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.

Asked in 11 of 11 years · most in 2017 (31)

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

CSAT 2020 · Q1

Easy

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

In India, over the last decade or so, labour has been departing agriculture, but is only going to construction and unregistered manufacturing which are not markedly better jobs. Services, where labour tends to be most productive, are not generating the additional jobs the country needs. India will need 24 million or so jobs over the next decade. The new sector, e-commerce, can at best close only half the jobs gap. Only those sectors that drive domestic demand such as health and education can comfortably fill the other half.

Which one of the following is best implied in the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Increased social sector spending is imperative for large-scale job creation.

The passage is about closing a jobs gap of about 24 million. E-commerce can fill at best half of it, and the author says only demand-driving sectors such as health and education can fill the rest — so spending on these social sectors is what large-scale job creation needs.

✗ (a) The passage notes labour leaving agriculture but never calls for curbing rural-to-urban migration.
✗ (b) Construction and unregistered manufacturing are called 'not markedly better jobs', but improving their conditions is not the passage's concern; its concern is where new jobs will come from.
✗ (c) This reverses the passage: services 'are not generating the additional jobs the country needs'.
✓ (d) Health and education are the sectors that 'can comfortably fill the other half' of the jobs gap; that makes more spending on them necessary for jobs on this scale.

Remember · For 'best implied', find where the passage lands (its last line or its solution) and pick the option that restates it.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q2

Medium

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

In India, the current focus on the right to privacy is based on some new realities of the digital age. A right is a substantive right only if it works in all situations, and for everyone. A right to free expression for an individual about her exploitation, for instance, is meaningless without actual availability of security that guarantees that private force cannot be used to thwart this right. The role of the State, therefore, is not just to abstain from preventing rightful free expression, but also to actively ensure that private parties are not able to block it.

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

1.State should have some institutions to ensure its appropriate role in a digital society.
2.State should ensure that private parties do not violate the citizens’ right to privacy.
3.Digital economy is not compatible with the idea of not violating the citizens’ privacy.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) 1 and 2

The author says a right is real only when the State also stops private parties from blocking it. That rests on two unstated premises: the State must stop private violations of privacy (2), and it needs some institutional means to play this active role (1). Nothing suggests the digital economy and privacy are incompatible.

✓ 1. The State is asked to 'actively ensure' that private parties cannot block a right. An active guarantee of this kind needs some machinery — institutions — to carry it out.
✓ 2. The passage opens with the right to privacy and ends by saying the State's role is to ensure 'private parties are not able to block it' — a substantive right must hold against private force too.
✗ 3. The passage never says the digital economy and privacy cannot go together; it only says the digital age brings new realities that shape the focus on privacy.

Remember · An assumption is what the author must take for granted for the argument to work — check whether the conclusion collapses without it.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q3

Easy

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

One of the biggest ironies around water is that it comes from rivers and other wetlands. Yet it is seen as divorced from them. While water is used as a resource, public policy does not always grasp that it is a part of the natural ecosystem. Efforts at engineering water systems are thus efforts at augmenting water supply rather than strengthening the capacities of ecological systems.

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

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Wetlands need to be reinforced as more than just open sources of water.

The irony the author points to is that water comes from rivers and wetlands, yet policy treats it as a resource divorced from them and engineers supply instead of strengthening ecosystems. The inference is that wetlands must be seen as ecological systems, not merely as taps of water.

✗ (a) The Ramsar Convention is outside the passage; the author criticises how policy views water, not the lack of a treaty listing.
✗ (b) This is the very approach the author criticises — engineering to augment supply rather than strengthening ecological systems.
✓ (c) Policy fails to 'grasp that it is a part of the natural ecosystem'; recognising wetlands as ecosystems rather than just sources of water answers that failure.
✗ (d) Pricing, misuse and overuse of water are not discussed at all.

Remember · Name the author's complaint in one line; the right inference is its remedy, not an outside fact or a policy the passage never discusses.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q4

Easy

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

Asset allocation is the most important investment decision we will ever make, and sadly, most of us do not give that decision the importance it deserves. We are adamant about seeking predictability with our future. We tend to think of investing in risky assets as extremely volatile and value eroding. We also dislike fluctuating returns and the loss of control of investment. We think our money is best left idle, unproductive but safe. There is no asset that is risk-free. We could lose our jobs, our homes can lose value, our banks can go bankrupt, our bonds can default, the government can collapse and companies we chose fondly may cease to exist. But we cannot live life assuming that all these extreme events are waiting to happen, and all at the same time. All these extreme forms of risks we know will not manifest at the same time.

Which one of the following statements best implies the suggestion given by the author of the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) Distribute your wealth across different kinds of assets so that your risks would be minimized.

