Practice Passages Set 1

Introduction

This set gives full-length passages of the kind CSAT uses, on governance, environment, economy and society. The first passages are solved in detail; then try the rest under time (about 6–7 minutes per passage) before checking the worked solutions.

Key concepts

How to use this set

1. Time yourself: aim for about 90 seconds per question including reading time.
2. Write a one-line summary of each passage before answering.
3. For each answer, point to the line in the passage that supports it.
4. After checking, classify each mistake: misread the question, used outside knowledge, chose an extreme option, or misunderstood a word.

Question types in this set

Solved passage 1: Groundwater and electricity

In much of north-western India, farmers pump groundwater using electricity that is free or heavily subsidised. Because the cost of an extra hour of pumping is close to zero, there is little reason to save water. Water tables have fallen by several metres in some districts, and wells must be dug deeper each decade, which raises costs for small farmers who cannot afford deeper borewells. Simply ending the subsidy would hurt the poorest farmers and is politically difficult. Some states have instead separated the electricity feeders for farms from those for villages, so that farms receive a fixed number of hours of reliable power. Others pay farmers for electricity they do not use, turning conservation into a source of income. These approaches accept that farmers respond to incentives and try to change the incentives without simply taking support away.

Question 1. What is the central idea of the passage?

(a) Farmers in north-western India waste water deliberately (b) Changing incentives can reduce groundwater overuse without abruptly ending support (c) Electricity subsidies should be abolished immediately (d) Deeper borewells solve the water crisis

Question 2. Why are small farmers hurt most by falling water tables?

(a) They cannot afford the deeper borewells that become necessary (b) They do not receive subsidies (c) They grow water-intensive crops (d) They use more electricity than large farmers

Question 3. Paying farmers for unused electricity is an example of:

(a) Ending the subsidy (b) Raising the price of electricity (c) Turning conservation into a source of income (d) Separating village and farm feeders

Question 4. Which assumption underlies the approaches the author favours?

(a) Subsidies have no effect on behaviour (b) Electricity supply cannot be rationed (c) Farmers do not care about water (d) Farmers respond to economic incentives

Solved passage 2: Learning outcomes

Enrolment in Indian primary schools is now close to universal, a major achievement of the past three decades. Yet surveys repeatedly find that many children in Class V cannot read a Class II text fluently or do simple division. Schooling, in other words, has not always meant learning. One reason is that teaching follows the textbook for the child's grade even when the child is several grades behind. Programmes that group children by their actual level for part of the day, and teach basic reading and arithmetic intensively, have produced large gains in a few months. Such programmes are not expensive; they require training and a willingness to depart from the strict sequence of the syllabus. The lesson is not that textbooks are useless, but that teaching must begin where the child is.

Question 1. According to the passage, what has been a major achievement?

(a) Fluent reading among Class V children (b) Intensive arithmetic in all schools (c) Near-universal enrolment in primary schools (d) Expensive teaching programmes

Question 2. The phrase 'schooling has not always meant learning' implies that:

(a) Attending school has not ensured that children acquire basic skills (b) Schools have stopped teaching (c) Learning happens only outside school (d) Children do not attend school

Question 3. What does the author identify as one reason for weak learning?

(a) Schools lack buildings (b) Teachers are absent (c) Children dislike arithmetic (d) Teaching follows grade-level textbooks even for children far behind

Question 4. The author's conclusion is best expressed as:

(a) Teaching should start at the child’s actual level (b) Programmes must be expensive to work (c) Enrolment should be reduced (d) Textbooks should be abolished

Question 5. Which statement is NOT supported by the passage?

(a) Many Class V children struggle with Class II texts (b) Level-based programmes need large financial investment (c) Programmes need teacher training (d) Level-based programmes produced gains within months

Practice passages

Time yourself: about 6–7 minutes per passage. Answers and explanations follow each passage.

Passage 1: Urban floods

Cities flood not only because rain is heavier but because water has fewer places to go. Lakes and wetlands that once absorbed monsoon rain have been filled for housing; natural drains have been narrowed or covered; and paved surfaces send water rushing into storm drains faster than they can carry it. Engineers often respond by building larger drains, but bigger pipes simply move the flood downstream. A different approach treats the city as a sponge: protecting and restoring wetlands, creating parks that can hold water for a few hours, and allowing rain to soak into the ground through permeable paving. Such measures are slower to plan because they cross departmental boundaries – housing, parks, roads and water all have a role – but they reduce flooding and recharge groundwater at the same time.

Q1. Which of the following is NOT given as a reason why cities flood?

(a) Wetlands have been filled for housing (b) Paved surfaces speed up run-off (c) Natural drains have been narrowed (d) Storm drains are cleaned too often

Q2. The author's view of building larger drains is that it:

(a) Shifts flooding to other areas (b) Is the sponge approach (c) Solves flooding permanently (d) Recharges groundwater

Q3. Why is the 'sponge' approach slower to plan?

(a) It works only in dry cities (b) It requires coordination among several departments (c) Engineers do not understand it (d) It is more expensive than drains

Q4. A benefit of the sponge approach mentioned in the passage is that it:

(a) Removes the need for parks (b) Ends the monsoon (c) Reduces flooding and recharges groundwater (d) Increases paved surfaces

Passage 2: Antibiotic resistance

Antibiotics transformed medicine, making infections that once killed easily curable. But each use of an antibiotic gives resistant bacteria an advantage, and the more often antibiotics are used unnecessarily – for viral colds, or to promote growth in livestock – the faster resistance spreads. Resistant infections are harder and costlier to treat and can turn routine operations into risky ones. The problem is a classic shared dilemma: a single prescription may help the patient in front of the doctor while slightly weakening the drug for everyone else. Solutions therefore need to work at several levels at once – better diagnostics so that doctors know when an antibiotic is needed, rules on use in animals, clean water and sanitation to prevent infections in the first place, and incentives for developing new drugs, which companies find unprofitable because new antibiotics are meant to be used sparingly.

Q1. Why does unnecessary use of antibiotics matter?

(a) It increases company profits for new drugs (b) It makes operations unnecessary (c) It speeds up the spread of resistance (d) It cures viral infections

Q2. The 'shared dilemma' described in the passage is that:

(a) Doctors and patients disagree about treatment (b) What benefits one patient can reduce the drug’s effectiveness for all (c) Animals and humans need different antibiotics (d) New drugs are too profitable

Q3. Why do companies find new antibiotics unprofitable, according to the passage?

(a) New antibiotics are meant to be used sparingly (b) Governments ban them (c) They are too easy to make (d) Bacteria never resist them

Q4. Which measure is suggested to prevent infections in the first place?

(a) Avoiding diagnostics (b) Using antibiotics in livestock (c) Prescribing antibiotics for colds (d) Clean water and sanitation