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 121–150 of 299, newest first.

CSAT 2022 · Q41

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

For two or three generations past, ever-increasing numbers of individuals have been living as workers merely, not as human beings. An excessive amount of labour is rule today in every circle of society, with the result that man’s spiritual element cannot thrive. He finds it very difficult to spend his little leisure in serious activities. He does not want to think; or he cannot even if he wants to. He seeks not self-improvement, but entertainment which would enable him to be mentally idle and to forget his usual activities. Therefore, the so-called culture of our age is dependant more on cinema than on theatre, more on newspapers, magazines and crime stories than on serious literature.

The passage is based on the idea that

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) the great evil of our age is overstrain

The passage traces everything — the stunted spiritual life, the craving for idle entertainment, the shallow culture — to “an excessive amount of labour”. The idea it rests on is that overwork, or overstrain, is the great evil of the age.

  • ✗ (a) The author objects to excessive labour, not to hard work as such; “should not work hard” is a prescription the passage never makes.
  • ✓ (b) “An excessive amount of labour is rule today in every circle of society, with the result that man’s spiritual element cannot thrive” — every other problem flows from this overstrain.
  • ✗ (c) “He does not want to think; or he cannot even if he wants to” is a symptom of overwork, not the idea the passage is built on.
  • ✗ (d) The spiritual element failing to thrive is a result of excessive labour; the option picks an effect, not the underlying idea.

Remember · For ‘based on the idea’ items, find the cause from which the other statements flow; effects and symptoms are traps.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2022 · Q42

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

For two or three generations past, ever-increasing numbers of individuals have been living as workers merely, not as human beings. An excessive amount of labour is rule today in every circle of society, with the result that man’s spiritual element cannot thrive. He finds it very difficult to spend his little leisure in serious activities. He does not want to think; or he cannot even if he wants to. He seeks not self-improvement, but entertainment which would enable him to be mentally idle and to forget his usual activities. Therefore, the so-called culture of our age is dependant more on cinema than on theatre, more on newspapers, magazines and crime stories than on serious literature.

Man does not seek self-improvement because he

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) loves amusement and is mentally idle

The passage answers this directly: “He seeks not self-improvement, but entertainment which would enable him to be mentally idle.” The overworked man picks amusement that lets his mind rest.

  • ✗ (a) His ability is never questioned; the passage says he does not want to think, or cannot after excessive labour.
  • ✗ (b) He has “little leisure”, not none; the issue is how he spends it.
  • ✗ (c) Materialism is not mentioned; the distraction the passage names is entertainment.
  • ✓ (d) He seeks “entertainment which would enable him to be mentally idle and to forget his usual activities”.

Remember · When the passage answers the ‘why’ in one sentence, match that sentence; do not infer a new cause.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2022 · Q43

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

The demographic dividend, which has begun in India and is expected to last another few decades, is a great window of opportunity. The demographic dividend is basically a swelling in the working age population, which conversely means that the relative ratio of very young and very old will, for a while, be on the decline. From the experience of Ireland and China, we know that this can be a source of energy and an engine of economic growth. The demographic dividend tends to raise a nation’s savings rate since in any nation, it is the working age population that is the main saver. And since the savings rate is an important driver of growth, this should help elevate our growth rate. However, the benefits of demographic dividend depend on the quality of the working age population. And this implies bringing back the importance of education, acquisition of skills and human capital.

Which of the following would invariably happen in a country, when the demographic dividend has begun to operate?

  1. 1.The number of illiterate people will decrease.
  2. 2.The ratio of very old and very young will decrease for a while.
  3. 3.Population growth rate will quickly stabilize.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 2 only

By the passage’s own definition, the demographic dividend means “the relative ratio of very young and very old will, for a while, be on the decline”. Rising literacy and a stable population growth rate are not stated as automatic results.

  • ✗ 1. The passage says the benefits depend on the quality of the workforce and calls for “bringing back the importance of education” — literacy does not rise automatically.
  • ✓ 2. This is the definition itself: the ratio of very young and very old will “for a while, be on the decline”.
  • ✗ 3. Stabilisation of the population growth rate is not mentioned at all.

Remember · ‘Invariably’ admits only what follows by definition; benefits the passage makes conditional are out.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2022 · Q44

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

The demographic dividend, which has begun in India and is expected to last another few decades, is a great window of opportunity. The demographic dividend is basically a swelling in the working age population, which conversely means that the relative ratio of very young and very old will, for a while, be on the decline. From the experience of Ireland and China, we know that this can be a source of energy and an engine of economic growth. The demographic dividend tends to raise a nation’s savings rate since in any nation, it is the working age population that is the main saver. And since the savings rate is an important driver of growth, this should help elevate our growth rate. However, the benefits of demographic dividend depend on the quality of the working age population. And this implies bringing back the importance of education, acquisition of skills and human capital.

With reference to the passage, which of the following inferences can be drawn?

  1. 1.Demographic dividend is an essential condition for a country to rapidly increase its economic growth rate.
  2. 2.Promotion of higher education is an essential condition for a country for its rapid economic growth.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

The passage says the demographic dividend can drive growth and that its benefits depend on education and skills. It never calls either an essential condition for rapid growth, and it does not single out higher education.

