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 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.Sustainable production of India’s cereal food grains is impossible without the diversity of pollinating animals.
2.Monoculture of horticultural crops hampers the survival of insects.
3.Pollinators become scarce in cultivated areas devoid of natural vegetation.
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.BPA may alter embryonic development in vivo.
2.Biochemical and cell-based assays are useful in finding out treatments for pollution-induced diseases.
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.Fig trees can often be keystone species in natural forests.
2.Fig trees can grow where other large woody species cannot grow.
3.Sacred trees can have a role in biodiversity conservation.
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.Cover crops
2.Fertigation
3.Hydroponics
4.Mixed farming
5.Polyculture
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.People who are obsessed with personal hygiene tend to ignore the community hygiene.
2.Emergence of multi-drug resistant germs can be prevented by personal cleanliness.
3.Entry of the market in the domain of hygiene increases the risk of infectious diseases.
4.Scientific and micro-level interventions are not sufficient to bring down the burden of infectious diseases.
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.Oil producing countries are one of the reasons for high food prices.
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.Rising GDP is essential for a country to be a developed country.
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.Equality is a prerequisite for people to participate in the multiple transactions of society from a position of confidence.
2.Occurrence of inequality is detrimental to the survival of democracy.
3.Equal standing of all citizens is an idea that cannot actually be realised even in a democracy.
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 ·

CSAT 2021 · Q42

Medium

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

In the immediate future, we will see the increasing commodification of many new technologies — artificial intelligence and robotics, 3D manufacturing, custom made biological and pharmaceutical products, lethal autonomous weapons and driverless cars. This will pose conundrums. The moral question of how a driverless car will decide between hitting a jaywalker and swerving and damaging the car has often been debated. The answer is both simple — save the human life — and complex. At which angle should the car swerve — just enough to save the jaywalker or more than enough? If the driverless car is in Dublin, who would take the decision? The Irish Government, or the car’s original code writer in California, or a software programmer in Hyderabad to whom maintenance is outsourced? If different national jurisdictions have different fine print on prioritising a human life, how will it affect insurance and investment decisions, including transnational ones?

Which of the following statements best reflect the rational, plausible and practical implications that can be derived from the passage given above?

1.Too much globalization is not in the best interests of any country.
2.Modern technologies are increasingly blurring the economic borders.
3.Innovation and capital have impinged on the domain of the State.
4.Public policy of every country should focus on developing its own supply chains.
5.Geopolitics will have to reconcile to many ambiguities and uncertainties.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) 2, 3 and 5 only

A driverless car running in Dublin, coded in California and maintained from Hyderabad raises questions no single government can settle, and differing national rules will affect transnational insurance and investment. So technology is blurring economic borders (2), innovation and capital are entering the State's domain (3), and geopolitics must live with uncertainty (5); the passage neither condemns globalisation nor prescribes self-reliant supply chains.

✗ 1. The passage raises dilemmas; it passes no judgement that globalisation is harmful.
✓ 2. One product spans Dublin, California and Hyderabad, and decisions are 'transnational' — technology cuts across economic borders.
✓ 3. A life-and-death choice may rest with a code writer or an outsourced programmer rather than the Irish Government — private innovation and capital now reach into what was the State's domain.
✗ 4. Supply chains are not discussed; this is a policy prescription the passage does not make.
✓ 5. 'Who would take the decision?' and different 'fine print' across jurisdictions leave open questions that countries must learn to handle.

Remember · For 'implications', keep what flows from the passage's own questions; drop prescriptions ('should') and value judgements it never makes.

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 · Q43

Easy

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

The resolution of bankruptcy cases of Indian banks under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code should help bring non-performing assets (NPA) situation under some control. Despite the slow pace of resolutions by the National Company Law Tribunal, the Code can be helpful in cleaning up bank books in future credit cycles. The recapitalisation of public sector banks too can help increase the capital cushion of banks and induce them to lend more and boost economic activity. But bad debt resolution and recapitalisation are only a part of the solution as they, by themselves, can do very little to rein in reckless lending that has pushed the Indian banking system to its current sorry state. Unless there are systemic reforms that address the problem of unsustainable lending, future credit cycles will continue to stress the banking system.

