals and perfume are there ‘to attract an insect’ so that pollen is not wasted.
  • ✗ 2. The author sees flowers as useful precisely for pollination; their beauty is ‘merely a by-product and a human invention’.

Remember · If a statement reverses the author’s point, it is invalid, however natural it sounds.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2023 · Q1

Easy
Read the passage (Passage—1) — this item is based on it

We often hear about conflicts among different States in India over river waters. Of the 20 major river systems, 14 are already water-stressed; 75% of the population lives in water-stressed regions, a third of whom live in water-scarce areas. Climate change, the demands of rising population and the need for agriculture to keep pace, and increased rate of urbanization and industrialization will exacerbate water stress. According to the Constitution of India, water is a State subject and not that of the Union, except for regulation of inter-State rivers. Key to ensuring balance between competing demands of various stakeholders is a basin-based approach to allocate water amongst constituent regions and States. Allocating fair share of water to them requires assessments based on objective criteria, such as specificities of the river basin, size of dependent population, existing water use and demand, efficiency of use, projected future use, etc. while ensuring the environmental needs of the river and aquifers.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the most rational, practical and immediate action required to ensure fair and equitable allocation of water to different stakeholders?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) A national, pragmatic, legal and policy framework for water allocation should be made.

The passage says fair sharing needs a basin-based approach and shares fixed on objective criteria, which means agreed rules for allocation. A national legal and policy framework is the only option that supplies such rules; the others are engineering or demand-side ideas the passage never proposes.

  • ✓ (a) The passage's key is 'a basin-based approach' with shares assessed on 'objective criteria'. A national legal and policy framework is the practical way to apply such rules across States, especially as water is a State subject.
  • ✗ (b) Linking every river and creating huge aquifers is a vast engineering project, neither immediate nor mentioned; the passage is about sharing existing water fairly.
  • ✗ (c) Channels from surplus to deficit regions move water, but they do not settle who gets how much; the passage never suggests them.
  • ✗ (d) Cutting demand may ease stress, but the question asks how to allocate water fairly among stakeholders, which demand cuts do not decide.

Remember · For 'most rational, practical, immediate action', pick the option that puts the passage's own solution into practice; reject grand projects it never mentions.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2023 · Q2

Easy
Read the passage (Passage—2) — this item is based on it

More than half of Indian women and almost a quarter of Indian men of working age suffer from anaemia. According to studies, they are anywhere from 5 – 15% less productive than they could be, as a result thereof. India also has the largest tuberculosis burden in the world, costing 170 million workdays to the country annually. But what is just as important as lost productivity now is lost potential in the future. It is becoming increasingly clear that on many measures of cognitive ability, malnourished Indian children perform two or three times worse than their adequately nourished peers. For an economy that will be more dependent on highly skilled workers, this poses a significant challenge. And it is one that really should be addressed given India's demographic outlook.

Which one of the following statements best reflects what is implied by the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) For rapid economic growth as envisaged by us, attention should be paid to health and nutrition of the people.

Anaemia and tuberculosis cut today's productivity, and child malnutrition cuts tomorrow's cognitive potential, which matters for an economy that will need skilled workers. The implied message is that growth depends on attention to people's health and nutrition.

  • ✗ (a) Education and rural areas are not discussed; the problem identified is ill-health and malnutrition.
  • ✗ (b) Skill programmes are not the remedy offered; the passage argues that malnutrition limits the very capacity to become highly skilled.
  • ✗ (c) 'Only skilled workers' is wrong: the passage speaks of women, men of working age and children.
  • ✓ (d) Lost productivity (anaemia, TB) and lost future potential (malnourished children) both point to health and nutrition as the base of economic growth.

Remember · When a passage lists a problem and its economic cost, the implication is to fix that root problem, not a neighbouring policy.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2023 · Q3

Easy
Read the passage (Passage—3) — this item is based on it

In India, a majority of farmers are marginal and small, less educated and possess low adaptive capabilities to climate change, perhaps because of credit and other constraints. So, one cannot expect autonomous adaptation to climate change. Even if it was possible, it would not be sufficient to offset losses from climate change. To deal with this, adaptation to climate change is paramount, alongside a fast mitigation response. Another solution is to have a planned or policy-driven adaptation, which would require the government to come up with policy recommendations. Perception is a necessary pre-requisite for adaptation. Whether farmers are adapting agricultural practices to climate change depends on whether they perceive it or not. However, this is not always enough for adaptation. It is important how a farmer perceives the risks associated with climate change.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the most logical and rational message conveyed by the author of the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Risk perceptions of farmers are important for motivating them for taking adaptation decisions.

