UPSC CSE Prelims
Reading Comprehension Previous Year Questions (PYQs)
Showing solved Previous Year Questions for Chapter: Reading Comprehension
Topic Breakdown: Scroll →
Which of the following statements are not correct?
- The landholdings of Rai Sahib were currently not being used for farming.
- Temperamentally, Rai Sahib was as greedy as other landlords.
- It cannot be ascertained that Rai Sahib could have made some money by leasing out the grazing land.
- It may be asserted that Rai Sahib valued his tenants and wanted to protect their livelihood.
Select the answer using the code given below.
Detailed Explanation:
The question asks which statements are not correct.
- Statement 1 is Incorrect: The passage mentions only a specific common grazing ground, not all landholdings of Rai Sahib—overgeneralization.
- Statement 2 is Incorrect: The passage explicitly contrasts Rai Sahib with selfish Zamindars, noting he held to old values—opposite of greedy.
- Statement 3 is Incorrect: The passage states farmers offered a good price to lease the land—we can clearly ascertain he could have made money.
- Statement 4 is Correct: The passage affirms Rai Sahib valued his tenants, believing landlords must look after them to remain human.
- Therefore, statements 1, 2, and 3 are not correct, making Option 4 the correct answer.
Which of the following statements is/are not correct?
- Tech-savvy farmers will drive the AgTech companies of the future.
- The development of advisory services by the government programmes for the use of AI tools in agriculture would be helpful.
- In the US and Europe, AI tools have replaced traditional agricultural practices.
- The integration of large datasets for use in real-time agronomic analysis is already a reality.
Select the answer using the code given below.
Detailed Explanation:
The passage identifies limited penetration of AI tools among tech-savvy farmers in India, while the US and Europe use generative AI for precision farming at scale—augmenting, not replacing traditional practices.
- Statement 1 is Incorrect: The passage does not claim tech-savvy farmers will drive AgTech companies; it only notes current limited penetration among them.
- Statement 2 is Correct: The passage explicitly recommends disseminating AI-based advisory services through government programmes as helpful.
- Statement 3 is Incorrect: AI tools in the US and Europe provide precision farming insights; the passage does not state they have replaced traditional agricultural practices.
- Statement 4 is Correct: The passage confirms generative AI tools integrate large datasets to provide real-time agronomic insights in the US and Europe.
- Therefore, statements 1 and 3 are incorrect, making Option 1 the correct answer.
Which of the following statements is/are correct?
- Radical action can also be attributed to mild surrender where one acts against societal expectations.
- Submitting to one's limitations, given the effect of age and other factors, ought not to be conflated with laziness.
- 'Leading man' usually refers to one who plays the lead role in a movie; in this instance the implication is that Hugh Grant is performing the role of not an action hero, but that of a resting one!
Select the answer using the code given below.
Detailed Explanation:
The passage describes Hugh Grant's nap as "quietly radical" and a "surrender to limits... to the body's quiet wisdom over society's relentless performance metrics," supporting Statement 1. It explicitly states this surrender was "Not to laziness, but to limits," mentioning the "crushing weight of being a 64-year-old man," validating Statement 2.
The passage concludes that "The perpetually sleep-deprived discovered a leading man, not of action, but of rest." Since Hugh Grant is an actor known for playing leading roles, the author cleverly repositions him as a "resting hero" rather than an action hero, confirming Statement 3.
Therefore, all three statements accurately reflect the passage's content and tone, making Option 3 the correct answer.
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Which of the following conclusions, made on the basis of the given passage, is/are correct?
- The advent of new customer-service technology had invariably sparked fears about job losses.
- Often it is found that instead of job losses, alternative channels for employee engagement are discovered while certain tasks are replaced by technology.
- The advent of technology inevitably leads to stressful outcomes.
Select the answer using the code given below.
Detailed Explanation:
The passage states previous customer-service technologies (email, voice menus) "stoked concerns of job losses" and mentions AI continuing this pattern, supporting the claim of invariable fears.
- Statement 1 is Correct: The passage explicitly confirms that new customer-service technology has consistently sparked job loss fears.
- Statement 2 is Correct: Earlier job loss fears "failed to materialise" and AI may free agents for "creative and rewarding tasks"—technology replaces tasks while opening alternative engagement channels.
