Directions for the following 15 (fifteen) items:
Read the following three passages and answer the items that follow each passage. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only.
Passage - 1
Education, without a doubt, has an important functional, instrumental and utilitarian dimension. This is revealed when one asks questions such as 'What is the purpose of education?'. The answers, too often, are 'to acquire qualifications for employment/upward mobility', 'wider/higher (in terms of income) opportunities', and 'to meet the needs for trained human power in diverse fields for national development'. But in its deepest sense education is not instrumentalist. That is to say, it is not to be justified outside of itself because it leads to the acquisition of formal skills or of certain desired psychological - social attributes. It must be respected in itself. Education is thus not a commodity to be acquired or possessed and then used, but a process of inestimable importance to individuals and society, although it can and does have enormous use-value. Education, then, is a process of expansion and conversion, not in the sense of converting or turning the student into a doctor or engineer, but the widening and turning out of the mind - the creation, sustenance and development of self-critical awareness and independence of thought. It is an inner process of moral - intellectual development.
What do you understand by the 'instrumentalist' view of education?
Education is functional and utilitarian in its purposes.
Education is meant to fulfil human needs.
The purpose of education is to train the human intellect.
Education is meant to achieve moral development
The question asks for the understanding of the 'instrumentalist' view of education based on the provided passage. We need to identify the parts of the passage that define or describe this view.
Correct Option: A) Education is functional and utilitarian in its purposes. This option directly reflects the initial description of the 'instrumental' dimension of education in the passage, which is stated as "functional, instrumental and utilitarian." The subsequent examples provided in the passage (employment, income opportunities, meeting human power needs) further reinforce this functional and utilitarian aspect.
The problem states that the passage contrasts the functional, instrumental side of education with its deeper meaning, saying education must be respected in itself. This means that the correct answer must match the passage's reason for valuing education for its own sake, not the practical benefits it brings. We will separate the instrumental purposes from the deeper purpose described in the passage and compare each option with them.
Identify the instrumental view: The passage says that, too often, education is valued for acquiring qualifications for employment, for upward mobility, for better income opportunities and for meeting national needs for trained human power.
Identify the deeper view: The passage says that in its deepest sense, education is not instrumentalist. It should not be justified by what it leads to, such as skills or desired attributes. It must be respected in itself.
Find the reason it must be respected in itself: The passage explains that education is a process of widening and turning out of the mind, which creates self-critical awareness and independence of thought. It ends by calling education an inner process of moral-intellectual development.
Compare the options: Options A and B describe the instrumental benefits that the passage says are not the deepest reason to value education. Only option C matches the reason education must be respected in itself.
Correct Option: C) it is an inner process of moral and intellectual development — The passage says education must be respected in itself because, in its deepest sense, it is an inner process of moral-intellectual development, not merely a tool for practical gains.
The problem states that the passage describes education as a process of expansion and conversion, and explains exactly what kind of conversion it means. This means that the correct answer must match the passage's own description of this process, not the instrumental benefits it sets aside. We will locate the sentence describing education as a process and compare each option with it.
Locate the relevant sentence: The passage says education is a process of expansion and conversion, not in the sense of turning the student into a doctor or engineer, but the widening and turning out of the mind.
Identify what this process involves: The passage explains that this widening of the mind means the creation, sustenance and development of self-critical awareness and independence of thought.
Note what the passage rules out: It specifically says the conversion is not about turning students into professionals. It also treats qualifications, higher income and upward mobility as instrumental purposes, not the deepest meaning of education.
Select the option: Only the option about developing self-critical awareness and independence of thought matches the passage's description of the process.
Correct Option: C) individuals develop self-critical awareness and independence of thought — The passage describes education as the widening and turning out of the mind, which creates, sustains and develops self-critical awareness and independence of thought.
Passage - 2
Chemical pesticides lose their role in sustainable agriculture if the pests evolve resistance. The evolution of pesticide resistance is simply natural selection in action. It is almost certain to occur when vast numbers of a genetically variable population are killed. One or a few individuals may be unusually resistant (perhaps because they possess an enzyme that can detoxify the pesticide). If the pesticide is applied repeatedly, each successive generation of the pest will contain a larger proportion of resistant individuals. Pests typically have a high intrinsic rate of reproduction, and so a few individuals in one generation may give rise to hundreds or thousands in the next, and resistance spreads very rapidly in a population.
This problem was often ignored in the past, even though the first case of DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) resistance was reported as early as 1946. There is exponential increase in the numbers of invertebrates that have evolved resistance and in the number of pesticides against which resistance has evolved. Resistance has been recorded in every family of arthropod pests (including dipterans such as mosquitoes and house flies, as well as beetles, moths, wasps, fleas, lice and mites) as well as in weeds and plant pathogens. Take the Alabama leafworm, a moth pest of cotton, as an example. It has developed resistance in one or more regions of the world to aldrin, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, lindane and toxaphene.
