UPSC Prelims 2014 · CSAT (Paper II): According to the passage, how does the mitigation of greenhouse gases help us ?1.…
Read the passage
It is essential that we mitigate the emissions of greenhouse gases and thus avoid some of the worst impacts of climate change that would take place in coming years and decades. Mitigation would require a major shift in the way we produce and consume energy. A shift away from overwhelming dependence on fossil fuels is now long overdue, but unfortunately, technological development has been slow and inadequate largely because government policies have not promoted investments in research and development, myopically as a result of relatively low prices of oil. It is now, therefore, imperative for a country like India treating the opportunity of harnessing renewable energy on a large scale as a national imperative. This country is extremely well endowed with solar, wind and biomass sources of energy. Where we have lagged, unfortunately, is in our ability to develop and to create technological solutions for harnessing these resources.
One particular trajectory for carrying out stringent mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) clearly shows the need for ensuring that global emissions of greenhouse gases peak no later than 2015 and reduce rapidly thereafter. The cost associated with such a trajectory is truly modest and would amount, in the estimation of IPCC, to not more than 3 percent of the global GDP in 2030. In other words, the level of prosperity that the world would have reached without mitigation would at worst be postponed by a few months or a year at the most. This is clearly not a very high price to pay for protecting hundreds of millions of people from the worst risks associated with climate change. Any such effort, however, would require lifestyles to change appropriately also. Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions is not a mere technological fix, and clearly requires changes in lifestyles and transformation of a country’s economic structure, whereby effective reduction in emissions is brought about, such as through the consumption of much lower quantities of animal protein. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has determined that the emissions from the livestock sector amount to 18 percent of the total. The reduction of emissions from this source is entirely in the hands of human beings, who have never questioned the impacts that their dietary habits of consuming more and more animal protein are bringing about. Mitigation overall has huge co-benefits, such as lower air pollution and health benefits, higher energy security and greater employment.
According to the passage, how does the mitigation of greenhouse gases help us ?
- 1. Reduces expenditure on public health
- 2. Reduces dependence on livestock
- 3. Reduces energy requirements
- 4. Reduces rate of global climate change
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
Answer (b) & explanation
Mitigation helps public health, energy needs and climate change (b). Step 1: find the benefits. Mitigation has "co-benefits, such as lower air pollution and health benefits" (item 1, lower health spending), "higher energy security" (item 3, read by UPSC as reduced energy needs), and it helps "avoid some of the worst impacts of climate change" (item 4). Step 2: test item 2. It is wrong: livestock is a source of emissions to cut by eating less animal protein, not a dependence that mitigation reduces. So options (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Tip: match each option to a phrase in the passage. Item 2 uses a passage word, "livestock", but twists its role.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Related questions from other years
Question : X receives three coins of different denominations : 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20. If the total amount received by X is m, does X receive a coin of denomination 5?
Statement I : m is not a prime number.
Statement II : The sum of the digits of m is greater than 5.
Answer (a) & explanation
Statement II alone is enough; Statement I alone is not (a). Step 1: three different coins from 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 give ten totals. With a 5: 8, 16, 17, 26, 27, 35. Without a 5: 13, 23, 31, 32. Step 2: Statement I (m not prime): 8, 16, 26, 27, 35 have a 5, but 32 (2 + 10 + 20) does not. Mixed answers, so I fails. Step 3: Statement II (digit sum above 5): 8, 16, 17, 26, 27, 35 qualify, and every one has a 5. (13, 23, 31, 32 have digit sums 4, 5, 4, 5.) So II answers "yes". Options (b), (c) and (d) fail.
Tip: when cases are few, list them all. Then check each statement against the full list.
don't assume both statements are needed. Listing all ten cases takes thirty seconds and settles it.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Read the passage
How is deflation done? Most countries use a method called ‘double deflation’, where input and output prices are deflated separately. Consider a manufacturer importing oil for use in production. If oil prices fall, output prices do not and quantities remain the same, real value added should not change. But if the same deflator is used for inputs and outputs, as in India, it would look as if the manufacturer had become more productive.
Which of the following assumptions is/are valid?
- 1. Deflation strategies can be used to make manufacturers appear to be doing better than they actually are.
- 2. When input and output prices are both deflated against a single input price, it is referred to as ‘double deflation’.
Select the answer using the code given below.
Answer (a) & explanation
Only assumption 1 is valid (a). Step 1: the passage says that using one deflator for inputs and outputs, as in India, makes it "look as if the manufacturer had become more productive". So deflation methods can make firms appear better than they are (1). Step 2: assumption 2 says double deflation means deflating both against a single price. But the passage defines double deflation as deflating inputs and outputs separately. So 2 reverses the definition. Step 3: options (b), (c) and (d) fail.
Tip: check definitions word for word against the passage. Deflating means removing the effect of price changes to find real growth, as in real GDP.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
P, Q, R, S and T are ranked 1 to 5 (not necessarily in that order). The rank of P is 4, the rank of Q is not 5, the rank of R is 1, the rank of S is not 2, the rank of T is not 3. Then which of the following is/are correct?
- I. If the rank of S is 3, then that of T is 2.
- II. If the rank of Q is 3, then that of T is 5.
Select the answer using the code given below.
Answer (d) & explanation
Neither statement is correct (d). Step 1: P = 4 and R = 1 are fixed. Ranks 2, 3 and 5 remain for Q, S and T, with rules: Q is not 5, S is not 2, T is not 3. Step 2: statement I: if S = 3, then Q and T share 2 and 5. Q cannot be 5, so Q = 2 and T = 5, not 2. I is wrong. Step 3: statement II: if Q = 3, then S and T share 2 and 5. S cannot be 2, so S = 5 and T = 2, not 5. II is wrong. Options (a), (b) and (c) fail.
Tip: fix the known ranks first, then apply each "if" condition and let the "not" rules decide the rest. Write the small table on paper.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
How many times does 5 appear in all two-digit positive integers?
Answer (b) & explanation
The digit 5 appears 19 times (b). Step 1: 5 in the tens place: 50, 51, …, 59 = 10 times. Step 2: 5 in the units place: 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85, 95 = 9 times (05 is not a two-digit number). Step 3: total = 10 + 9 = 19. The number 55 has two 5s, and both are counted. Option (a), 18, counts 55 once. Options (c) and (d) wrongly add 05 or 5.
Tip: count place by place. The question asks how many times the digit appears, not how many numbers contain it (that would be 18).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.