UPSC PRELIMS GS PAPER-2 2015

Direction: Read the following passages and answer the question follow that passage. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only. Passage Human history abounds in claims and theories confining the right of governing to a few select citizens. Exclusion of the many is justified on the ground that human beings may be rightfully segregated for the good of society and viability of the political process.
Which one of the following statements is least essential as a part of the argument in the above passage?

Direction: Read the following passages and answer the question follow that passage. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only. Passage By 2050, the Earth's population will likely have swelled from seven to nine billion people. To fill all those stomachs ­ while accounting for shifting consumption patterns , climate change, and a finite amount of arable land and potable water ­ some experts say food production will have to double. How can we make the numbers add up? Experts say higher yielding crop varieties and more efficient farming methods will be crucial. So will waste reduction. Experts urge cities to reclaim nutrients and water from waste streams and preserve farmland. Poor countries, they say, can improve crop storage and packaging and rich nations could cut back on resource intensive foods like meat.
Which one of the following statements best sums up the above passage ?

Direction: Read the following passages and answer the question follow that passage. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only. Passage Many people in India feel that if we cut our defence expenditure on weapon-building, we can create a climate of peace with our neighbours, subsequently reducing the conflict or creating a no-war situation. People who proclaim such ideas are either the victims of war or the propagators of false argument.
With reference to the above passage, which of the following is the most valid assumption?

Direction: Read the following passages and answer the question follow that passage. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only.Passage India accounts for nearly a fifth of the world's child deaths. In terms of numbers, it is the highest in the world - nearly 16 lakhs every year. Of these, more than half die in the first month of life. Officials believe that the reason for this is the absence of steps to propagate basic health practices relating to breast feeding and immunisation. Also the large reproductive population of 2.6 crore remains bereft of care during the critical phases of pregnancy and post-delivery. Added to this is the prevalence of child marriages, anaemia among young women and lack of focus on adolescent sanitation, all of which impact child death rates.
Which is the critical inference that can be made from the above passage?

Direction: Read the following passages and answer the question follow that passage. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only. Passage Foods travel more than the people who eat them. Grocery stores and supermarkets are loaded with preserved and processed foods. This, however, often leads to environmental threats, such as pollution generated by long distance food transportation and wastage of food during processing and transportation, destruction of rain forests, reduced nutritional content, increased demand for preservation and packaging. Food insecurity also increases as the produce comes from regions that are not feeding their own population properly.
With reference to the above passage, which of the following statements is/are true? 1) Consuming regionally grown food and not depending on long travelled food is a part of eco-friendly behaviour. 2) Food processing industry puts a burden on our natural resources. Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Direction: Read the following passages and answer the question follow that passage. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only. Passage I must say that, beyond occasionally exposing me to laughter, my constitutional shyness has been of no disadvantage whatever. In fact I can see that, on the contrary, it has been all to my advantage. My hesitancy in speech, which was once an annoyance, is now a pleasure. Its greatest benefit has been that it has taught me the economy of words. I have naturally formed the habit of restraining my thoughts. And I can now give myself the certificate that a thoughtless word hardly ever escapes my tongue or pen. I do not recollect ever having had to regret anything in my speech or writing. I have thus been spared many a mishap and waste of time. Experience has taught me that silence is part of the spiritual discipline of a votary of truth. Proneness to exaggerate, to suppress or modify the truth, wittingly or unwittingly, is a natural weakness of man, and silence is necessary in order to surmount it. A man of few words will rarely be thoughtless in his speech; he will measure every word. We find so many people impatient to talk. There is no chairman of a meeting who is not pestered with notes for permission to speak. And whenever the permission is given the speaker generally exceeds the time-limit, asks for more time, and keeps on talking without permission. All this talking can hardly be said to be of any benefit to the world. It is so much waste of time. My shyness has been in reality my shield and buckler. It has allowed me to grow. It has helped me in my discernment of truth.
The author says that a thoughtless word hardly ever escapes his tongue or pen. Which one of the following is not a valid reason for this?