Reading Comprehension (81-90) | CSAT Preparation - UPSC PDF Download

Passage - 1

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only.

There can be no doubt that the first Green Revolution lifted the country out of a situation immediately after independence when the prospects of famines of food commodities loomed large. The rapidly expanding population could have made matters all the more worse. It was the Green Revolution that helped tackle the food security issue with increased agricultural productivity.

However, the Green Revolution did have some adverse impacts too which are being felt in the long run. Since the emphasis was mainly on cereals like rice and wheat, there was a loss of productivity as far as pulses, fruits and vegetables were concerned. The present rate of fruit and vegetable production will not be able to cope with the future demand as the population is increasing rapidly.

Besides, production of the same type of cereals such as rice and wheat year after year gradually decreased the soil fertility making it difficult for pulses and other vegetables to grow. Monoculture (the cultivation same crop variety for prolonged period) also led to breakdown of the plant’s resistance to pests and diseases which is an unwelcome offshot of the first Green Revolution.

Another criticism often directed at the first Green Revolution is the indiscriminate use of fertilizers and pesticides that is today threatening the agri-future of the country. Excessive and inappropriate use of fertilizers and pesticides led to widespread environmental damage polluting water ways, poisoning agricultural workers and killing beneficial insects and other wildlife.

Passage - 2

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only.

There can be no doubt that the first Green Revolution lifted the country out of a situation immediately after independence when the prospects of famines of food commodities loomed large. The rapidly expanding population could have made matters all the more worse. It was the Green Revolution that helped tackle the food security issue with increased agricultural productivity.

However, the Green Revolution did have some adverse impacts too which are being felt in the long run. Since the emphasis was mainly on cereals like rice and wheat, there was a loss of productivity as far as pulses, fruits and vegetables were concerned. The present rate of fruit and vegetable production will not be able to cope with the future demand as the population is increasing rapidly.

Besides, production of the same type of cereals such as rice and wheat year after year gradually decreased the soil fertility making it difficult for pulses and other vegetables to grow. Monoculture (the cultivation same crop variety for prolonged period) also led to breakdown of the plant’s resistance to pests and diseases which is an unwelcome offshot of the first Green Revolution.

Another criticism often directed at the first Green Revolution is the indiscriminate use of fertilizers and pesticides that is today threatening the agri-future of the country. Excessive and inappropriate use of fertilizers and pesticides led to widespread environmental damage polluting water ways, poisoning agricultural workers and killing beneficial insects and other wildlife.

Passage - 3

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only.

The United Nations Fourth World Women’s Conference had a colourful start in Beijing on 4th September. This is the century’s most crucial conference which is aimed at changing the status quo of women’s lives characterised by inequality.

In a preliminary session, Ms. Aung san suu kyi, the Nobel peace prize winner said that expanding women’s power will bring greater peace and tolerance to the world. “It is not the prerogative of men alone to bring light to this world. Women with their courage and perseverance have done much to dissipate the darkness of intolerance and hate”, said Ms. suu kyi.

In the afternoon session Ms. Ayako Yamaguchi, a Japanese delegate, launched a petition against beauty pageants, “What right do men have to judge women in a few minutes? All women are beautiful. Beauty is something different for everyone”, Ms. Anako Yamaguchi said. “Beauty contests are used as trade and for exploitation. The training is very vigorous, but it is the organiser, not the women, who get the full benefit”, said Ms. Ranjana Bhargava. “After the competition, the women become trapped and the abusive things begin to happen. The character of women are tainted, no one else will accept them”.

Passage - 4

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only.

There can be no doubt that the first Green Revolution lifted the country out of a situation immediately after independence when the prospects of famines of food commodities loomed large. The rapidly expanding population could have made matters all the more worse. It was the Green Revolution that helped tackle the food security issue with increased agricultural productivity.

However, the Green Revolution did have some adverse impacts too which are being felt in the long run. Since the emphasis was mainly on cereals like rice and wheat, there was a loss of productivity as far as pulses, fruits and vegetables were concerned. The present rate of fruit and vegetable production will not be able to cope with the future demand as the population is increasing rapidly.