The author opens with asset allocation as the key decision, says no asset is risk-free, and ends by noting that the extreme risks will not all strike at the same time. The practical suggestion is to spread money across different assets so that one failure does not wipe out everything.

✓ (a) Asset allocation is 'the most important investment decision', and since the risks 'will not manifest at the same time', spreading wealth across assets lowers overall risk.
✗ (b) The author wants informed allocation, not risk-taking as a personality trait; 'necessary component' goes beyond the passage.
✗ (c) Handing money to an asset manager is never mentioned; the author even notes our dislike of losing control of investment.
✗ (d) This is only the starting fact ('no asset that is risk-free'), not the author's suggestion about what to do.

Remember · When a passage says 'every option is risky, but not all fail together', its advice is diversification.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q5

Medium

Read the passage (Passage—5) — this item is based on it

Although most of the Genetically Modified (GM) crops cultivated now are genetically engineered for a single trait, in future, crops genetically engineered for more than one trait will be the norm. Thus, biotechnology’s role in agriculture and the regulation of the same cannot be understood solely in the context of the current generation of GM crops. Instead, there is a need to take a comprehensive look, taking into account various aspects, including socio-economic impacts, so that the potential of the technology can be harnessed while minimizing negative impacts. Given the importance of biotechnology in developing varieties that can help in climate change mitigation and adaptation, not using biotechnology as a part of the climate change action plan cannot be an option. Domestic regulation of biotechnology cannot be viewed in isolation of trade policy and obligations under various international treaties and conventions.

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

1.Biotechnology regulation is an evolving process.
2.Participation of people is needed in policy decisions regarding biotechnology regulation.
3.Biotechnology regulation should take into account socio-economic aspects in decision-making.
4.Wider involvement of political executive in biotechnology regulation improves its effectiveness in dealing with the country’s trade policies and international obligations.

Which of the above assumptions are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 1 and 3 only

The passage says regulation cannot be framed only for today's single-trait GM crops because multi-trait crops will be the norm — so regulation must keep evolving (1) — and it asks for a comprehensive look that includes socio-economic impacts (3). Public participation and the political executive are never mentioned.

✓ 1. Regulation 'cannot be understood solely in the context of the current generation of GM crops' because future crops will differ — it has to keep changing with the technology.
✗ 2. The passage does not mention public participation in policy decisions.
✓ 3. It asks for a comprehensive look 'including socio-economic impacts'.
✗ 4. The passage links domestic regulation to trade policy and treaties, but says nothing about the political executive or what improves effectiveness.

Remember · Accept an assumption only when a phrase of the passage supports it; reject statements that bring in new actors such as 'people' or 'political executive'.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q6

Easy

Read the passage (Passage—5) — this item is based on it

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

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Biotechnology’s role is not confined to the current priorities of developing GM crops.

The whole passage widens the frame: future multi-trait crops, socio-economic impacts, climate action and trade obligations all bear on biotechnology. Its crux is that biotechnology's role cannot be seen only through today's GM crops.

✗ (a) The precautionary principle is not mentioned; the passage speaks of minimising negative impacts while harnessing the technology.
✗ (b) The passage says not using biotechnology in the climate plan 'cannot be an option' — it does not report whether it is used now.
✓ (c) Role and regulation 'cannot be understood solely in the context of the current generation of GM crops'; the passage then adds climate, socio-economic and trade dimensions.
✗ (d) Negative impacts are to be minimised, but the passage does not claim they are poorly understood.

Remember · The crux restates the passage's central claim; options that take a side detail and add a new judgement are traps.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q21

Medium

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

Private investment in general is volatile. Foreign private investment is more volatile because the available investment avenues are significantly greater (i.e., the entire world). Therefore, the responsibility of providing employment cannot be left to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The current FDI inflows are volatile over time and across sectors and regions, which is a necessary consequence of their search for the highest returns. The adverse consequences are unstable employment and an accentuation of income and regional inequalities. A probable positive consequence of foreign investment is the inflow of new technology and its subsequent diffusion. However, the technology diffusion is not at all certain because the existing state of physical and human capital in India may prove inadequate for the diffusion.

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

1.Relying on foreign investment in the long run is not an economically sound policy.
2.Policies must be undertaken to reduce volatility in foreign private investment.
3.Policies must be undertaken to strengthen domestic private investment.
4.Public investment should be given priority over private investment.
5.Substantial public investment in education and health should be undertaken.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 1, 3 and 5

Because FDI is volatile by nature and its technology gains depend on India's own physical and human capital, the passage implies: do not lean on foreign investment in the long run (1), build up domestic investment to carry employment (3), and invest in education and health so that technology can spread (5).