  • ✗ 1. The dividend “can be a source of energy and an engine of economic growth” — a help, not a precondition; nothing says growth is impossible without it.
  • ✗ 2. The passage names education, skills and human capital as what makes the dividend pay off; making higher education an essential condition for all rapid growth goes beyond it.

Remember · ‘Can help’ is not ‘essential condition’; reject inferences that turn a contributing factor into a necessity.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2022 · Q51

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

In an economic organization, allowing mankind to benefit by the productivity of machines should lead to a very good life of leisure, and much leisure is apt to be tedious except to those who have intelligent activities and interests. If a leisured population is to be happy, it must be an educated population, and must be educated with a view to enjoyment as well as to the direct usefulness of technical knowledge.

Which of the following statements best reflects the underlying tone of the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) Only an educated population can best make use of the benefits of economic progress.

Machines can give people leisure, but leisure is tedious except for those with intelligent interests, and a leisured population can be happy only if it is educated. So only an educated people can truly enjoy the fruits of economic progress.

  • ✓ (a) “If a leisured population is to be happy, it must be an educated population” — education is what lets people benefit from the leisure that productivity brings.
  • ✗ (b) The passage says productivity “should lead to” leisure; it does not say all development should aim at leisure.
  • ✗ (c) Reverses the logic: education is necessary for happy leisure, not a guarantee that more education raises happiness.
  • ✗ (d) The passage does not urge using machines to create leisure; it takes leisure as given and asks what makes it happy.

Remember · ‘Must be X if Y is to happen’ states a necessary condition; options turning it into a sufficient cause are wrong.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2022 · Q52

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

If presents bring less thrill now that we are grown up, perhaps it is because we have too much already; or perhaps it is because we have lost the fullness of the joy of giving, and with it the fullness of the joy of receiving. Children’s fears are poignant, their miseries are acute, but they do not look too forward nor too far backward. Their joys are clear and complete, because they have not yet learnt always to add ‘but’ to every proposition. Perhaps we are too cautious, too anxious, too sceptical. Perhaps some of our cares would shrink if we thought less about them and entered with more single-minded enjoyment into the happiness that come our way.

With reference to the passage, which one of the following statements is correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) There can be more than one reason why adults feel less thrilled by presents.

The author offers two possible reasons with “perhaps… or perhaps”: we already have too much, or we have lost the fullness of the joy of giving. So there can be more than one reason why adults are less thrilled by presents.

  • ✗ (a) Too extreme: presents bring “less thrill”, not no thrill.
  • ✓ (b) “Perhaps it is because we have too much already; or perhaps it is because we have lost the fullness of the joy of giving” — two possible reasons.
  • ✗ (c) The author is tentative but does offer reasons; saying he does not know overstates his doubt.
  • ✗ (d) The passage speaks of the joy of giving and receiving presents, not of loving or being loved.

Remember · ‘Perhaps… or perhaps…’ signals more than one possible reason; options saying ‘impossible’ or ‘does not know’ overshoot.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2022 · Q53

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

If presents bring less thrill now that we are grown up, perhaps it is because we have too much already; or perhaps it is because we have lost the fullness of the joy of giving, and with it the fullness of the joy of receiving. Children’s fears are poignant, their miseries are acute, but they do not look too forward nor too far backward. Their joys are clear and complete, because they have not yet learnt always to add ‘but’ to every proposition. Perhaps we are too cautious, too anxious, too sceptical. Perhaps some of our cares would shrink if we thought less about them and entered with more single-minded enjoyment into the happiness that come our way.

The author of the passage is against

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) worrying too much about the past and future

Children’s joys are complete because they “do not look too forward nor too far backward”, and the author feels our cares would shrink “if we thought less about them”. He is against excessive worry about the past and the future.

  • ✓ (a) The contrast with children, who “do not look too forward nor too far backward”, and the regret that we are “too cautious, too anxious, too sceptical” show what he opposes.
  • ✗ (b) Presents are only the opening example; thinking about them is never criticised.
  • ✗ (c) Feeling less thrilled is the puzzle the author explores, not the attitude he argues against; ‘new things’ are not mentioned.
  • ✗ (d) Losing the fullness of the joy of giving is one tentative explanation for the lesser thrill, not what the passage as a whole argues against.

Remember · For ‘author is against’, read the advice at the end (think less, worry less); it names what he opposes.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2022 · Q61

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

The majority of people who fail to accumulate money sufficient for their needs, are generally, easily influenced by the opinions of others. They permit the newspapers and the gossiping neighbours to do their thinking for them. Opinions are the cheapest commodities on the earth. Everyone has a flock of opinions ready to be wished upon by anyone who will accept them. If you are influenced by opinions when you reach decisions, you will not succeed in any undertaking.

Which one of the following is implied by the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) There are people who fail to accumulate money for their needs.

The passage opens with “The majority of people who fail to accumulate money sufficient for their needs…”, which takes for granted that such people exist. It says nothing about how many people in all fail or succeed.

  • ✗ (a) “Majority” refers to those among the people who fail who are easily influenced, not to most people in general.
  • ✗ (b) No claim about most people succeeding is made; outside the passage.
  • ✓ (c) Speaking of “people who fail to accumulate money sufficient for their needs” implies that such people exist.
  • ✗ (d) The passage treats having money sufficient for one’s needs as desirable; it never says there is no need for it.

