UPSC Prelims 2015 CSAT Paper II · Q41 of 74 Comprehension medium

Passage

Directions for the following 7 (seven) items : Read the following six passages and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only. Passage – 1 Climate change is already making many people hungry all over the world, by disrupting crop yields and pushing up prices. And it is not just food but nutrients that are becoming scarcer as the climate changes. It is the poorest communities that will suffer the worst effects of climate change, including increased hunger and malnutrition as crop production and livelihoods are threatened. On the other hand, poverty is a driver of climate change, as desperate communities resort to unsustainable use of resources to meet current needs.

Which among the following is the most logical corollary to the above passage ?

  1. (a) Government should allocate more funds to poverty alleviation programmes and increase food subsidies to the poor communities.
  2. (b) Poverty and climate impacts reinforce each other and therefore we have to re-imagine our food systems. ✓ UPSC's answer
  3. (c) All the countries of the world must unite in fighting poverty and malnutrition and treat poverty as a global problem.
  4. (d) We must stop unsustainable agricultural practices immediately and control food prices.

Why the answer is (b)

• The passage explicitly states that climate change disrupts crop yields and increases hunger, particularly affecting the poorest communities.

• It simultaneously notes that poverty drives climate change because desperate communities resort to unsustainable resource use.

• This creates a bidirectional relationship where poverty and climate change mutually reinforce each other.

• Since the core argument is about this vicious cycle affecting food security and livelihoods, the logical corollary is to address the systemic link between the two.

• Option (b) correctly identifies this mutual reinforcement and suggests re-imagining food systems to break the cycle, which directly follows from the passage's logic.

Why the other options are wrong

(a) Government should allocate more funds to poverty alleviation programmes and increase food…
The passage does not mention government funding or food subsidies as a solution, focusing instead on the structural link between poverty and climate.
(c) All the countries of the world must unite in fighting poverty and malnutrition and treat…
The passage does not call for global unity or frame poverty as a global problem, but rather highlights the local dynamic between poverty and climate impacts.
(d) We must stop unsustainable agricultural practices immediately and control food prices.
While the passage mentions unsustainable practices, it does not advocate for an immediate stop or specific price controls, but rather highlights the complex interplay between poverty and climate.

Asked in the CSAT Paper II of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2015, held on 23 August 2015. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

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