UPSC Prelims 2019 - CSAT (Paper II)

Passage–1 Political theorists no doubt have to take history of injustice, for example, untouchability, seriously. The concept of historical injustice takes note of a variety of historical wrongs that continue into the present in some form or the other and tend to resist repair. Two reasons might account for resistance to repair. One, not only are the roots of injustice buried deep in history, injustice itself constitutes economic structures of exploitation, ideologies of discrimination and modes of representation. Two, the category of historical injustice generally extends across a number of wrongs such as economic deprivation, social discrimination and lack of recognition. This category is complex, not only because of the overlap between a number of wrongs, but because one or the other wrong, generally discrimination, tends to acquire partial autonomy from others. This is borne out by the history of repair in India. What is the main idea that we can infer from the passage?

On the basis of the above passage, the following assumptions have been made: 1. Removal of economic discrimination leads to removal of social discrimination. 2. Democratic polity is the best way to repair historical wrongs. UPSC CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION (PRELIMS)-CSAT Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Passage–2 Education plays a great transformatory role in life, particularly so in this rapidly changing and globalizing world. Universities are the custodians of the intellectual capital and promoters of culture and specialized knowledge. Culture is an activity of thought, and receptiveness to beauty and human feelings. A merely well-informed man is only a bore on God’s earth. What we should aim at is producing men who possess both culture and expert knowledge. Their expert knowledge will give them a firm ground to start from and their culture will lead them as deep as philosophy and as high as art. Together these will impart meaning to human existence. On the basis of the above passage, the following assumptions have been made: 1. A society without well-educated people cannot be transformed into a modern society. 2. Without acquiring culture, a person’s education is not complete. Which of the above assumptions is/are valid ?

Passage–3 Soil, in which nearly all our food grows, is a living resource that takes years to form. Yet it can vanish in minutes. Each year 75 billion tonnes of fertile soil is lost to erosion. That is alarming — and not just for food producers. Soil can trap huge quantities of carbon dioxide in the form of organic carbon and prevent it from escaping into the atmosphere. On the basis of the above passage, the following assumptions have been made: 1. Large-scale soil erosion is a major reason for widespread food insecurity in the world. 2. Soil erosion is mainly anthropogenic. 3. Sustainable management of soils helps in combating climate change. Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Passage–4 Inequality is visible, even statistically measurable in many instances, but the economic power that drives it is invisible and not measurable. Like the force of gravity, power is the organising principle of inequality, be it of income, or wealth, gender, race, religion and region. Its effects are seen in a pervasive manner in all spheres, but the ways in which economic power pulls and tilts visible economic variables remain invisibly obscure. On the basis of the above passage, the following assumptions have been made: 1. Economic power is the only reason for the existence of inequality in a society. 2. Inequality of different kinds, income, wealth, etc. reinforces power. 3. Economic power can be analysed more through its effects than by direct empirical methods. Which of the above assumptions is/are valid ?