1
UPSC Civil Service Prelims Paper II 2025 (CSAT)
MCQ (Single Correct Answer)
+2.5
-0.883

Over the next 30 years, many countries are promising to move to net-zero carbon, implying that household emissions will have to be cut to close to nothing. A leading climate scientist reckons that, at best, half the reduction might be achieved through demand-side measures, such as behavioural changes by individuals and households. And even that would require companies and governments to provide more incentives to change through supply-side investments to make low-carbon options cheaper and more widely available.

With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:

I. Supply-side investments in companies can result in low-carbon behaviour in people.

II. People are not capable of adapting low-carbon behaviour without the involvement of Government and Companies.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

A

I only

B

II only

C

Both I and II

D

Neither I nor II

2
UPSC Civil Service Prelims Paper II 2025 (CSAT)
MCQ (Single Correct Answer)
+2.5
-0.883

In only 50 years, the world's consumption of raw materials has nearly quadrupled, to more than 100 billion tons. Less than $9 \%$ of this is reused. Batteries of old vehicles contain materials such as lithium, cobalt, manganese and nickel that are pricey and can be hard to obtain. Supply chains are long and complicated. Buyers' risks are being aggravated by their suppliers' poor environmental and labour standards. Reusing materials makes sense. Once batteries reach the ends of their lives, they should go back to a factory where their ingredients can be recovered and put into new batteries.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the most logical, rational and pragmatic message conveyed by the passage?

A

Green economy is not possible without reusing critical minerals.

B

Every sector of economy should adapt the reuse of material resources immediately.

C

Circular economy can be beneficial for sustainable growth.

D

Circular use of material resources is the only option for some industries for their survival.

3
UPSC Civil Service Prelims Paper II 2025 (CSAT)
MCQ (Single Correct Answer)
+2.5
-0.883

In only 50 years, the world's consumption of raw materials has nearly quadrupled, to more than 100 billion tons. Less than $9 \%$ of this is reused. Batteries of old vehicles contain materials such as lithium, cobalt, manganese and nickel that are pricey and can be hard to obtain. Supply chains are long and complicated. Buyers' risks are being aggravated by their suppliers' poor environmental and labour standards. Reusing materials makes sense. Once batteries reach the ends of their lives, they should go back to a factory where their ingredients can be recovered and put into new batteries.

With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:

I. Automobile factories are examples of the circular economy.

II. Economic growth is compatible with circular use of mineral resources.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

A

I only

B

II only

C

Both I and II

D

Neither I nor II

4
UPSC Civil Service Prelims Paper II 2025 (CSAT)
MCQ (Single Correct Answer)
+2.5
-0.883

It is hard to predict how changes in the climate and the atmosphere's chemistry will affect the prevalence and virulence of agricultural diseases. But there is a risk that such changes will make some plant infections more common in all climatic zones, perhaps catastrophically so. Part of the problem is that centuries of selective breeding have refined the genomes of most high-value crops. They are spectacular at growing in today's conditions but genetic variations that are not immediately useful to them have been bred out. This is good for yields but bad for coping with changes. A minor disease or even an unknown one could suddenly rampage through a genetically honed crop.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the central idea conveyed by the passage?

A

Global climate change adversely affects the productivity of crops.

B

Our total dependence on genetically honed crops entails possible food insecurity.

C

Our food security should not depend on agricultural productivity alone.

D

Genetically honed crops should be replaced with their wild varieties in our present cultivation practices.

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