The passage builds up to the point that perception is a pre-requisite for adaptation and that what matters is how a farmer perceives the risks of climate change. So farmers' risk perception drives their decision to adapt.

  • ✗ (a) Policy-driven adaptation is called 'another solution'; the passage never makes adaptation and mitigation basically the government's job.
  • ✗ (b) Land-use policies are not mentioned at all.
  • ✓ (c) 'Perception is a necessary pre-requisite for adaptation' and 'It is important how a farmer perceives the risks' say exactly this.
  • ✗ (d) The passage wants adaptation 'alongside a fast mitigation response'; it never says mitigation is not possible.

Remember · The author's message usually sits where the argument ends; test extreme words such as 'basically', 'only' and 'not possible' against the text.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2023 · Q11

Easy
Read the passage (Passage—1) — this item is based on it

The emissions humans put into the atmosphere now will affect the climate in the middle of the century and onwards. Technological change, meanwhile, could make a future transition away from fossil fuels cheap or it might not, leaving the world with a terrible choice between sharply reducing emissions at huge cost or suffering through the effects of unabated warming. Businesses that do not hedge against the threat of uncertain outcomes fail. The world cannot afford such recklessness on climate change.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the crucial message conveyed by the author of the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Waiting to deal with carbon emissions until technology improves is not a wise strategy.

Emissions released now shape the climate decades later, and cheap clean technology may or may not arrive. Just as businesses that do not hedge against uncertainty fail, the world cannot gamble on future technology, so waiting for it before cutting emissions is unwise.

  • ✗ (a) Closing down or paying for pollution is not discussed; businesses appear only as an example of hedging against uncertainty.
  • ✗ (b) The passage says technology 'could make a future transition ... cheap or it might not', so it denies that technology is a sure, let alone the only, solution.
  • ✓ (c) Betting on uncertain future technology instead of acting now is the 'recklessness' the world 'cannot afford'.
  • ✗ (d) New industries and renewables are not the point; the passage is about hedging against uncertainty by acting on emissions now.

Remember · When a passage uses an analogy, the message is the analogy's lesson applied to the main subject.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2023 · Q12

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—2) — this item is based on it

Environmental problems cause health problems. Substantial changes in lifestyle can reduce environmental or health problems, but this idea appears almost impossible to adopt. With environmental problems, individual efforts can be perceived as having a negligible effect and therefore lead to inertia. With health, on the other hand, individual choices can make the difference between life and death, literally. And yet, barring a few, there seems to be the same collective lethargy towards making their choices.

Which one of the following statements best implies the most rational assumption that can be made from the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) We are likely to spend more money on cure than prevention.

Lifestyle changes could prevent environmental and health problems, yet people show 'collective lethargy' even where their own choices decide life and death. When prevention is neglected, the problems arrive and must be treated, so more is likely to be spent on cure than on prevention.

  • ✓ (a) Inertia towards healthy lifestyle choices means prevention is neglected; the logical result is heavier spending on cure later.
  • ✗ (b) The government is not mentioned; the passage is about individual choices and collective lethargy.
  • ✗ (c) The opening line, 'Environmental problems cause health problems', rules out protecting health while environmental problems are ignored.
  • ✗ (d) Traditional lifestyles and western values are outside the passage.

Remember · A valid assumption follows from the passage's own logic; options that bring in new actors or causes (government, western values) usually fail.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2023 · Q13

Easy
Read the passage (Passage—3) — this item is based on it

Many people are not eating the right food. For some, it is simply a decision to stick with food they enjoy but which is not too healthy. This is leading to an increase in non-communicable diseases. This in turn leads to major burden on our health-care systems that have the potential to derail the economic progress which is essential for the poor to improve their lives. For others, it is about limited access to nutritious food or a lack of affordability, leading to monotonous diets that do not provide the daily nutrients for them to develop fully. Part of the reason nutrition is under threat worldwide is that our food systems are not properly responding to nutritional needs. Somewhere along that long road from farm to fork, there are serious detours taking place.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the crux of the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) We must place food-based nutrition at the centre of our policy debate.

