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UPSC PYQs: Inference

Review complete published questions grouped by topic: Inference.

13 published questions

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Questions

There were 50 faculty members comprising 30 males and the rest females. No male faculty member knew music, but many female faculty members did. The Head invited six faculty members to a tea party by draw of lots. At the party it was discovered that no member knew music. The conclusion is that:2016 · Prelims CSAT · Logical Reasoning · Inference
Biomass as fuel for power, heat and transport has very high mitigation potential among renewable sources. It comes from agricultural and forest residues as well as energy crops. The biggest challenge in using biomass residues is securing a long-term reliable supply at reasonable cost; logistics and collection costs are key problems. Energy crops, if not managed properly, compete with food production and may affect food prices. Biomass production is also sensitive to climate change. Projections of its future role may be overestimated because sustainable supply is limited unless technology greatly raises productivity. Some climate models rely on biomass-based carbon capture and storage, an unproven technology, to achieve negative emissions. Some liquid biofuels such as corn-based ethanol may aggravate rather than reduce lifecycle carbon emissions; second-generation lignocellulosic biofuels hold promise but remain under development.\n\nWhich of the following can lead to a food-security problem? 1. Using agricultural and forest residues as feedstock for power generation 2. Using biomass for carbon capture and storage 3. Promoting cultivation of energy crops.2016 · Prelims CSAT · Reading Comprehension · Inference
Biomass as fuel for power, heat and transport has very high mitigation potential among renewable sources. It comes from agricultural and forest residues as well as energy crops. The biggest challenge in using biomass residues is securing a long-term reliable supply at reasonable cost; logistics and collection costs are key problems. Energy crops, if not managed properly, compete with food production and may affect food prices. Biomass production is also sensitive to climate change. Projections of its future role may be overestimated because sustainable supply is limited unless technology greatly raises productivity. Some climate models rely on biomass-based carbon capture and storage, an unproven technology, to achieve negative emissions. Some liquid biofuels such as corn-based ethanol may aggravate rather than reduce lifecycle carbon emissions; second-generation lignocellulosic biofuels hold promise but remain under development.\n\nIn the context of using biomass, which of the following is/are characteristic/characteristics of sustainable production of biofuel? 1. Biomass could meet all primary energy requirements of the world by 2050. 2. Biomass need not disrupt food and forest resources. 3. Biomass could help achieve negative emissions, given certain nascent technologies.2016 · Prelims CSAT · Reading Comprehension · Inference
By killing transparency and competition, crony capitalism is harmful to free enterprise, opportunity and economic growth. Crony capitalism, where the rich and influential are alleged to have received land, natural resources and licences in return for payoffs to venal politicians, is a major issue to be tackled. One of the greatest dangers to growth of developing economies like India is the middle-income trap where crony capitalism creates oligarchies that slow down growth.\n\nWhich among the following is the most logical corollary to the above passage?2016 · Prelims CSAT · Reading Comprehension · Inference
Climate adaptation may be rendered ineffective if policies are not designed in the context of other development concerns. For instance, a comprehensive strategy that seeks to improve food security in the context of climate change may include coordinated measures related to agricultural extension, crop diversification, integrated water and pest management and agricultural information services. Some of these measures may have to do with climate change and others with economic development.\n\nWhat is the most logical and rational inference that can be made from the above passage?2016 · Prelims CSAT · Reading Comprehension · Inference
Understanding the role of biodiversity in the hydrological cycle enables better policy-making. Biodiversity refers to the variety of plants, animals, microorganisms and ecosystems in which they occur. Water and biodiversity are interdependent. The hydrological cycle influences how biodiversity functions; in turn, vegetation and soil drive the movement of water. Water passing through ecosystems is cleansed and made fit for consumption. The supply of water is a critical service that the environment provides.\n\nWhich among the following is the most critical inference that can be made from the above passage?2016 · Prelims CSAT · Reading Comprehension · Inference
Safe and sustainable sanitation in slums has immeasurable benefits to women and girls in terms of health, safety, privacy and dignity. However, women do not feature in most schemes and policies on urban sanitation. The continued existence of manual scavenging shows that not enough has been done to promote pour-flush toilets and discontinue dry latrines. A sustained campaign towards the right to sanitation is needed, with abolition of manual scavenging as a primary focus.\n\nWith reference to the passage, consider the following statements: 1. Urban sanitation problems can be fully solved by abolition of manual scavenging only. 2. There is a need to promote greater awareness on safe sanitation practices in urban areas. Which statement(s) is/are correct?2016 · Prelims CSAT · Reading Comprehension · Inference
To understand the nature and quantity of government proper for man, it is necessary to attend to his character. Nature created him for social life and fitted him for that station. His natural wants are greater than his individual powers. No one man is capable, without the aid of society, of supplying his own wants; and those wants impel individuals into society.\n\nWhich among the following is the most logical and rational inference that can be made from the above passage?2016 · Prelims CSAT · Reading Comprehension · Inference
About 15 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions come from agricultural practices, including nitrous oxide from fertilizers, methane from livestock, rice production and manure storage, and carbon dioxide from burning biomass. Forestry, land use and land-use change account for another substantial share, much of it from tropical deforestation. The remainder is largely from draining and burning tropical peatland; peatlands store enormous quantities of carbon.\n\nWhich among the following is the most logical and rational inference that can be made from the above passage?2016 · Prelims CSAT · Reading Comprehension · Inference
The conceptual difficulties in National Income comparisons between underdeveloped and industrialised countries are particularly serious because a part of the national output in various underdeveloped countries is produced without passing through commercial channels.\n\nIn the above statement, the author implies that:2016 · Prelims CSAT · Reading Comprehension · Inference
An increase in human-made carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could initiate a chain reaction between plants and microorganisms that would unsettle one of the largest carbon reservoirs on the planet—soil. Soil contains roughly twice the carbon present in plants and the atmosphere combined. Higher carbon dioxide can increase plant growth; roots of flourishing vegetation can stimulate microbial activity in soil, which may accelerate decomposition of soil carbon and its release back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.\n\nWhich among the following is the most logical corollary to the passage?2016 · Prelims CSAT · Reading Comprehension · Inference
Historically, the biggest challenge to world agriculture has been to achieve a balance between demand for and supply of food. At the level of individual countries, this can be critical for a closed and populous economy whose domestic agriculture does not grow sufficiently, while an open growing economy with adequate foreign exchange may buy food abroad. For the world as a whole, supply-demand balance is indispensable for warding off hunger and starvation. Yet adequate global supply does not ensure food will move from surplus countries to deficit countries when the latter lack purchasing power. Uneven hunger and malnutrition are therefore concentrated in poorer economies. Worldwide food supply is gaining importance because the quantum and composition of demand are changing and countries' capabilities to maintain uninterrupted supplies are under strain. Food production, marketing and prices—especially affordability for the poor—need global thinking and solutions.\n\nAccording to the passage, which of the following helps/help in reducing hunger and starvation in developing economies? 1. Balancing demand and supply of food 2. Increasing imports of food 3. Increasing purchasing power of the poor 4. Changing food-consumption patterns and practices. Select the correct answer.2016 · Prelims CSAT · Reading Comprehension · Inference
Statements: some claim to have seen UFOs; life elsewhere is considered possible; space voyages are established. What can be concluded about UFOs?2015 · Prelims CSAT · Logical Reasoning · Inference