Remember · ‘Implied’ often means ‘presupposed’: what must be true for the author’s sentence to make sense at all.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2022 · Q62

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

The majority of people who fail to accumulate money sufficient for their needs, are generally, easily influenced by the opinions of others. They permit the newspapers and the gossiping neighbours to do their thinking for them. Opinions are the cheapest commodities on the earth. Everyone has a flock of opinions ready to be wished upon by anyone who will accept them. If you are influenced by opinions when you reach decisions, you will not succeed in any undertaking.

What is the main idea of the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) People should not be influenced by the opinions of others.

The passage links failure to being “easily influenced by the opinions of others” and warns that anyone influenced by opinions when deciding “will not succeed in any undertaking”. The main idea is to resist others’ opinions.

  • ✓ (a) The whole passage warns against letting newspapers and neighbours “do their thinking” for you.
  • ✗ (b) Money is the example, not the message; the passage never urges accumulating as much as possible.
  • ✗ (c) The author warns against being influenced by opinions; he does not forbid giving or accepting opinions altogether.
  • ✗ (d) Reverses the conditional: being influenced leads to failure, but rejecting all opinions is not said to guarantee success.

Remember · Main idea = the warning the example serves; and ‘if A then fail’ does not mean ‘if not A then succeed’.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2022 · Q63

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

“The social order is a sacred right which is the basis of all other rights. Nevertheless, this right does not come from nature, and must therefore be founded on conventions.”

With reference to the above passage, which of the following statements is/are correct?

  1. 1.Conventions are the sources of rights of man.
  2. 2.Rights of man can be exercised only when there is a social order.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

The social order is the basis of all other rights, and it is itself founded on conventions — so conventions are the source of man’s rights. And if the social order is the basis of all rights, those rights can be exercised only where a social order exists.

  • ✓ 1. Rights rest on the social order, and the social order “must therefore be founded on conventions”; so conventions are ultimately the source of man’s rights.
  • ✓ 2. The social order is “the basis of all other rights”; without that basis the other rights cannot be exercised.

Remember · Chain the links: if A is the basis of B and C is the basis of A, then C is the source of B.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2022 · Q71

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

To encourage research is one of the functions of a university. Contemporary universities have encouraged research, not only in those cases where research is necessary, but on all sorts of entirely unprofitable subjects as well. Scientific research is probably never completely valueless. However silly and insignificant it may seem, however mechanical and unintelligent the labours of the researchers, there is always a chance that the results may be of value to the investigator of talent, who can use the facts collected for him by uninspired but industrious researchers as the basis of some fruitful generalization. But where research is not original, but consists in the mere rearrangement of existing materials, where its object is not scientific but literary or historical, then there is a risk of the whole business becoming merely futile.

The author’s assumption about scientific research is that

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) it is never without some value

The author writes that “Scientific research is probably never completely valueless” — there is always a chance of some value. The assumption is that it is never without some value, not that it is always very valuable.

  • ✗ (a) The author says the results may be of value to an investigator of talent; “never very valuable” is not what he assumes.
  • ✗ (b) The passage does not grade research as sometimes very valuable; its claim is only about some value.
  • ✓ (c) “Probably never completely valueless” means never without some value.
  • ✗ (d) Too strong: the author admits research may seem “silly and insignificant” and claims only some value.

Remember · Match the strength of the passage’s claim: ‘never completely valueless’ is not ‘always very valuable’.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2022 · Q72

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

To encourage research is one of the functions of a university. Contemporary universities have encouraged research, not only in those cases where research is necessary, but on all sorts of entirely unprofitable subjects as well. Scientific research is probably never completely valueless. However silly and insignificant it may seem, however mechanical and unintelligent the labours of the researchers, there is always a chance that the results may be of value to the investigator of talent, who can use the facts collected for him by uninspired but industrious researchers as the basis of some fruitful generalization. But where research is not original, but consists in the mere rearrangement of existing materials, where its object is not scientific but literary or historical, then there is a risk of the whole business becoming merely futile.

According to the author

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) any research result can be of value to an intelligent investigator

“There is always a chance that the results may be of value to the investigator of talent” — so any result can be useful to such an investigator, though none is guaranteed to be.

  • ✗ (a) The author stresses that even silly-looking research can help; “not many” goes against the passage.
  • ✗ (b) “Always valuable” turns “always a chance” into a certainty.
  • ✓ (c) However silly the research, its results “may be of value” to an investigator of talent — they can be, not must be.
  • ✗ (d) “Must always be” is again a certainty; the passage speaks only of a chance.

Remember · ‘Always a chance that it may’ means ‘can’, not ‘always is’ or ‘must be’.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2022 · Q73

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

How best can the problems of floods and droughts be addressed so that the losses are minimal and the system becomes resilient? In this context, one important point that needs to be noted is that India gets ‘too much’ water (about 75% of annual precipitation) during 120 days (June to September) and ‘too little’ for the remaining 245 days. This skewed water availability has to be managed and regulated for its consumption throughout the year.

Which one of the following best reflects the practical, rational and lasting solution?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Buffer stocking of water through dams and recharging aquifers

The problem is one of timing: about 75% of the rain falls in 120 days and too little in the other 245. The lasting fix is to store the monsoon water — in dams and in recharged aquifers — and use it through the year.

