Practice Passages Set 2

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: Women and work

India's economy has grown rapidly, yet the share of women in paid work has remained low by international standards. Part of the explanation is measurement: much of women's work on family farms and in household enterprises goes unrecorded. Part is social: norms about women's mobility and the burden of unpaid care work limit the jobs women can take. And part is economic: as household incomes rise, some families withdraw women from low-paid manual work that carries social stigma, while suitable jobs closer to home remain scarce. Evidence suggests that safe transport, childcare, and jobs in nearby towns raise women's participation. Policies that treat the issue only as one of women's skills or attitudes miss the importance of the jobs actually available.

Question 1. The passage gives how many broad kinds of explanation for low participation?

(a) Three – measurement, social and economic (b) One – lack of skills (c) Two – social and economic (d) Four – including education

Question 2. What happens, according to the passage, when some household incomes rise?

(a) Women move to big cities (b) All women join paid work (c) Some families withdraw women from stigmatised low-paid manual work (d) Childcare becomes free

Question 3. Which policy would the author most likely support?

(a) Stopping the measurement of women’s work (b) Improving safe transport and childcare near job centres (c) Focusing only on changing women’s attitudes (d) Reducing the number of jobs in towns

Question 4. The author's criticism is aimed at policies that:

(a) Provide childcare (b) Build roads (c) Measure unpaid work (d) Ignore the availability of suitable jobs

Solved passage 2: Forest rights

For much of the twentieth century, forest policy treated people living in forests as a threat to conservation. Many communities were denied rights to land they had cultivated for generations and to forest produce they depended on. The Forest Rights Act of 2006 sought to correct this by recognising individual and community rights, including the right of communities to protect and manage their forests. Supporters argue that people who depend on a forest have strong reasons to protect it, and point to villages that have guarded forests against illegal felling. Critics worry that recognising rights may lead to clearing of land in fragile habitats. The evidence suggests that outcomes depend heavily on implementation: where community rights are recognised and backed by support, forests and livelihoods can both gain.

Question 1. According to the passage, earlier forest policy viewed forest dwellers as:

(a) A threat to conservation (b) Partners in management (c) Irrelevant to conservation (d) Owners of the forest

Question 2. The Forest Rights Act, as described, sought to:

(a) Remove villages from forests (b) Ban all use of forest produce (c) Transfer forests to private companies (d) Recognise individual and community rights of forest dwellers

Question 3. The critics' concern is that:

(a) Forests will grow too fast (b) Recognising rights might lead to clearing in fragile habitats (c) The Act was passed too late (d) Communities will stop using the forest

Question 4. The author's own position is best described as:

(a) The Act guarantees forest protection (b) Forest dwellers should be relocated (c) Outcomes depend on how the law is implemented (d) The Act has failed everywhere

Practice passages

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

Passage 1: Digital payments

In a few years, India's real-time payment system moved from a novelty to everyday use, from tea stalls to large shops. The system works because it is interoperable: a customer of one bank can pay a merchant with an account at another, using any participating app. Low costs for small merchants helped adoption. Yet digital payments also bring new risks. Fraudsters exploit the speed of transfers and the unfamiliarity of new users, and a person who loses money to a scam may find it hard to recover. As more people rely on phones for payments, digital literacy and quick grievance redress become as important as the technology itself.

Q1. What does the passage identify as a key reason for the system’s success?

(a) Restriction to one bank (b) High fees for merchants (c) Interoperability across banks and apps (d) Use only in large shops

Q2. Which risk of digital payments is mentioned?

(a) Fraud exploiting fast transfers and new users (b) Shortage of phones (c) Too many banks (d) Higher prices at tea stalls

Q3. The author implies that technology alone is:

(a) The only thing that matters (b) Not sufficient without literacy and grievance redress (c) Harmful to small merchants (d) Unrelated to fraud

Passage 2: Heat waves

Heat waves are becoming longer and more frequent in many parts of India. Their effects are uneven. Outdoor workers – construction labourers, street vendors, farm hands – cannot easily stop working during the hottest hours without losing income, and people in crowded housing with tin roofs find little relief at night. Several cities have prepared heat action plans that issue early warnings, adjust working hours, keep public water points open and train health staff to recognise heat stroke. Ahmedabad was among the first to adopt such a plan. Evaluations suggest that simple, well-coordinated measures can reduce deaths, but they work only if warnings reach the people most at risk and employers actually change working hours.

Q1. Why are outdoor workers particularly affected by heat waves?

(a) They cannot easily stop working without losing income (b) They prefer working in the sun (c) They live in air-conditioned homes (d) They are not covered by warnings at all

Q2. Which is NOT listed as part of heat action plans?

(a) Adjusting working hours (b) Training health staff (c) Building new airports (d) Early warnings

Q3. The passage suggests that heat action plans succeed only if:

(a) Every city builds new hospitals (b) Warnings reach those at risk and employers change hours (c) Heat waves stop occurring (d) Workers move to other states

Q4. The word 'uneven' in the passage refers to:

(a) Unequal funding between cities (b) Varying temperatures across seasons (c) Irregular warnings (d) Different effects on different groups of people

Passage 3: Millets

Millets such as jowar, bajra and ragi were once staple foods across much of India. Over time, policy support for rice and wheat – assured procurement, subsidised inputs and irrigation – made those crops more profitable, and millets retreated to dry, marginal lands. Millets need far less water than paddy, tolerate heat and are rich in fibre and minerals, which makes them attractive in a warming climate with rising lifestyle diseases. Reviving them requires more than awareness campaigns: farmers need assured markets, processing facilities need to make millets convenient to cook, and public food schemes can create steady demand. Without these, enthusiasm may fade as quickly as it rose.

Q1. Why did millet cultivation decline, according to the passage?

(a) Policy support made rice and wheat more profitable (b) Millets became unsuitable for Indian soils (c) People stopped liking millets overnight (d) Millets need more water than rice

Q2. Which advantage of millets is mentioned?

(a) They grow only in wetlands (b) They are low in fibre (c) They need more irrigation than paddy (d) They need less water and tolerate heat

Q3. The author's view of awareness campaigns is that they are:

(a) Harmful to farmers (b) Necessary but not sufficient on their own (c) The only solution needed (d) Completely useless

Q4. What does the final sentence imply?

(a) Farmers dislike millets (b) Millets should not be revived (c) Lasting revival needs markets, processing and demand (d) Enthusiasm for millets will certainly last