✓ 1. Employment 'cannot be left to' FDI, its volatility brings unstable jobs and wider inequalities, and even its technology benefit is 'not at all certain'.
✗ 2. The passage calls volatility 'a necessary consequence' of FDI's search for the highest returns — something built in, not something policy is expected to remove.
✓ 3. If employment cannot be entrusted to the more volatile foreign capital, the author must be counting on domestic investment to carry it.
✗ 4. The passage never ranks public against private investment; it contrasts foreign with domestic.
✓ 5. Technology diffusion may fail because India's 'physical and human capital' is inadequate; building human capital means investing in education and health.

Remember · In multi-statement items, settle the surest statements first; often only one option contains all of them.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q22

Medium

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

Many opportunities to harness the highly skewed, seasonal and spatial distribution of monsoon flows, which occur in a four-month period from June to September annually, have been lost. Since these few months account for most of the rainfall and consequent freshwater availability, the need for holding rainwater in reservoirs, for subsequently releasing it for use over the year, is a necessity nobody can afford to overlook. Climate change will continue to affect weather conditions and create water shortages and excesses. While millions suffer from droughts and floods, waters in the country’s many rivers flow unutilized, and are discharged into the sea every year.

With reference to the above passage, which of the following could be the most rational and practical implications for India?

1.Inter-linking of rivers should be undertaken.
2.A network of dams and canals should be built across the country for proper distribution of water.
3.Farmers should be provided easy loans for digging borewells.
4.Usage of water for agriculture should be regulated by law.
5.Distribution of river water among regions should be regulated by the Union Government.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) 1 and 2

The passage's problem is that monsoon water comes in a short burst, unevenly across regions, and much of it runs to the sea while some areas face drought and others flood. Storing it (dams and canals) and moving it from surplus to deficit rivers (inter-linking) answer exactly that.

✓ 1. The monsoon flows have a skewed 'spatial distribution' and river waters 'flow unutilized' while millions face droughts and floods — linking rivers moves surplus water to deficit areas.
✓ 2. The passage calls holding rainwater in reservoirs and releasing it over the year 'a necessity nobody can afford to overlook'; dams and canals do this.
✗ 3. Borewells draw groundwater; they do nothing to capture the monsoon flows the passage says are being lost.
✗ 4. The passage is about capturing and storing water, not about legally restricting its use in farming.
✗ 5. Which level of government should allocate river water is never raised.

Remember · A practical implication must solve the passage's own problem; drop steps about other resources or about who holds power.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q23

Easy

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

People will invest in education whenever they are granted the economic freedom to fully enjoy its benefits. Again, this is for the obvious reason that the return on education increases as the level of economic freedom rises. When people, thanks to lower tax rates, are allowed to retain most of the higher income that they gain from each incremental level of education, it makes eminent sense to invest in education. On the other hand, when the government decides to tax the higher income of educated individuals at even higher rates, it makes very little sense to invest in educating oneself further. The same incentives apply to parents who decide on whether to invest in their children’s education.

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

1.Lower tax rates in a country invariably translate into greater investments in higher education.
2.Investment in the education of children ensures their economic freedom.
3.Economic freedom has a positive impact on building up human capital.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) 3 only

The author argues that people invest more in education when they can keep its returns, that is, when economic freedom is greater. That supports the general link between economic freedom and human capital (3), but not the absolute claim in 1 or the reversed claim in 2.

✗ 1. Lower taxes make investing in education sensible, but 'invariably' is too strong, and the passage speaks of education in general, not 'higher education' alone.
✗ 2. The passage runs the other way: economic freedom encourages investment in education. It never says education guarantees economic freedom.
✓ 3. 'The return on education increases as the level of economic freedom rises', so people invest more in education — that is, in human capital.

Remember · Watch for absolute words ('invariably', 'ensures') and for reversed cause and effect — both usually make an assumption invalid.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q24

Easy

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

Our urban bodies cannot possibly ensure sustainable delivery of water in our cities unless financing mechanisms are put in place. Water delivery requires heavy investment in collecting it from a natural source, treating it to make it potable, and laying a distribution network of pipes for delivery to the users. It also requires investments in sewerage infrastructure and sewage treatment plants so that the sewers can carry the wastewater to these plants to ensure that no untreated sewage is discharged back into natural water bodies. If our cities were rich enough to meet the entire cost, water could be delivered free. They are not.

What is the most logical and crucial message conveyed by the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) Urban local bodies must recover costs through user charges.

The passage lists the heavy costs of supplying water and treating sewage, says financing mechanisms are essential, and ends: water could be free only if cities could bear the whole cost — 'They are not.' The message is that the cost must be recovered, which points to charging users.