The passage traces poor nutrition to unhealthy food choices, poor access and poor affordability, and blames food systems that are not responding to nutritional needs 'from farm to fork'. Its crux is that nutrition through food must be central to policy.

  • ✗ (a) Universal Basic Income is not mentioned; affordability is only one of several causes described.
  • ✓ (b) The closing idea, that 'our food systems are not properly responding to nutritional needs', calls for making food-based nutrition the centre of policy.
  • ✗ (c) Genetically modified crops are outside the passage.
  • ✗ (d) Fortification is a specific technique the passage does not discuss, and it would not address the choice and access problems described.

Remember · The crux covers all the causes a passage lists; specific technical fixes such as GM crops or fortification are usually too narrow.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2023 · Q21

Easy
Read the passage (Passage—1) — this item is based on it

To tackle the problem of pollution in cities, policy makers think that drastic actions like temporary use of odd-even number scheme for vehicles, closing schools, factories, construction activities, and banning the use of certain type of vehicles are a way forward. Even then the air is not clean. Vehicles more than 15 years old comprise one percent of the total; and taking them off the road will not make any difference. Banning certain fuels and car types arbitrarily is not proper. Diesel engines produce more PM 2.5 and less CO₂ than petrol or CNG engines. On the other hand, both diesel and CNG engines produce more NOₓ than petrol engines. No one has measured the amount of NOₓ that CNG engines are emitting. Arbitrary bans on vehicles that have passed mandated fitness tests and periodic pollution tests are unfair. What is needed is the scientific and reliable information about the source of pollutants on a continuing basis and the technologies that will work to reduce pollution from them.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the most logical and rational implication conveyed by the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) Knee-jerk reactions cannot solve the problem of pollution but an evidence-based approach will be more effective.

The author finds drastic, arbitrary measures (odd-even, bans on old vehicles and certain fuels) ineffective and unfair, and closes by asking for scientific, reliable information on pollution sources and on technologies that work. In short: evidence, not knee-jerk action.

  • ✗ (a) The passage calls arbitrary bans ineffective, 'not proper' and 'unfair', not difficult to implement.
  • ✓ (b) Drastic actions leave 'the air ... not clean', and the author ends with 'What is needed is the scientific and reliable information' — an evidence-based approach.
  • ✗ (c) No penalty is proposed; the passage defends vehicles that have passed fitness and pollution tests.
  • ✗ (d) The passage never says pollution laws are absent or that this causes arbitrary decisions.

Remember · Read the closing 'what is needed' sentence; the implication usually restates it. Reject options about ease, penalties or laws never discussed.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2023 · Q22

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—2) — this item is based on it

Good corporate governance structures encourage companies to provide accountability and control. A fundamental reason why corporate governance has moved onto the economic and political agenda worldwide has been the rapid growth in international capital markets. Effective corporate governance enhances access to external financing by firms, leading to greater investment, higher growth and employment. Investors look to place their funds where the standards of disclosure, of timely and accurate financial reporting, and of equal treatment to all stakeholders are met.

Which of the following statements best reflects the logical inference from the passage given above?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) Good corporate governance improves the credibility of the firms.

Good governance brings accountability and control, and investors put money where disclosure, accurate reporting and fair treatment of stakeholders are assured, which is why such firms get easier external finance. The inference is that good governance makes firms more credible.

  • ✗ (a) The passage says corporate governance moved onto the global agenda; it does not say ensuring access to external financing is countries' agenda.
  • ✓ (b) Accountability, control, timely and accurate reporting and equal treatment are the standards investors trust, so good governance raises a firm's credibility and its access to funds.
  • ✗ (c) This reverses the link: the growth of capital markets is why governance became important; markets are not said to ensure good governance.
  • ✗ (d) Supply chains are not mentioned.