Besides, production of the same type of cereals such as rice and wheat year after year gradually decreased the soil fertility making it difficult for pulses and other vegetables to grow. Monoculture (the cultivation same crop variety for prolonged period) also led to breakdown of the plant’s resistance to pests and diseases which is an unwelcome offshot of the first Green Revolution.

Another criticism often directed at the first Green Revolution is the indiscriminate use of fertilizers and pesticides that is today threatening the agri-future of the country. Excessive and inappropriate use of fertilizers and pesticides led to widespread environmental damage polluting water ways, poisoning agricultural workers and killing beneficial insects and other wildlife.

Passage - 5

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only.

The United Nations Fourth World Women’s Conference had a colourful start in Beijing on 4th September. This is the century’s most crucial conference which is aimed at changing the status quo of women’s lives characterised by inequality.

In a preliminary session, Ms. Aung san suu kyi, the Nobel peace prize winner said that expanding women’s power will bring greater peace and tolerance to the world. “It is not the prerogative of men alone to bring light to this world. Women with their courage and perseverance have done much to dissipate the darkness of intolerance and hate”, said Ms. suu kyi.

In the afternoon session Ms. Ayako Yamaguchi, a Japanese delegate, launched a petition against beauty pageants, “What right do men have to judge women in a few minutes? All women are beautiful. Beauty is something different for everyone”, Ms. Anako Yamaguchi said. “Beauty contests are used as trade and for exploitation. The training is very vigorous, but it is the organiser, not the women, who get the full benefit”, said Ms. Ranjana Bhargava. “After the competition, the women become trapped and the abusive things begin to happen. The character of women are tainted, no one else will accept them”.

Passage - 6

We should preserve nature to preserve life and beauty. A beautiful landscape, full of green vegetation, will not just attract our attention but will fill us with infinite satisfaction. Unfortunately, because of modernization, much of nature is now yielding to towns, roads and industrial areas. In a few places some natural reserves are now being carved out to avert the danger of destroying nature completely Man will die without nature, so modern man should continue the struggle to save the plants, which give us oxygen. Moreover, nature is essential to man’s health.

Passage - 7

Discussion on drug addiction should also be concerned with the vast majority of people who are not addicts. Their homes and lives are insecure because our narcotics laws drive such people to crime. The drug addict is almost never dangerous when he is under the influence of drugs. What makes him dangerous is the disperate need of money to buy the next dose. Drugs are available only in an illegal black market. The costs are stupendous, and this what drives the addict to steal, rob and even kill a person.

With reference to the passage, consider the following statements.

1. Addiction to drugs is a criminal act.
2. Drug addicts cannot be rehabilitated.

Passage - 8

If you are looking for a history of India or for an account of the rise and fall of the British Raj or for the reason of the cleaving of the subcontinent into two mutually antagonistic part and the effects this mutilation will have in the respective reactions and ultimately on Asia, you will not find it in these pages, although I have spent a lifetime in the country. I lived too near the seat of events, and was too intimately associated with the persons, to get perspective needed for the impartial recording of these matters.

Passage - 9

Gandhi was not born great. He was a ignorant boy, a mediocre student, a poor lawyer and an ordinary individual. He was a self-made man. He had faith in himself. But above all, he had a deep, touching faith in the peasants, miners, labourers, and young unformed men and women whom he drew into his work. He fed them all an elixir of growth which often transformed unnamed, uneducated people into leonine heroes. The elixir was fearlessness.

Consider the following assumptions:

1. Gandhi was a great man throughout his life.
2. Men are not born great, but they become great by self-effort.
3. Gandhi liked ordinary people and neglected the rich.
4. Gandhi transformed the ordinary masses into great heroes.

Passage - 10

Discussion on drug addiction should also be concerned with the vast majority of people who are not addicts. Their homes and lives are insecure because our narcotics laws drive such people to crime. The drug addict is almost never dangerous when he is under the influence of drugs. What makes him dangerous is the disperate need of money to buy the next dose. Drugs are available only in an illegal black market. The costs are stupendous, and this what drives the addict to steal, rob and even kill a person.