✓ (a) Cities cannot meet 'the entire cost', so water cannot be delivered free; the financing the first line demands must come from the users of the service.
✗ (b) The passage blames a lack of money, not inefficiency of the urban bodies.
✗ (c) The author offers a way out — financing mechanisms — so the problem is not presented as unsolvable.
✗ (d) Capping city populations is not discussed at all.

Remember · When a passage ends by ruling out 'free', its crucial message is about who should pay.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q25

Easy

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

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

1.Rich cities only can ensure sustainable delivery of water.
2.Sustainable delivery of water in cities means much more than supplying water to households.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 2 only

Sustainable delivery, as described, involves collecting, treating and piping water and also building sewers and treatment plants — far more than supplying households. The passage does not say only rich cities can manage it; any city can, once financing mechanisms are in place.

✗ 1. Riches would allow water to be delivered 'free'; sustainable delivery needs 'financing mechanisms', which cities that are not rich can also put in place.
✓ 2. It includes collecting and treating water, a distribution network, sewerage and sewage treatment so that 'no untreated sewage is discharged' into water bodies.

Remember · Test 'only' claims against the passage: if it names another way to reach the goal, the 'only' assumption fails.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q26

Hard

Read the passage (Passage—5) — this item is based on it

In India, agriculture still engages about half of its workforce, and about 85 per cent of its farms are small and marginal. Compared to China and Vietnam, which have experienced fast structural and rural transformation, India’s story is of slow transformation. As a result, poverty reduction in India was at a much slower pace during 1988–2014, compared to China and Vietnam. India’s poverty reduction was slow during 1988–2005, but during 2005–2012, it accelerated dramatically—almost three times faster than during the earlier period. What did India do during this period? Research reveals that the relative price scenario changed significantly (by more than 50%) in favour of agriculture in the wake of rising global prices. This boosted private investments in agriculture by more than 50%. As a result, agri-GDP growth touched 4.1% during 2007–2012 as against 2.4% during 2002–2007. The net surplus of agri-trade touched $25 billion in 2013–2014; real farm wages rose by 7% per annum. All this led to unprecedented fall in poverty.

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

1.Structural and rural transformation is impossible when farms are mainly small and marginal.
2.A good price incentive can trigger investments in agriculture.
3.India needs to build value chains for high-value agri-products like livestock and horticulture.
4.Higher global prices of agricultural commodities are essential for India’s poverty reduction.

Which of the above assumptions are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) 2 and 3

Statement 2 is the passage's own mechanism: better relative prices lifted private farm investment by over 50%. Statements 1 and 4 use absolute words ('impossible', 'essential') that the passage does not support, which leaves 2 and 3 as the only workable pair.

✗ 1. The passage calls India's transformation 'slow', not impossible, and does not make small farm size the barrier.
✓ 2. The relative price scenario moved in favour of agriculture by over 50%, and 'this boosted private investments in agriculture by more than 50%'.
✓ 3. Livestock and horticulture are not named, but the passage's lesson is that better returns on farm produce drive investment, growth and poverty reduction; value chains for high-value products are a way to secure such returns. It is the only remaining statement free of an overreach.
✗ 4. Global prices helped in one period, but 'essential' goes too far — the passage shows how the benefit came through prices and investment, not that poverty cannot fall any other way.

Remember · When one statement is certain, strike the options with extreme words ('impossible', 'essential'); the survivor is usually the answer.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q27

Medium

Read the passage (Passage—5) — this item is based on it

Which one of the following statements best reflects the critical message of the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Inclusive agricultural growth is key to reduce poverty in the near future.

With half the workforce in farming and most farms small, the passage shows poverty falling fastest when agriculture grew — higher investment, faster agri-GDP growth and rising real farm wages. Growth that reaches this large farm population is the key to cutting poverty.

✗ (a) The poverty fall came through agriculture itself; off-farm employment is not mentioned.
✗ (b) Farmer producer companies are outside the passage.
✗ (c) Private investment rose as a result of prices; the passage never compares it with public investment or ranks them.
✓ (d) Agri-GDP growth of 4·1%, a trade surplus and real farm wages rising 7% a year together 'led to unprecedented fall in poverty' — growth that reached farmers and farm workers.

Remember · For the 'critical message', follow the passage's cause-and-effect chain to its end point and choose the option that names the whole chain.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q41

Easy

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

Spanish ships in the late 16th century first brought the potato tuber from South America to Europe whereby in the early 19th century, it had become a reliable backup to cereal crops, particularly in the cold, rain-soaked soils of Ireland. The Irish were soon almost wholly dependent on the potato as their staple food. And they were planting primarily one prodigious variety, the ‘Lumper’ potato, whose genetic frailty would be cruelly exposed by the fungus ‘Phytophthora infestans’. In 1845, spores of the deadly fungus began spreading across the country, destroying nearly all the Lumpers in its path. The resulting famine killed or displaced millions.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the critical message of the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Relying on a homogeneous food source is not desirable.