  • ✗ (a) Huge concrete tanks and canals across the country are neither practical nor lasting at that scale, and canals move water rather than store it.
  • ✗ (b) Changing cropping patterns adjusts demand; it does not manage the skewed availability the passage describes.
  • ✗ (c) Interlinking rivers moves water from place to place; the passage’s problem is uneven supply over the year.
  • ✓ (d) Buffer stocks in dams and recharged aquifers capture the ‘too much’ of June–September and release it in the ‘too little’ months — exactly the managed, year-round use the passage asks for.

Remember · Match the solution to the exact problem: uneven supply over time needs storage, not transfer or demand changes.

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). Permalink ·

CSAT 2021 · Q1

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

Researchers simulated street lighting on artificial grassland plots containing pea-aphids, sap-sucking insects, at night. These were exposed to two different types of light — a white light similar to newer commercial LED lights and an amber light similar to sodium street lamps. The low intensity amber light was shown to inhibit, rather than induce, flowering in a wild plant of the pea family which is a source of food for the pea-aphids in grasslands. The number of aphids was also significantly suppressed under the light treatment due to the limited amount of food available.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the most critical inference that can be made from the passage given above?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) Light pollution can have a permanent adverse impact on an ecosystem.

Artificial night lighting stopped a wild pea-family plant from flowering, and the aphids that feed on it declined because food ran short. The harm travels through the food chain, so the passage's widest valid inference is that light pollution can damage a whole ecosystem, not just one plant.

  • ✗ (a) Only the low intensity amber light is reported; no high-intensity result is given, so this comparison cannot be made.
  • ✓ (b) The light suppressed flowering and, through the food shortage, the aphid population — an effect across two links of the ecosystem. 'Can have' keeps it a possibility, and it is the only option that captures this chain.
  • ✗ (c) The passage reports no effect of the white light on flowering, so nothing supports ranking white above other colours.
  • ✗ (d) The passage never speaks of a 'proper' intensity of light; it shows that artificial light at night harmed plants and, through them, insects.

Remember · For the 'most critical inference', choose the option that covers the passage's whole cause-and-effect chain, not a comparison it never tested.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2021 · Q2

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

Approximately 80 percent of all flowering plant species are pollinated by animals, including birds and mammals, but the main pollinators are insects. Pollination is responsible for providing us with a wide variety of food, as well as many plant-derived medicines. At least one-third of the world’s agricultural crops depend upon pollination. Bees are the most dominant taxa when it comes to pollination and they are crucial to more than four hundred crops. Pollination is an essential service that is the result of intricate relationships between plants and animals, and the reduction or loss of either affects the survival of both. Effective pollination requires resources, such as refuges of pristine natural vegetation.

On the basis of the passage given above, the following assumptions have been made:

  1. 1.Sustainable production of India’s cereal food grains is impossible without the diversity of pollinating animals.
  2. 2.Monoculture of horticultural crops hampers the survival of insects.
  3. 3.Pollinators become scarce in cultivated areas devoid of natural vegetation.
  4. 4.Diversity in insects induces diversity of plants.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) 3 and 4 only

The passage ties plants and pollinators together — the loss of either hurts both — and says pollination needs refuges of natural vegetation. That supports 3 and 4; India's cereals and monoculture are topics the passage never raises.

  • ✗ 1. The passage speaks of crops in general ('at least one-third'), not India's cereals, and 'impossible' is far stronger than anything it says.
  • ✗ 2. Monoculture and horticulture are not mentioned; this brings in a new subject.
  • ✓ 3. 'Effective pollination requires resources, such as refuges of pristine natural vegetation' — where such vegetation is missing, pollinators lose their support.
  • ✓ 4. Pollination rests on 'intricate relationships between plants and animals', and the loss of either affects both; so a richer variety of insect pollinators sustains a richer variety of plants.

Remember · An assumption must rest on a line of the passage; reject statements that add a new subject or an absolute word like 'impossible'.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2021 · Q3

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

A study conducted on the impacts of climate change over the Cauvery basin of Tamil Nadu using regional climate models showed an increasing trend for maximum and minimum temperatures, and a decrease in the number of rainy days. These climatic shifts will have an impact on the hydrological cycles in the region, lead to more run-off and less recharge, and affect the groundwater tables. Further, there has been an increase in the frequency of droughts in the State. This has driven farmers to increase dependency on groundwater resources to secure their crops.

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

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Climate changes increase the criticality of water resources while simultaneously threatening it.

Higher temperatures and fewer rainy days mean more run-off, less recharge and falling groundwater tables, yet more frequent droughts push farmers to lean even harder on groundwater. Climate change makes water more critical while shrinking it — the crux in (c).

  • ✗ (a) Regional climate models are only the tool the study used; the passage is not about choosing farm practices.
  • ✗ (b) Dry-land cropping is never mentioned; it is a remedy from outside the passage.
  • ✓ (c) Groundwater is threatened ('less recharge', 'affect the groundwater tables') even as droughts 'increase dependency on groundwater resources' — both halves of the passage.
  • ✗ (d) The passage describes farmers relying on groundwater to secure crops; it does not call their livelihoods unsustainable or their strategies risky.

Remember · The crux usually joins the passage's two halves — here, the shrinking resource and the growing dependence on it.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2021 · Q4

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—4) — this item is based on it

Researchers were able to use stem cells to gauge the neurotoxic effects of the environmental pollutant Bisphenol A (BPA). They used a combination of biochemical and cell-based assays to examine the gene expression profile during the differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells upon treatment with BPA, a compound known to cause heart diseases, diabetes, and developmental abnormalities in humans. They were able to detect and measure BPA toxicity towards the proper specification of primary germ layers, such as endoderm and ectoderm, and the establishment of neural progenitor cells.