- Statement 3 is Incorrect: The passage describes AI's effects as "salutary" (beneficial) with workers shifting to rewarding tasks—contradicting the claim of inevitable stressful outcomes.
- Therefore, only Statements 1 and 2 are correct, making Option 4 the correct answer.
Which of the following conclusions is/are correct?
- All landlords essentially have some goodness trapped within them.
- The common grazing grounds of a village are intended for use by the cattle of that village.
- Landlords who believe in tradition tend to be more concerned about their tenants.
- Winds later in the day tend to be cooler post the hot winds of the morning.
Select the answer using the code given below.
Detailed Explanation:
The passage explicitly states that Rai Sahib held to the old values and believed that any landlord who didn't look after his tenants was less than human. This directly supports the conclusion that landlords who believe in tradition tend to be more concerned about their tenants.
Statement 1 is incorrect—the passage contrasts Rai Sahib with selfish Zamindars, implying not all landlords have goodness. Statement 2 is incorrect—cattle from nearby villages came to graze, not just from that village. Statement 4 is incorrect—the passage states there was cool freshness in the morning, but the rest of the day would be scorching hot (not cooler).
Therefore, only conclusion 3 is correct, making Option 3 the correct answer.
Which one among the following statements most appropriately reflects the point of view of the given passage?
Detailed Explanation:
The passage states AI's effects "may be salutary" (beneficial) because human agents could be "freed up to spend more time on creative and rewarding tasks" like using feedback to improve products—thereby enhancing their workplace value through redirection to more fulfilling roles.
Option 1 contradicts the passage (humans would still do creative tasks). Option 2 focuses only on redundancy, missing the author's optimistic core message. Option 4 is incorrect—the passage explicitly notes previous technologies also "stoked concerns of job losses."
Therefore, Option 3 accurately captures the passage's central argument about enhanced human value through task redirection, making Option 3 the correct answer.
Which of the following statements is/are correct?
- Hugh Grant was watching, from the Royal Box, the men's semifinal match on Centre Court between Flavio Cobolli and Novak Djokovic.
- The phrase 'unexpected ace' in the context uses a term from the game of tennis to highlight Hugh Grant's somewhat uncharacteristic act of catching 'forty winks'; an act that is viewed with opprobrium.
- Grant subjects the demands of society to the wisdom of his body.
Select the answer using the code given below.
Detailed Explanation:
The passage evaluates each statement:
- Statement 1 is Incorrect: Passage clearly states Hugh Grant watched the men's singles quarterfinals, not semifinals.
- Statement 2 is Incorrect: While 'unexpected ace' uses tennis terminology, the act is praised ("deserves empathy," "elegant case for surrender"), not viewed with opprobrium (harsh criticism).
- Statement 3 is Correct: Passage explicitly states Grant surrendered to "the body's quiet wisdom over society's relentless performance metrics"—prioritizing bodily limits over societal demands.
- Therefore, only Statement 3 is correct, making Option 2 the correct answer.
Which of the following conclusions are correct?
- In the breakaway phase, economic progress is slow for the technology followers.
- In the catch-up phase, leaders stagnate and followers, therefore, close the gap between them and the leaders.
- In the fine-tuning phase, technology is exhausted, as it were, and both leaders and followers attempt to extract leftover benefits, leading to more or less similar per capita income levels.
- Industrial technology followed scavenging, which preceded hunting, which itself was followed by farming.
Select the answer using the code given below.
Detailed Explanation:
Evaluate each statement against the passage:
- Statement 1 is Incorrect: The passage states per capita income is "unchanged" for technology followers in the breakaway phase, meaning zero progress, not slow progress.
- Statement 2 is Incorrect: The passage says followers "adopt the new technology and close their per capita income gap" during catch-up; it does not state that leaders stagnate.
- Statement 3 is Correct: The passage explicitly describes the fine-tuning phase as one where "participants try to extract the remaining benefits from an increasingly exhausted technology" with similar per capita incomes.
- Statement 4 is Correct: The chronological sequence given is: Scavenging (3 MYA) → Hunting (1 MYA) → Farming (12,000 years ago) → Industrial technology (200 years ago), matching the statement perfectly.
- Therefore, only statements 3 and 4 are correct, making Option 1 the correct answer.
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