Ireland depended almost wholly on the potato, and mostly on a single variety, the Lumper. When one fungus struck that genetically frail variety, nearly the whole food supply failed at once. The lesson is the danger of depending on a uniform food source.

✗ (a) The potato suited Ireland's 'cold, rain-soaked soils' well; the famine came from disease, not unsuitable soil or climate.
✗ (b) The potato did serve as Ireland's staple; the passage faults reliance on one variety, not tubers as such.
✗ (c) The passage does not say the fungus was unstoppable; the scale of disaster came from nearly all plants being the same vulnerable variety.
✓ (d) The Irish were 'almost wholly dependent' on the potato and planted 'primarily one' variety, whose 'genetic frailty' let one fungus destroy nearly all of it.

Remember · Ask what turned one fungus into a national famine; the 'critical message' is that underlying cause, not the event itself.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q42

Medium

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

India is at once among the fastest growing global economies and home to the largest number of malnourished children in the world. There are regions where malnutrition is not the exception but the norm. And across the country, malnutrition is the cause of death for roughly half the 1.3 million children who die before their fifth birthday each year. Even those children who survive suffer permanently from the damage that has already been done to their bodies and minds from not getting enough of the right foods and nutrients. Around 44 million children under 5 are stunted. That makes it harder for them to learn in school and subsequently earn a living as adults. Their lifetime earnings potential is almost a quarter less than that of their healthy peers.

With reference to the above passage, which of the following is/are the most rational and practical implication/implications?

1.India’s Public Distribution System should be monitored by the Union Government.
2.Girls should be encouraged to delay marriage and first pregnancy.
3.Mothers should be encouraged to breastfeed their children immediately after birth.
4.The supply of safe drinking water and proper sanitation facilities to all should be ensured.
5.Authorities should ensure the vaccination as prescribed.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 2, 3, 4 and 5

The passage describes child malnutrition that kills, stunts and harms learning and earnings. Delayed marriage and pregnancy, early breastfeeding, safe water and sanitation, and vaccination all act directly on a young child's nutrition and health. Who monitors the PDS is an administrative question the passage gives no basis for.

✗ 1. The passage says nothing about the PDS failing or about which government should monitor it; shifting control does not follow from the problem described.
✓ 2. Very early pregnancies often mean undernourished mothers and low-weight babies; delaying marriage and first pregnancy gives the child a healthier start against the early damage the passage describes.
✓ 3. Children suffer from 'not getting enough of the right foods and nutrients'; breastfeeding from birth is the first and most direct source of them.
✓ 4. Unsafe water and poor sanitation cause repeated infections that stop a child's body from using food, feeding the stunting the passage describes.
✓ 5. Malnutrition causes about half of under-5 deaths; preventing diseases through vaccination protects already weak children and their growth.

Remember · For 'practical implications', keep steps that act directly on the problem described; drop those about which authority should control a scheme.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q43

Medium

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

The pulse variety ‘Pusa Arhar 16’ has the potential to be grown in the paddy-growing regions of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and eventually in all of India. Its yield (about 2000 kg/hectare) will be significantly greater than those of the existing varieties and because its size will be uniform, it will be amenable to mechanical harvesting, an attractive feature for farmers in northern India who currently use this technology for paddy. Most important, Arhar straw, unlike paddy straw, is green and can be ploughed back into the soil. In paddy straw, the problem is the high silica content, which does not allow for easy decomposition. In the case of Arhar, the farmer, even after combine harvesting, just needs to run a rotovator to cut the leftover straw into pieces, which can be ploughed back and will decompose very fast. All this is difficult with leftover paddy stalks that cannot be easily salvaged or ploughed back. Farmers, therefore, choose the easiest option of simply burning it.

Which of the following are the most rational inferences that can be made from the passage?

1.Farmers’ income will be higher with pulse cultivation than with paddy cultivation.
2.Pulse cultivation causes less pollution as compared to paddy cultivation.
3.Pulse straw can be used to improve soil quality.
4.In the context of northern Indian agriculture, paddy straw has no usefulness.
5.Mechanized agriculture is the main cause for stubble burning.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) 2 and 3 only

Arhar straw is green, decomposes fast and can be ploughed back, while silica-rich paddy straw is hard to break down and so gets burnt. Two inferences follow: growing this pulse avoids the burning that pollutes (2), and its straw can enrich the soil (3).