On the basis of the passage given above, the following assumptions have been made:

  1. 1.BPA may alter embryonic development in vivo.
  2. 2.Biochemical and cell-based assays are useful in finding out treatments for pollution-induced diseases.
  3. 3.Embryonic stem cells could serve as a model to evaluate the physiological effects of environmental pollutants.

Which of the above assumptions are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

The researchers used mouse embryonic stem cells to detect and measure BPA's toxicity to germ layers and neural progenitor cells. So stem cells can model pollutant effects (3), and BPA may disturb development in a living embryo (1); the passage says nothing about finding treatments (2).

  • ✓ 1. BPA disturbed 'the proper specification of primary germ layers' in embryonic cells and is known to cause 'developmental abnormalities in humans' — so it may alter development in a living body.
  • ✗ 2. The assays were used to examine gene expression and measure toxicity, not to find treatments for any disease.
  • ✓ 3. The whole study used stem cells 'to gauge the neurotoxic effects of the environmental pollutant' — exactly the role of a model system.

Remember · Separate what a method was shown to do (detect, measure) from what it was never said to do (treat, cure).

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2021 · Q11

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

Fig trees (genus Ficus) are considered sacred in India, East Asia and Africa and are common in agricultural and urban landscapes where other large trees are absent. In natural forests, fig trees provide food for wildlife when other resources are scarce and support a high density and diversity of frugivores (fruit-eating animals). If frugivorous birds and bats continue to visit fig trees located in sites with high human disturbance, sacred fig trees may promote frugivore abundance. Under favourable microclimate, plenty of seedlings of other tree species would grow around fig trees.

On the basis of the passage given above, the following assumptions have been made:

  1. 1.Fig trees can often be keystone species in natural forests.
  2. 2.Fig trees can grow where other large woody species cannot grow.
  3. 3.Sacred trees can have a role in biodiversity conservation.
  4. 4.Fig trees have a role in the seed dispersal of other tree species.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) 1, 3 and 4 only

Fig trees feed a dense, varied crowd of frugivores when other food is scarce (a keystone role), sacred figs keep frugivores around even in disturbed sites (a conservation role), and seedlings of other trees come up around them because visiting birds and bats drop seeds. The passage only says other large trees are absent in such places, not that they cannot grow.

  • ✓ 1. Fig trees 'provide food for wildlife when other resources are scarce and support a high density and diversity of frugivores' — many species depend on them, which is what a keystone species is.
  • ✗ 2. The passage says figs are common where other large trees 'are absent' — absence (perhaps because they were cleared) is not the same as 'cannot grow'.
  • ✓ 3. Sacred fig trees 'may promote frugivore abundance' even in sites with high human disturbance — their sacred status helps sustain wildlife.
  • ✓ 4. Frugivorous birds and bats visit fig trees and 'plenty of seedlings of other tree species' grow around them — the visitors bring seeds of other trees, so figs aid their dispersal.

Remember · Don't turn 'absent' into 'cannot exist' — assumptions that harden an observation into an impossibility are usually invalid.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2021 · Q12

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

At the heart of agroecology is the idea that agroecosystems should mimic the biodiversity levels and functioning of natural ecosystems. Such agricultural mimics, like their natural models, can be productive, pest-resistant, nutrient conserving, and resilient to shocks and stresses. In ecosystems there is no ‘waste’, nutrients are recycled indefinitely. Agroecology aims at closing nutrient loops, i.e., returning all nutrients that come out of the soil back to the soil such as through application of farmyard manure. It also harnesses natural processes to control pests and build soil fertility i.e., through intercropping. Agroecological practices include integrating trees with livestock and crops.

Consider the following:

  1. 1.Cover crops
  2. 2.Fertigation
  3. 3.Hydroponics
  4. 4.Mixed farming
  5. 5.Polyculture
  6. 6.Vertical farming

Which of the above farming practices can be compatible with agroecology, as implied by the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) 1, 4 and 5 only

Agroecology, as described, copies natural ecosystems: high biodiversity, nutrients returned to the soil, natural pest control and trees, crops and livestock integrated. Cover crops, mixed farming and polyculture fit these principles; fertigation, hydroponics and vertical farming depend on external inputs or soil-free, controlled systems.

  • ✓ 1. Cover crops protect the soil and return nutrients to it — 'closing nutrient loops' and building soil fertility.
  • ✗ 2. Fertigation feeds soluble fertiliser through irrigation water — an external input rather than recycling nutrients back to the soil.
  • ✗ 3. Hydroponics grows plants without soil in nutrient solutions, so there is no soil nutrient loop or natural ecosystem to mimic.
  • ✓ 4. Mixed farming combines crops with livestock, matching 'integrating trees with livestock and crops', and its manure returns nutrients to the soil.
  • ✓ 5. Growing many crops together, like intercropping, mimics natural biodiversity and uses natural pest control.
  • ✗ 6. Vertical farming is a controlled, often soil-less indoor system — far from mimicking the biodiversity and functioning of natural ecosystems.