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

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Indian banking system requires structural reforms as a long-term solution for bad loans problem.

Bad-debt resolution and recapitalisation help, but the passage calls them only part of the solution: unless systemic reforms tackle unsustainable lending, future credit cycles will stress the banks again. The suggestion is structural reform as the long-term remedy.

✗ (a) Close monitoring by the Central Government is one possible reform, but the passage names no agency or method — this is too specific.
✗ (b) The passage worries about reckless lending; pushing banks to lend more through low rates works against that concern.
✗ (c) Mergers are never mentioned, and 'alone is the long-term solution' is too absolute.
✓ (d) 'Unless there are systemic reforms that address the problem of unsustainable lending, future credit cycles will continue to stress the banking system.'

Remember · When a passage ends 'unless X, the problem continues', X is the suggestion — pick the option that restates it without adding specifics.

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 · Q44

Medium

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

In India, the objective of macroeconomic policy is to enhance the economic welfare of the people, and any one wing of such macro policy, monetary or fiscal, cannot independently work without active support of another.

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

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) The central bank cannot work independently of the Government.

The passage says neither wing of macroeconomic policy — monetary or fiscal — can work independently without the other's support. Monetary policy is run by the central bank and fiscal policy by the Government, so the corollary is that the central bank cannot work independently of the Government.

✓ (a) Monetary policy (the central bank) 'cannot independently work without active support' of fiscal policy (the Government) — a direct restatement.
✗ (b) Regulation of financial markets and institutions is not mentioned.
✗ (c) Market economy versus socialist policies lies outside the passage.
✗ (d) Financial sector reforms are not discussed; the passage is about coordination between monetary and fiscal policy.

Remember · A corollary follows directly from the statement; translate its terms (monetary = central bank, fiscal = Government) and look for the restatement.

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 · Q51

Medium

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

The best universities like Harvard and MIT, despite having the luxury of having some truly excellent teachers on their payroll, are increasingly embracing the “flipped classroom” format, where students listen to video lectures at home, and spend class time applying their knowledge, solving problems, discussing examples, etc. Professors guide that discussion and fill in wherever necessary, explaining those bits that seem to be eluding the students and throwing in advanced ideas that happen to be topical. These universities have made their video lectures available free for anyone in the world. They are also encouraging colleges and universities all over the world to integrate these online courses into their own pedagogy, picking the pieces that are appropriate for their needs and building a package around them.

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

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) Availability of higher education can be made easier and cheaper without diluting the content.

The best universities pair video lectures with active class discussion, give those lectures free to the world, and invite other colleges to build them into their own teaching. The central idea is that good higher education can reach more people, more cheaply, without losing quality.

✗ (a) The passage describes a blended 'flipped classroom', with class time and professors, not a claim that online mode beats conventional teaching.
✓ (b) Lectures by excellent teachers are 'available free for anyone in the world' and can be integrated by colleges everywhere — easier, cheaper access to the same content.
✗ (c) Infrastructure spending is never discussed, and 'human and social capital' is a leap.
✗ (d) Private institutions and coaching institutes are not mentioned.

Remember · The central idea generalises what the passage's examples achieve; reject options about groups or costs 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 · Q52

Easy

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

Our cities are extremely vulnerable to climate change because of large concentrations of populations and poor infrastructure. Moreover, population densities are increasing in them but we have not yet developed the systems to address climate change impacts. Our cities contribute to 65 per cent of the GDP, but there are not enough facilities to cater to the needs of the people. It is important to address the issues of air quality, transport, etc., that are vital to identifying sustainable solutions. We need to involve citizens in city planning and create an ecosystem that meets the needs of the people.

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

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) To maintain and develop our cities we need to adopt sustainability related interventions.

Cities are vulnerable to climate change, crowded and short of facilities, and the passage calls for sustainable solutions on air quality and transport with citizens involved in planning. The rational inference is that our cities need sustainability-related interventions.