✗ 1. The yield is compared with 'existing varieties' of arhar, not with paddy; nothing is said about income.
✓ 2. Paddy stalks are burnt because they cannot be ploughed back, while arhar straw is ploughed in — so the pulse crop avoids the smoke from stubble burning.
✓ 3. Arhar straw 'can be ploughed back into the soil' and 'will decompose very fast', returning organic matter to the soil.
✗ 4. The passage says paddy straw is hard to decompose or salvage, not that it has 'no usefulness' at all.
✗ 5. Arhar is also combine-harvested yet its straw is not burnt; the cause is paddy straw's 'high silica content'.

Remember · Reject inferences that compare things the passage never compares (income) or use extreme words ('no usefulness', 'main cause').

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q44

Hard

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

In India, authorities always look to store the maximum amount of water in reservoirs during the monsoon season, which is then used for irrigation and generation of electricity during the summer months. It is an internationally accepted practice that the water level of a reservoir should be kept below a certain level before the onset of monsoon season. This is so that when monsoon rains come, there is space to store the excess rainwater and also so that water can be released in a regulated manner. But the authorities store the maximum amount of water in reservoirs even before the close of the monsoon, only to ensure greater electricity generation and irrigation.

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

1.High risks involved in holding maximum water in reservoirs are due to our over-dependence on hydropower projects.
2.Storage capacity of dams should not be fully used before or during monsoon season.
3.Role of dams in flood control is underestimated in India.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

Why not the tempting option · UPSC's key accepts all three assumptions. Statement 1 is the weakest, because the passage blames the drive for electricity and irrigation rather than 'over-dependence on hydropower'; but statements 2 and 3 both follow from the passage, and only option (d) contains both, so (d) is the best answer available. In the exam, settle the clear statements first and let the options decide a doubtful one.

The author contrasts the international practice of keeping a reservoir below a set level before the monsoon, so that excess rain can be stored and released in a regulated way, with Indian authorities who fill reservoirs early for power and irrigation. Statement 2 restates that practice, statement 3 is what the author's criticism rests on, and statement 1 names the drive for electricity that the passage blames; UPSC's key accepts all three.

✓ 1. The passage says authorities fill reservoirs early 'only to ensure greater electricity generation and irrigation'; the push for power output is treated as the reason for the risky practice. This is the loosest of the three statements, but only option (d) contains both 2 and 3, so it must be taken as valid.
✓ 2. The accepted practice is to keep the level 'below a certain level before the onset of monsoon season' so that there is 'space to store the excess rainwater'.
✓ 3. By leaving no space for excess rain and regulated release, the authorities act as if a dam's flood-cushioning role mattered less than power and irrigation; the author's complaint assumes that role is being under-valued.

Remember · When two statements are clearly valid, let the option grid decide the third: only (d) holds both 2 and 3.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q45

Hard

Read the passage (Passage—5) — this item is based on it

Economic liberalization in India was shaped largely by the economic problems of the government than by the economic priorities of the people or by the long-term development objectives. Thus, there were limitations in conception and design which have been subsequently validated by experience. Jobless growth, persistent poverty and rising inequality have mounted as problems since economic liberalization began. And all these years later, four quiet crises confront the economy; agriculture, infrastructure, industrialization and education as constraints on the country’s future prospects. These problems must be resolved if economic growth has to be sustained and transformed into meaningful development.

Which of the following is/are the most rational and logical inference/inferences that can be made from the passage?

1.It is essential to rethink and redefine the economic role of the State in the quest for development.
2.India has not made effective implementation of its policies in social sectors nor made sufficient investments in them.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

UPSC's official answer: (c) · the answer UPSC accepted, and the one that counts in the exam

Also defensible: (a)

Inference 1 follows: the reforms were shaped 'by the economic problems of the government than by the economic priorities of the people or by the long-term development objectives', had 'limitations in conception and design', and 'these problems must be resolved' for growth to become development, so the State's economic role needs rethinking.
Inference 2 claims two specific failures: poor implementation of social-sector policies and insufficient investment in them. The passage names outcomes only, 'jobless growth, persistent poverty and rising inequality' and 'four quiet crises' in 'agriculture, infrastructure, industrialization and education'. It says nothing about how any policy was implemented or how much was invested.
UPSC's key takes the one step from those outcomes to their likely cause and accepts 2, giving (c); an inference that must rest on what the passage says stops at 1, giving (a).

UPSC's key is (c); a strict reading, on which an inference rests only on what the passage says, gives (a). In the exam, allow UPSC's one step from stated outcomes to their likely cause, but no more.

This box is Minimalist IAS's analysis, with its sources; it does not change UPSC's answer.