If chemical pesticides brought nothing but problems - if their use was intrinsically and acutely unsustainable - then they would already have fallen out of widespread use. This has not happened. Instead, their rate of production has increased rapidly. The ratio of cost to benefit for the individual agricultural producer has remained in favour of pesticide use. In the USA, insecticides have been estimated to benefit agricultural products to the tune of around $5 for every $1 spent.
Moreover, in many poorer countries, the prospect of imminent mass starvation, or of an epidemic disease, is so frightening that the social and health costs of using pesticides have to be ignored. In general the use of pesticides is justified by objective measures such as 'lives saved', 'economic efficiency of food production', and total food produced. In these very fundamental senses, their use may be described as sustainable. In practice, sustainability depends on continually developing new pesticides that keep at least one step ahead of the pests - pesticides that are less persistent, biodegradable and more accurately targeted at the pests.
''The evolution of pesticide resistance is natural selection in action." What does it actually imply?
It is very natural for many organisms to have pesticide resistance.
Pesticide resistance among organisms is a universal phenomenon.
Some individuals in any given population show resistance after the application of pesticides.
None of the statements (a), (b) and ( c) given above is correct.
The question asks for the implication of the statement "The evolution of pesticide resistance is natural selection in action." We need to understand what natural selection means in this context based on the provided passage.
C) Some individuals in any given population show resistance after the application of pesticides. This statement accurately reflects the mechanism of natural selection described in the passage. Within a genetically variable population, a few individuals naturally possess traits (like an enzyme to detoxify the pesticide) that make them resistant. When the pesticide is applied, these resistant individuals survive and are observed to be resistant, while others perish.
with reference to the passage, consider the following statements:
1. Use of chemical pesticides has become imperative in all the poor countries of the world.
2. Chemical pesticides should not have any role in sustainable agriculture.
3. One pest can develop resistance to many pesticides.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The problem states that the passage explains how pests evolve resistance to pesticides, and why pesticides are still widely used despite this problem. This means that we must check whether each statement is actually supported by the passage, paying attention to strong words like "all" and "should not have any role". We will test each of the three statements against the relevant lines of the passage.
Examine statement 1 (Use of chemical pesticides has become imperative in all the poor countries of the world):
Examine statement 2 (Chemical pesticides should not have any role in sustainable agriculture):
Examine statement 3 (One pest can develop resistance to many pesticides):
Combine the results: Only statement 3 is correct.
Correct Option: B) 3 only — The Alabama leafworm has developed resistance to six different pesticides, while statements 1 and 2 overstate or contradict the passage.
According to the passage, Though the problems associated with the use of chemical pesticides is known for long time, their widespread use has not waned. why?
Alternatives to chemical pesticides do not exist at all.
New pesticides are not invented at all.
Pesticides are biodegradable.
None of the statements (a), (b) and ( c) given above is correct.
The problem states that the passage admits pesticide resistance has been known since at least 1946, yet pesticides are still widely used and their production has increased rapidly. This means that the correct answer must match the reasons the passage gives for this continued use. We will identify these reasons from the passage and then check whether any of the options A, B or C matches them.
Find the reasons given in the passage:
Examine option A (Alternatives to chemical pesticides do not exist at all): The passage never discusses alternatives to pesticides, so this reason is not supported.
Examine option B (New pesticides are not invented at all): The passage says sustainability depends on continually developing new pesticides. It does not say new pesticides are never invented, and this would not explain their continued use anyway.
Examine option C (Pesticides are biodegradable): The passage mentions biodegradable pesticides only as a future need, saying new pesticides should be less persistent and biodegradable. It does not say existing pesticides are biodegradable.
Combine the results: None of options A, B and C gives the reason stated in the passage, which is that the benefits of pesticides outweigh their costs.
Correct Option: D) None of the statements (a), (b) and (c) given above is correct — The passage says pesticide use continues because the cost-benefit ratio favours producers and because it helps prevent starvation and disease, which is not stated in any of the other options.
According to the passage, How do pesticides act as agents for the selection of resistant individuals in any pest population?
1. It is possible that in a pest population the individuals will behave differently due to their genetic makeup.
2. pests do possess the ability to detoxify the pesticides.
3. Evolution of pesticide resistance is equally distributed in pest population.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The problem states that the passage explains pesticide resistance as natural selection, where a few unusually resistant individuals survive and pass on their resistance. This means that we must check whether each statement correctly describes how pesticides select resistant individuals, including the reason some individuals survive. We will test each of the three statements against the relevant lines of the passage.