Remember · Match each practice against the passage's defining principles (biodiversity, soil nutrient loops, integration); reject high-input or soil-free systems.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2021 · Q13

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

Computers increasingly deal not just with abstract data like credit card details and databases, but also with the real world of physical objects and vulnerable human bodies. A modern car is a computer on wheels; an aeroplane is a computer on wings. The arrival of the “Internet of Things” will see computers baked into everything from road signs and MRI scanners to prosthetics and insulin pumps. There is little evidence that these gadgets will be any more trustworthy than their desktop counterparts. Hackers have already proved that they can take remote control of internet connected cars and pacemakers.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the most critical inference that can be made from the passage given above?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) Computers are not completely safe.

Computers now run cars, aeroplanes and medical devices, there is little evidence they are more trustworthy than desktops, and hackers have already taken control of cars and pacemakers. The direct inference is that computers are not completely safe; blaming companies or calling for laws goes beyond the text.

  • ✓ (a) 'Little evidence that these gadgets will be any more trustworthy' plus hackers controlling 'cars and pacemakers' leads straight to this.
  • ✗ (b) The attitude of software companies is never discussed; this assigns blame the passage does not.
  • ✗ (c) Laws are a remedy the passage never proposes; an inference should come from the text, not add a solution.
  • ✗ (d) Too general and vague; it misses the passage's specific point about vulnerability to hacking.

Remember · Choose the inference the evidence directly supports; drop options that assign blame or prescribe remedies the passage never mentions.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2021 · Q14

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—4) — this item is based on it

A social and physical environment riddled with poverty, inequities, unhygienic and insanitary conditions generates the risk of infectious diseases. Hygiene has different levels: personal, domestic and community hygiene. There is no doubt that personal cleanliness brings down the rate of infectious diseases. But the entry of the market into this domain has created a false sense of security that gets conditioned and reinforced by the onslaught of advertisements. Experience in Western Europe shows that along with personal hygiene, general improvements in environmental conditions and components like clean water, sanitation and food security have brought down infant/child death/infection rates considerably. The obsession with hand hygiene also brings in the persisting influence of the market on personal health, overriding or marginalising the negative impact on ecology and the emergence of resistant germs.

On the basis of the passage given above, the following assumptions have been made:

  1. 1.People who are obsessed with personal hygiene tend to ignore the community hygiene.
  2. 2.Emergence of multi-drug resistant germs can be prevented by personal cleanliness.
  3. 3.Entry of the market in the domain of hygiene increases the risk of infectious diseases.
  4. 4.Scientific and micro-level interventions are not sufficient to bring down the burden of infectious diseases.
  5. 5.It is community hygiene implemented through public health measures that is really effective in the battle against infectious diseases.

Which of the above assumptions are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) 4 and 5 only

The passage grants that personal cleanliness helps, but credits the big fall in infections in Western Europe to clean water, sanitation and food security alongside it, and warns that market-driven hygiene gives a false sense of security. So personal, micro-level steps are not enough (4), and community-level public health measures are what really work (5).

  • ✗ 1. The passage says the market creates 'a false sense of security'; it never says hygiene-obsessed people ignore community hygiene.
  • ✗ 2. The passage links the obsession with hand hygiene to 'the emergence of resistant germs' — the opposite of prevention.
  • ✗ 3. The market creates a false sense of security; the passage does not say its entry raises the risk of infection.
  • ✓ 4. Personal hygiene alone did not do the job in Western Europe; 'general improvements in environmental conditions' were needed — so product-based, individual measures are insufficient.
  • ✓ 5. The fall in infant/child infection rates came with clean water, sanitation and food security — community-level, public health measures.

Remember · When a passage says 'along with X, Y brought the result', the valid assumption is that X alone is not enough.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2021 · Q21

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

India faces a challenging immediate future in energy and climate policy-making. The problems are multiple: sputtering fossil fuel production capabilities; limited access to electricity and modern cooking fuel for the poorest; rising fuel imports in an unstable global energy context; continued electricity pricing and governance challenges leading to its costly deficits or surplus supply; and not least, growing environmental contestation around land, water and air. But all is not bleak: growing energy efficiency programmes; integrated urbanisation and transport policy discussions; inroads to enhancing energy access and security; and bold renewable energy initiatives, even if not fully conceptualised, suggest the promise of transformation.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the critical message conveyed by the passage given above?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) India’s energy decision-making process is ever more complex and interconnected.

The passage lists linked problems — fuel production, access for the poorest, imports, pricing and governance, land, water and air — and then an equally varied set of hopeful initiatives. The message is that India's energy decisions involve many connected strands, which is (a).

  • ✓ (a) 'The problems are multiple' and span supply, access, imports, pricing, governance and environment, while responses span efficiency, urbanisation, transport and renewables — a complex, interconnected picture.
  • ✗ (b) The passage never says policy is 'heavily tuned' to sustainable development goals; it even calls renewable initiatives 'not fully conceptualised'.
  • ✗ (c) Too negative: 'all is not bleak' and there is 'the promise of transformation'; no incompatibility is claimed.
  • ✗ (d) The passage mentions demand-side measures such as energy efficiency and access; nothing is called straightforward.

