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UPSC Prelims 2025 CSAT, question 2

Topic: Reading comprehension

Directions · Q1 to Q4

Directions for the following 4 (four) items :
Read the following two passages and answer the items that follow the passages. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only.

Passage · Q1 to Q2

Maintaining an ecosystem just to conserve biodiversity will affect its commercial potential as well as the livelihoods dependent on the ecosystem. There is also a conflict between using an ecosystem only for livelihoods, for commercial exploitation, or strictly for conservation. Deforestation caused due to commercial exploitation will lead to indirect harm like floods, siltation problems and microclimatic instability, apart from adversely affecting livelihoods dependent on forests. These conflicts are particularly acute in developing countries where the dependence of people on the ecosystem is significant, and commercial exploitation has the potential to boost national income.

Q2

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

I. No country needs to depend on ecosystems to boost national income.

II. Resource-rich countries need to share their resources with those of scant resources so as to prevent the degradation of ecosystems.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid ?

  1. (a) I only
  2. (b) II only
  3. (c) Both I and II
  4. (d) Neither I nor IICorrect answer

Solution.

Answer: (d) Neither I nor II

  1. Statement I is incorrect: the passage explicitly states that in developing countries, commercial exploitation of ecosystems has the potential to boost national income.
  2. Statement II is incorrect: international resource-sharing between resource-rich and resource-scarce countries is neither mentioned nor implied in the passage.