Remember · Watch for reversed cause and effect: an option that swaps the passage's cause and result is a classic trap.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2023 · Q23

Easy
Read the passage (Passage—3) — this item is based on it

Elephants are landscape architects, creating clearings in the forest, preventing overgrowth of certain plant species and allowing space for the regeneration of others, which in turn provide sustenance to other herbivorous animals. Elephants eat plants, fruits and seeds, propagating the seeds when they defecate in other places as they travel. Elephant dung provides nourishment to plants and animals and acts as a breeding ground for insects. In times of drought, they access water by digging holes which benefits other wildlife.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the most logical and rational inference that can be drawn from the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) Elephants are the keystone species and they benefit the biodiversity.

Elephants make clearings, check overgrowth, spread seeds, enrich the soil with dung and dig water holes, and each of these helps other plants and animals. A species whose activities shape the whole ecosystem in this way is a keystone species that benefits biodiversity.

  • ✗ (a) The size or richness of the elephants' home range is not discussed.
  • ✓ (b) Every example shows elephants sustaining other plants, herbivores, insects and wildlife — the role of a keystone species.
  • ✗ (c) 'Cannot be maintained without elephants' goes too far; the passage shows benefit, not that biodiversity is impossible without them.
  • ✗ (d) Regeneration is a side-effect of their feeding and movement; 'as per their requirement' implies a deliberate design the passage never claims.

Remember · Choose the inference that sums up all the examples; reject 'cannot', 'only' and intentions the passage never attributes.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2023 · Q31

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—1) — this item is based on it

In India, the segregation of municipal waste at source is rare. Recycling is mostly with the informal sector. More than three-fourths of the municipal budget goes into collection and transportation, which leaves very little for processing/resource recovery and disposal. Where does waste-to-energy fit into all this? Ideally it fits in the chain after segregation (between wet waste and the rest), collection, recycling, and before getting to the landfill. Which technology is most appropriate in converting waste to energy depends on what is in the waste (that is biodegradable versus non-biodegradable component) and its calorific value. The biodegradable component of India's municipal solid waste is a little over 50 per cent, and biomethanation offers a major solution for processing this.

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

  1. 1.Collection, processing and segregation of municipal waste should be with government agencies.
  2. 2.Resource recovery and recycling require technological inputs that can be best handled by private sector enterprises.

Which of the assumptions given above is/are correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

The passage describes rare segregation, informal recycling and a budget swallowed by collection and transport, and explains where waste-to-energy fits and how technology should be chosen. It never says who — government agencies or private firms — should do these jobs, so neither assumption is made.

  • ✗ 1. The passage notes that recycling is with the informal sector and how the municipal budget is spent, but it never says which agency should collect, process or segregate waste.
  • ✗ 2. Technology choice is tied to the waste's composition and calorific value; the private sector is not mentioned at all.

Remember · An assumption must be needed for the author's argument; statements that assign a job to a new actor (government, private sector) usually are not.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2023 · Q32

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—1) — this item is based on it

In India, the segregation of municipal waste at source is rare. Recycling is mostly with the informal sector. More than three-fourths of the municipal budget goes into collection and transportation, which leaves very little for processing/resource recovery and disposal. Where does waste-to-energy fit into all this? Ideally it fits in the chain after segregation (between wet waste and the rest), collection, recycling, and before getting to the landfill. Which technology is most appropriate in converting waste to energy depends on what is in the waste (that is biodegradable versus non-biodegradable component) and its calorific value. The biodegradable component of India's municipal solid waste is a little over 50 per cent, and biomethanation offers a major solution for processing this.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the crux of the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Segregation of municipal solid waste is the first step in ensuring the success of waste-to-energy plants.

Waste-to-energy fits in the chain after segregation, and the right technology depends on what the waste contains, yet segregation at source is rare in India. So segregation is the first requirement for waste-to-energy plants to work.

  • ✗ (a) The cost of waste-to-energy is not discussed; the budget point is that collection and transport take most of the money.
  • ✗ (b) Biomethanation is 'a major solution' for the biodegradable part, not the most ideal way for all municipal waste.
  • ✓ (c) Waste-to-energy 'fits in the chain after segregation', and technology depends on the waste's make-up, which cannot be handled well while segregation at source is 'rare'.
  • ✗ (d) The biodegradable share is 'a little over 50 per cent' and biomethanation can process it — the opposite of 'not adequate'.

Remember · The crux links the passage's problem (rare segregation) to its solution chain; reject superlatives like 'most ideal' that the passage never uses.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Other CSAT skills