Remember · When a passage piles up interlinked problems and responses, the message is usually complexity, not a one-sided verdict.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2021 · Q22

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

There are reports that some of the antibiotics sold in the market are fed to poultry and other livestock as growth promoters. Overusing these substances can create superbugs, pathogens that are resistant to multiple drugs and could be passed along humans. Mindful of that, some farming companies have stopped using the drugs to make chickens gain weight faster. Since Denmark banned antibiotic growth promoters in the 1990s, the major pork exporter says it is producing more pigs — and the animals get fewer diseases.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the critical message conveyed by the passage given above?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Antibiotics should only be used to treat diseases.

The concern is antibiotics fed to livestock as growth promoters, which can breed superbugs; Denmark banned growth promoters and its pigs got fewer diseases. The message is to keep antibiotics for treating disease, not to ban them for animals altogether.

  • ✗ (a) Too extreme; the passage objects to one misuse of antibiotics, not to eating animal products.
  • ✗ (b) Plant versus animal foods is never discussed.
  • ✗ (c) Too broad: Denmark banned antibiotic 'growth promoters', not all antibiotic use; sick animals may still need treatment.
  • ✓ (d) The harm comes from using antibiotics 'as growth promoters'; stopping that worked, so antibiotics should be kept for treating disease.

Remember · Pick the option that targets exactly the misuse the passage criticises; blanket bans and lifestyle changes overshoot.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2021 · Q23

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

Policy makers and media have placed the blame for skyrocketing food prices on a variety of factors, including high fuel prices, bad weather in key food producing countries, and the diversion of land to non-food production. Increased emphasis, however, has been placed on a surge in demand for food from the most populous emerging economies. It seems highly probable that mass consumption in these countries could be well poised to create a food crisis.

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

  1. 1.Oil producing countries are one of the reasons for high food prices.
  2. 2.If there is a food crisis in the world in the near future, it will be in the emerging economies.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

The passage mentions high fuel prices, not oil-producing countries, and says demand from the emerging economies could create a food crisis — not that the crisis would be confined to them. Both assumptions stretch the text.

  • ✗ 1. Policy makers blame 'high fuel prices'; the passage never blames oil-producing countries — that is a new link.
  • ✗ 2. Mass consumption in emerging economies 'could be well poised to create a food crisis' — they are the cause, but the crisis could be global, not located only there.

Remember · Watch for a shift in who or where: a crisis caused by some countries need not happen only in those countries.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2021 · Q24

Medium
Read the passage (Passage—4) — this item is based on it

A central message of modern development economics is the importance of income growth, by which is meant growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In theory, rising GDP creates employment and investment opportunities. As incomes grow in a country where the level of GDP was once low, households, communities, and governments are increasingly able to set aside some funds for the production of things that make for a good life. Today GDP has assumed such a significant place in the development lexicon, that if someone mentions “economic growth”, we know they mean growth in GDP.

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

  1. 1.Rising GDP is essential for a country to be a developed country.
  2. 2.Rising GDP guarantees a reasonable distribution of income to all households.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

The passage reports how central GDP growth has become in development thinking and what it does 'in theory'. It never says rising GDP is necessary for developed status and says nothing about how income is shared, so neither assumption holds.

  • ✗ 1. The passage describes GDP's importance in development economics and its effects 'in theory'; it does not claim that rising GDP is essential to become a developed country.
  • ✗ 2. Distribution of income is never discussed, and 'guarantees' is far stronger than anything in the passage.

Remember · Reporting how popular an idea is ('central message', 'in theory') is not endorsing it; beware words like 'essential' and 'guarantees'.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2021 · Q31

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

With respect to what are called denominations of religion, if everyone is left to be a judge of his own religion, there is no such thing as religion that is wrong; but if they are to be a judge of each other’s religion, there is no such thing as a religion that is right, and therefore all the world is right or all the world is wrong in the matter of religion.

What is the most logical assumption that can be made from the passage given above?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Religious denominations tend to ignore the unity of man.

Each denomination finds itself right and every other one wrong, so taken together either the whole world is right or the whole world is wrong. Behind this lies the assumption that denominations dwell on their differences and lose sight of what unites people.

  • ✗ (a) The passage says nothing about whether a person can live without a denomination.
  • ✗ (b) No duty to spread one's denomination is stated or implied.
  • ✓ (c) Because each group judges the others wrong, the passage concludes that 'all the world is right or all the world is wrong' — it assumes denominations focus on what divides and ignore the common humanity they share.
  • ✗ (d) Each person, judging his own religion, finds it right; the passage never says people misunderstand their own denomination.

Remember · For the 'most logical assumption', choose the unstated belief that makes the author's conclusion sensible, not a claim the passage never touches.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2021 · Q32

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

It is certain, that seditions, wars, and contempt or breach of the laws are not so much to be imputed to the wickedness of the subjects, as to the bad state of a dominion. For men are not born fit for citizenship, but must be made so. Besides, men’s natural passions are everywhere the same; and if wickedness more prevails, and more offences are committed in one commonwealth than in another, it is certain that the former has neither enough pursued the end of unity, nor framed its laws with sufficient forethought; and that, therefore, it has failed in making quite good its right as a commonwealth.

Which among the following is the most logical and rational inference that can be made from the passage given above?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) That dominion is the best which pursues the aim of unity and has laws for good citizenship.

The author traces disorder mainly to the bad state of a dominion: people must be made fit for citizenship, and a commonwealth with more offences has failed to pursue unity and to frame laws with forethought. Turned around, the best dominion is one that pursues unity and has laws that make good citizens.