✗ (a) Administrative set-up and autonomy are not discussed.
✗ (b) The passage notes rising densities, but its concern is that 'we have not yet developed the systems' to cope — it does not call density itself the hindrance.
✓ (c) Issues of air quality and transport 'are vital to identifying sustainable solutions', and cities must 'create an ecosystem that meets the needs of the people'.
✗ (d) Public-Private Partnership is never mentioned; this names a mechanism from outside the passage.

Remember · The most logical inference restates the passage's own remedy; options naming a specific mechanism (autonomy, PPP) go beyond 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 · Q61

Medium

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

Can a democracy avoid being a welfare state for long? Why cannot mass welfare be left entirely to the markets? There is a built-in tension between markets and democracy. Markets do not work on a one-person-one-vote principle as democracies do. What one gets out of the market place depends on one’s endowments, skills, purchasing power and the forces of demand and supply. Markets reward individual initiative and skill, and may also lift many from the bottom rungs of society, but some people never get the opportunity to develop skills that markets demand; they are simply too poor and too handicapped; or skill formation takes too long. By creating jobs, markets may be able to help even unskilled people, but capitalism has always witnessed bursts of unemployment.

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

1.Modern democracies rely on the market forces to enable them to be welfare states.
2.Markets ensure sufficient economic growth necessary for democracies to be effective.
3.Government programmes are needed for those left behind in economic growth.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 3 only

Markets reward endowments and skills, but some people are too poor or handicapped to benefit, and capitalism has bursts of unemployment. The passage therefore assumes welfare cannot be left entirely to markets — government programmes are needed for those left behind.

✗ 1. The passage stresses a 'built-in tension between markets and democracy' and asks why welfare cannot be left to markets; it does not say democracies rely on markets to be welfare states.
✗ 2. Markets 'may' help, but 'capitalism has always witnessed bursts of unemployment' — the passage does not claim markets ensure sufficient growth.
✓ 3. Some people 'never get the opportunity to develop skills that markets demand', so a democracy cannot avoid welfare — state support for those left behind is assumed.

Remember · A passage that lists what markets cannot do assumes a role for the state; it does not assume markets deliver what it doubts.

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 · Q62

Medium

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

In our schools; we teach our children all that is there to know about physics, maths and history and what-have-you. But do we teach them about the bitter caste divide that plagues the country, about the spectre of famine that stalks large parts of our land, about gender sensitivity, about the possibility of atheism as a choice, etc.? Equally important, do we teach them to ask questions, or do we teach them only to passively receive our wisdom? From the cocooned world of school, suddenly, the adolescent finds himself/herself in the unfettered world of university. Here he/she is swept up in a turmoil of ideas, influences and ideologies. For someone who has been discouraged from asking questions and forming an opinion, this transition can be painful.

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

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) To be a better citizen, the present world order demands societal and life-coping skills in addition to academic content.

Schools teach physics, maths and history but not caste, famine, gender sensitivity or the habit of asking questions, so the move into the open world of university can be painful. The central idea is that academic content must be complemented by societal and life-coping skills.

✗ (a) The expectations of children and parents are not discussed.
✗ (b) The passage suggests the opposite — schools neglect social awareness and questioning.
✗ (c) The passage does not frame the issue as the education system's responsibility for citizenship; its concern is the specific skills and awareness that are missing alongside academics.
✓ (d) Awareness of social realities and the ability 'to ask questions' and form opinions are needed in addition to 'physics, maths and history' — without them the transition 'can be painful'.

Remember · A central idea often has an 'in addition to' shape: the passage accepts what exists and asks for what is missing.

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 · Q71

Easy

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

Medieval merchants risked the hazards of the Silk Road to reach the markets of China; Portuguese caravels in the 15th century sailed beyond the bounds of the known world, searching less for knowledge than for gold and spices. Historically, the driver for opening frontiers has always been the search for resources. Science and curiosity are weaker drivers. The only way to open up space, whether the space of solar system or interstellar space is to create an economic engine and that engine is resource extraction.