The passage says liberalization was shaped by the government's own economic problems rather than by people's priorities or long-term development goals, that its design flaws have been confirmed by experience — jobless growth, persistent poverty, rising inequality and four quiet crises including education — and that these must be resolved for growth to become meaningful development. UPSC's key takes both inferences as following: the State's economic role needs rethinking (1), and the social outcomes show that social-sector policies were neither delivered well nor funded enough (2).

✓ 1. The reforms reflected the government's problems, not 'the economic priorities of the people or ... the long-term development objectives', had 'limitations in conception and design', and 'these problems must be resolved' — so the State's economic role in development needs to be rethought and redefined.
✓ 2. Persistent poverty, rising inequality and a crisis in education decades into reform are the passage's evidence on the social side; UPSC's key reads them as showing that policies in the social sectors were neither effectively implemented nor adequately funded — the one step of reasoning that 'most rational and logical' allows.

Remember · For 'most rational and logical inference', ask what the passage's stated outcomes and causes, taken together, point to; UPSC allows one step of common-sense reasoning from outcome to cause.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q46

Easy

Read the passage (Passage—5) — this item is based on it

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

1.India’s economy needs to be greatly integrated with global economy so as to create large number of jobs and to sustain its growth momentum.
2.Economic liberalization would cause large economic growth which would reduce poverty and create sufficient employment in the long run.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

The passage is critical of how liberalization was designed and lists jobless growth, persistent poverty and inequality as its results. It neither prescribes deeper global integration nor assumes that liberalization will in time reduce poverty and create enough jobs — its evidence points the other way.

✗ 1. Integration with the global economy is never proposed; the remedies the passage points to lie in agriculture, infrastructure, industrialization and education.
✗ 2. The author reports 'jobless growth, persistent poverty and rising inequality' since liberalization began — the opposite of this assumption.

Remember · An assumption the author's own evidence contradicts cannot be valid.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q61

Easy

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

Bank credit to the industrial sector has started shrinking. Its decline has been a serious concern as credit growth is essential to revive investment. The problem’s origins lie in the incomplete reforms of the last 25 years. An institutional change that should have followed the 1991 reforms should have been setting up of a resolution corporation for banks. In a market economy with booms and busts, banks should be allowed to be set up and to fail. Today, we cannot shut down banks because there is no proper system to shut them down. Weak loss-making banks continue to need more capital.

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

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) India lacks the institutional mechanism to deal with the failure of banks.

The author traces shrinking industrial credit to one missing reform: a resolution corporation for banks. Because there is 'no proper system to shut them down', weak banks keep needing capital. The direct inference is that India lacks a mechanism to handle bank failure.

✗ (a) Too sweeping: the passage flags shrinking credit to industry, not a banking system unable to support growth at all.
✗ (b) The reforms are called 'incomplete' in one specific respect; the passage does not judge the whole economy against expectations.
✓ (c) A 'resolution corporation for banks' was never set up, and 'there is no proper system to shut them down'.
✗ (d) Foreign investment as a substitute for bank credit is never discussed.

Remember · Pick the inference that states the passage's own diagnosis; reject sweeping verdicts built from one problem.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q62

Medium

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

India has tremendous potential for solar energy. We all realize that we have to stop burning fossil fuels to meet our energy needs. But certain renewable resources are still going through their cost curves and learning curves to get the required amount of output. The Indian Government has strongly committed to its targets of reducing emissions by 33 per cent by 2030, and towards this it has initiated a strong push towards a gas-based economy and has also invested heavily in renewable energy. However, business houses are wary of investing too heavily in renewable energy at a time when the technology is not yet ready.

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

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Getting renewable resources to market too soon may be costly.

Renewables are 'still going through their cost curves and learning curves', and business houses hesitate to invest heavily while 'the technology is not yet ready'. The sound inference is that pushing these resources to market before they mature may prove costly.

✗ (a) The government is 'strongly committed' and acting on two fronts; the passage makes no prediction that the target will be missed.
✗ (b) Importing gas is not mentioned, and the passage does not ask India to stop investing in renewables.
✓ (c) Technology still on its cost and learning curves is expensive per unit of output — which is why businesses are 'wary of investing too heavily' now.
✗ (d) The passage mentions a push towards a gas-based economy but nothing about exploration.

Remember · Inferences should stay as cautious as the passage; predictions of failure and new policy prescriptions usually overreach.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q63

Hard

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

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

1.Governments often provide inefficient and costly subsidies for technologies that may not be ready in the near future.
2.India’s commitment of reducing emissions by 33% by 2030 shall be on the basis of gas-based economy.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) 1 only

The government has 'invested heavily' in renewable energy even though the technology is 'not yet ready' and still costly — the passage's warning is that such early public spending can be inefficient and expensive (1). The emissions target rests on both a gas-based push and renewables, not on gas alone, so 2 fails.