  • ✗ (a) Offences differ from one commonwealth to another according to how it is run, so they are not inevitable everywhere.
  • ✗ (b) The passage says disorder is 'not so much' due to the subjects as to the state of the dominion — a matter of degree; 'all the problems' is too extreme.
  • ✓ (c) Failure is traced to not pursuing 'the end of unity' and not framing laws 'with sufficient forethought', while men 'must be made' fit for citizenship — so the best dominion does both.
  • ✗ (d) The passage implies a well-run commonwealth is possible; nothing says a good dominion cannot be established.

Remember · Reverse the author's diagnosis: if failure comes from lacking X, the rational inference is that success comes with X.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2021 · Q33

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

Inequality violates a basic democratic norm: the equal standing of citizens. Equality is a relation that obtains between persons in respect of some fundamental characteristic that they share in common. Equality is, morally speaking, a default principle. Therefore, persons should not be discriminated on grounds such as race, caste, gender, ethnicity, disability, or class. These features of human condition are morally irrelevant. The idea that one should treat persons with respect not only because some of these persons possess some special features or talent, for example skilled cricketers, gifted musicians, or literary giants, but because persons are human beings, is by now part of commonsense morality.

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

  1. 1.Equality is a prerequisite for people to participate in the multiple transactions of society from a position of confidence.
  2. 2.Occurrence of inequality is detrimental to the survival of democracy.
  3. 3.Equal standing of all citizens is an idea that cannot actually be realised even in a democracy.
  4. 4.Right to equality should be incorporated into our values and day-to-day political vocabulary.

Which of the above assumptions are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) 1 and 4 only

The author treats the equal standing of citizens as a basic norm and a default principle, and notes that respecting persons simply as human beings is now commonsense morality. This rests on equality mattering for people to take part in society with confidence (1) and belonging in our everyday values (4); claims about democracy's survival or equality being unattainable go beyond or against the text.

  • ✓ 1. Equal standing and respect for persons 'because persons are human beings', whatever their caste, gender or class, is what lets people deal with society without being lowered — the premise behind calling equality a default principle.
  • ✗ 2. Inequality 'violates a basic democratic norm'; the passage does not say it threatens the survival of democracy — that escalates the claim.
  • ✗ 3. This contradicts the passage, which says equal respect is 'by now part of commonsense morality'.
  • ✓ 4. Since equal respect is a moral default and part of commonsense morality, the author assumes equality belongs in our values and everyday political language.

Remember · 'Violates a norm' is not 'threatens survival' — reject assumptions that escalate the passage's claim.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2021 · Q34

Easy
Read the passage (Passage—4) — this item is based on it

Aristocratic government ruins itself by limiting too narrowly the circle within which power is confined; oligarchic government ruins itself by the incautious scramble for immediate wealth. But even democracy ruins itself by excess of democracy. Its basic principle is the equal right of all to hold office and determine public policy. This is, at first glance, a delightful arrangement; it becomes disastrous because the people are not properly equipped by education to select the best rulers and the wisest courses. The people have no understanding and only repeat what their rulers are pleased to tell them. Such a democracy is tyranny or autocracy.

— Plato

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

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) Any form of government tends to deteriorate by excess of its basic principle.

Plato shows aristocracy, oligarchy and democracy each ruining itself by overdoing the very principle that defines it — democracy 'by excess of democracy'. That shared pattern is the crux, option (b).

  • ✗ (a) True in general but not the point; the passage explains how each form destroys itself.
  • ✓ (b) Aristocracy narrows power too far, oligarchy scrambles for wealth, and democracy 'ruins itself by excess of democracy' — each through excess of its own principle.
  • ✗ (c) The passage blames poor education for democracy's failure but never claims education 'ensures' a perfect democracy.
  • ✗ (d) 'Necessary evil' is not stated; tyranny arises from excess, not as something inherent in every government.

Remember · When a passage runs parallel examples, the crux is the pattern they share, not any single example.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2021 · Q41

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

Nothing can exist in a natural state which can be called good or bad by common assent, since every man who is in a natural state consults only his own advantage, and determines what is good or bad according to his own fancy and insofar as he has regard for his own advantage alone, and holds himself responsible to no one save himself by any law; and therefore sin cannot be conceived in a natural state, but only in a civil state, which is decreed by common consent what is good or bad, and each one holds himself responsible to the state.

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

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) The conceptions of what is right or wrong exist due to the formation of a state.

In a natural state each man judges good and bad by his own advantage, so nothing is good or bad by common assent and 'sin cannot be conceived'. Only in a civil state is good and bad decreed by common consent — so shared notions of right and wrong come with the formation of the state.

  • ✓ (a) 'Sin cannot be conceived in a natural state, but only in a civil state, which is decreed by common consent what is good or bad' — right and wrong, as shared ideas, arise with the state.
  • ✗ (b) The passage speaks of common consent in a civil state, not a ruling authority deciding; and it does not say individuals cannot be morally right.
  • ✗ (c) Man in a natural state consults his own advantage, but the passage does not call him 'inherently immoral' — it says sin cannot even be conceived there.
  • ✗ (d) The survival of the human species is never discussed.

Remember · The central idea is the passage's main contrast (here, natural state versus civil state); reject options that add labels like 'immoral' or new themes.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

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