Which one of the following statements best sums up the passage given above?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Human beings are motivated to explore new frontiers principally by economic considerations.

From medieval merchants to Portuguese caravels, the passage says frontiers have always been opened in search of resources, with science and curiosity weaker drivers — and space will be no different. The summary is that new frontiers are explored mainly for economic reasons.

✗ (a) 'Any human endeavour' widens the claim far beyond opening frontiers.
✗ (b) The passage says resource extraction is the engine for opening space, not that space will govern our future economy.
✓ (c) 'The driver for opening frontiers has always been the search for resources. Science and curiosity are weaker drivers.'
✗ (d) Risk-taking appears only in the examples; the basis of wealth generation is not discussed.

Remember · A summary keeps the passage's scope (here, opening frontiers); options about 'any human endeavour' stretch it too far.

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 · Q72

Hard

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

“...... most people would agree that telling deliberate lies is wrong, except perhaps in certain special situations where more harm will be done by telling the truth. Even the most truthful people probably tell a good many more lies that might be regarded as semantic lies; their use of words contains some measure of falsehood, more or less deliberate.”

The idea which the first part of the passage mentions is

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) disagreement about the harm in telling the truth.

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

Also defensible: (a)

The first part is one sentence: 'most people would agree that telling deliberate lies is wrong, except perhaps in certain special situations where more harm will be done by telling the truth.'
Its main clause states an agreement about lying, 'most people would agree that telling deliberate lies is wrong', which is option (a) in so many words.
UPSC's key builds on the qualifier: 'except perhaps' leaves open whether, and when, the truth does more harm than a lie, so the sentence also raises an unsettled point about the harm in telling the truth, option (d).
Options (b) and (c) fail outright: nobody is said to disagree about lying in general or about telling the truth as such. The choice is between the plain main clause (a) and the hedged exception (d).

UPSC's key is (d), built on the 'except perhaps' hedge; the plain main clause gives (a). In the exam, when the stem asks for 'the idea' a part 'mentions', weigh the qualifying clause as heavily as the main clause.

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

The first part grants in passing that most people think deliberate lies are wrong, and then turns on its exception: 'except perhaps in certain special situations where more harm will be done by telling the truth'. The 'perhaps' marks that exception as unsettled: people are not of one mind about whether, and when, telling the truth does more harm than a lie. That unsettled point is the idea the first part raises, so (d).

✗ (a) The agreement that deliberate lies are wrong is the sentence's starting point, not its idea; the sentence exists to qualify that agreement with the 'except perhaps' clause.
✗ (b) No disagreement about lying in general is described; most people are said to agree that deliberate lies are wrong.
✗ (c) Nobody is said to dispute telling the truth as such; the doubt is about the harm the truth may do in special situations.
✓ (d) 'Except perhaps in certain special situations where more harm will be done by telling the truth': the hedge 'perhaps' shows people differ over the harm the truth can do, and that is the idea the first part mentions.

Remember · Watch qualifiers like 'except perhaps': the examiner often builds the answer on the hedge rather than on the main clause.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

CSAT 2021 · Q73

Medium

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

Which one of the following habits is found more often in good people?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) Intentional mixing up of truth with the false

Even the most truthful people tell 'semantic lies': their words carry 'some measure of falsehood, more or less deliberate'. So the habit found in good people is a knowing blend of truth with falsehood — not outright falsification or concealment.

✗ (a) Mixing does happen, but the passage adds that it is 'more or less deliberate'; this option leaves out the intent that (b) captures.
✓ (b) Semantic lies contain 'some measure of falsehood, more or less deliberate' — an intentional mixing of truth with falsehood.
✗ (c) Falsifying facts is outright lying, which the passage says most people consider wrong.
✗ (d) Complete concealment is not mentioned; semantic lies carry only 'some measure' of falsehood.

Remember · Match every qualifier in the text — here 'some measure' (mixing, not total) and 'deliberate' (intentional).

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 ·

Reading comprehension

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