✓ 1. The contrast between heavy government investment and business wariness 'at a time when the technology is not yet ready' assumes that public money put into unready technology can be inefficient and costly — the same idea as item 62's answer.
✗ 2. Towards the target the government 'has initiated a strong push towards a gas-based economy and has also invested heavily in renewable energy' — both, not gas alone.

Remember · Read 'and also' carefully: a goal pursued through two means cannot be said to rest on one of them.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q64

Medium

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

Genome editing is different from genome modification. Genome editing typically involves finding the part of a plant genome that could be changed to render it less vulnerable to disease, or resistant to certain herbicides, or to increase yields. Researchers use ‘molecular scissors’ to dissect the genome and repair it, which is a process that occurs naturally when plants are under attack from diseases and can throw up new mutations that enable the plant to survive future attacks. This evolutionary process can effectively be speeded up now that it is possible to examine plant genomes in detail in laboratories, and create mechanisms through which the relevant genes can be altered very precisely.

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

1.Genome editing does not require the transfer of genes from one plant to another.
2.Through genome editing, the chosen genes can be altered precisely in a manner akin to the natural process that helps plants to adapt to the environmental factors.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

The passage separates genome editing from genome modification: editing finds and changes the relevant part of the plant's own genome, as plants do naturally under attack. So it needs no gene transfer from another plant (1), and it alters chosen genes precisely in a way akin to the natural adaptive process (2).

✓ 1. Editing works by 'finding the part of a plant genome' to change and repairing it with molecular scissors; the stated contrast with genome modification implies that no gene is brought in from another plant.
✓ 2. The cutting and repair 'occurs naturally when plants are under attack', and laboratories can now alter 'the relevant genes ... very precisely', speeding up this evolutionary process.

Remember · When a passage opens with 'X is different from Y', expect an assumption that captures the difference.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q65

Medium

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

Many people understand the connection between solid waste management and health in terms of the consequences of unattended heaps of dry garbage which become home for flies and other vermin. However, there is another aspect that is not well-understood, that is, what happens when unscientific solid waste management combines with poor drainage and dumping of untreated sewage into drains which are meant to carry storm water during rains. The result is choked drains which are full of stagnant water breeding mosquitoes, resulting in the spread of water-borne diseases.

In the context of India, which one of the following statements best reflects the critical message of the passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Solid waste management should be integrated with the maintenance of drainage and sewerage networks.

The less understood danger, the author says, arises when poor solid waste management combines with poor drainage and sewage dumped into storm drains, producing choked drains that breed mosquitoes. The message is that these systems must be managed together, not in isolation.

✗ (a) The passage says untreated sewage is dumped into storm-water drains, but it does not claim India has no separate networks; that detail is not the message.
✗ (b) Resources and legal powers of local bodies are not discussed.
✓ (c) The harm comes from 'unscientific solid waste management' combining with 'poor drainage and dumping of untreated sewage into drains' — so they must be handled as one system.
✗ (d) The consequence described is disease from stagnant water, not drinking water shortage.

Remember · When a passage says harm arises when two failures 'combine', the critical message is usually to tackle them together.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2020 · Q66

Easy

Read the passage (Passage—5) — this item is based on it

In Part III of the Constitution, which assures people certain fundamental rights, Article 25 proclaims that “all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion”. What people fail to notice is that this proclamation is prefixed with the words “subject to public order, morality, health and to the other provisions of this Part”, which set conditions precedent for the legal protection of religious practices of any community. The closing words of this prefatory rider in Article 25 virtually constitute a subordination clause placing other fundamental rights mentioned in Part III over and above the right to religious freedom. Among those other fundamental rights is the right to equality before law and equal protection of laws—assured at the outset and elaborated in later articles to mean, inter alia, that the State shall not deny equal protection of laws to any person or group of persons on the basis of religion alone.

What is the most logical inference from the above passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) Religious freedom under the Constitution is open to State intervention.

Article 25 grants religious freedom 'subject to public order, morality, health and to the other provisions' of Part III, which places other fundamental rights, such as equality before law, above it. So religious freedom is conditional, and the State can step in on these grounds.

✗ (a) The 'subject to' rider allows State action on grounds of public order, morality, health and other fundamental rights.
✓ (b) The rider sets 'conditions precedent' for protecting religious practices and subordinates religious freedom to the other rights in Part III.
✗ (c) Article 25 sits in Part III, which 'assures people certain fundamental rights' — religious freedom is one of them.
✗ (d) This reverses the passage, which stresses that religious practices are protected only subject to these conditions.

Remember · Look for the qualifier ('subject to', 'except', 'unless'); the inference usually follows from the limit, not the grant.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Reading comprehension

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