Examine statement 1 (It is possible that in a pest population the individuals will behave differently due to their genetic makeup):
Examine statement 2 (Pests do possess the ability to detoxify the pesticides):
Examine statement 3 (Evolution of pesticide resistance is equally distributed in pest population):
Combine the results: Statements 1 and 2 are correct; statement 3 is not.
Correct Option: B) 1 and 2 only — Genetic variation makes some individuals behave differently, and those with an enzyme that can detoxify the pesticide survive, so pesticides select these resistant individuals. Resistance is not equally distributed in the population.
According to the passage, Why is the use of chemical pesticides generally justified by giving the examples of poor and developing countries?
1. Developed countries can afford to do away with use of pesticides by adopting to organic farming, but it is imperative for poor and developing countries to use chemical pesticides.
2. In poor and developing countries, the pesticides address the problem of epidemic diseases of crops and eases the food problem.
3. The social and health costs of pesticide use are generally ignored in poor and developing countries.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The problem states that the passage refers to poorer countries, where the fear of mass starvation and epidemic disease is so great that the social and health costs of pesticides have to be ignored. This means that we must find which statements give the reason pesticide use is justified by the example of poor countries, not just facts that happen to be true there. We will test each of the three statements against the relevant lines of the passage and the question asked.
Examine statement 1 (Developed countries can afford to do away with use of pesticides by adopting organic farming, but it is imperative for poor and developing countries to use chemical pesticides):
Examine statement 2 (In poor and developing countries, pesticides address the problem of epidemic diseases of crops and ease the food problem):
Examine statement 3 (The social and health costs of pesticide use are generally ignored in poor and developing countries):
Combine the results: Only statement 2 explains why the examples of poor and developing countries are used to justify pesticide use.
Correct Option: C) 2 only — In poorer countries, pesticides help fight epidemic disease and food shortages, which is why these countries are cited to justify their use. Statement 1 is not in the passage, and statement 3 describes a result, not a justification.
According to the passage, What does the passage imply?
Alternative options to chemical pesticides should be promoted.
Too much use of chemicals is not good for the ecosystem.
There is no scope for the improvement of pesticides and making their use sustainable.
Both the statements (a) and (b) above are correct.
The problem states that the passage describes the growing problem of pesticide resistance, the social and health costs of pesticides, and the need for new pesticides that are less persistent, biodegradable and better targeted. This means that the correct implication must follow from these problems and from the solution the passage points towards. We will trace what the passage says about the drawbacks of current pesticides and compare each option with it.
Note the problems the passage raises:
Examine statement (a) (Alternative options to chemical pesticides should be promoted):
Examine statement (b) (Too much use of chemicals is not good for the ecosystem):
Examine statement (c) (There is no scope for the improvement of pesticides and making their use sustainable): The passage says the opposite, that sustainability depends on developing improved pesticides. Statement (c) is not implied.
Combine the results: Statements (a) and (b) are both implied by the passage.
Correct Option: D) Both the statements (a) and (b) above are correct — The spread of resistance and the social and health costs show that heavy chemical use harms the ecosystem, and that alternatives to the present chemical pesticides need to be promoted.
Passage - 3
Today's developing economies use much less energy per capita than developed countries such as the United States did at similar incomes, showing the potential for lower-carbon growth. Adaptation and mitigation need to be integrated into a climate-smart development strategy that increases resilience, reduces the threat of further global warming, and improves development outcomes. Adaptation and mitigation measures can advance development, and prosperity can raise incomes and foster better institutions. A healthier population living in better-built houses and with access to bank loans and social security is better equipped to deal with a changing climate and its consequences. Advancing robust, resilient development policies that promote adaptation is needed today because changes in the climate, already begun, will increase even in the short term.
The spread of economic prosperity has always been intertwined with adaptation to changing ecological conditions. But as growth has altered the environment and as environmental change has accelerated, sustaining growth and adaptability demands greater capacity to understand our environment, generate new adaptive technologies and practices, and diffuse them widely. As economic historians have explained, much of humankind's creative potential has been directed at adapting to the changing world. But adaptation cannot cope with all the impacts related to climate change, especially as larger changes unfold in the long term.
Countries cannot grow out of harm's way fast enough to match the changing climate. And some growth strategies, whether driven by the government or the market, can also add to vulnerability - particularly if they overexploit natural resources. Under the Soviet development plan, irrigated cotton cultivation expanded in water-stressed Central Asia and led to the near disappearance of the Aral Sea, threatening the livelihoods of fishermen, herders and farmers. And clearing mangroves - the natural coastal buffers against storm surges - to make way for intensive farming or housing development, increases the physical vulnerability of coastal settlements, whether in Guinea or in Louisiana.
Which of the following conditions of growth can add to vulnerability?
1. When the growth occurs due to excessive exploitation of mineral resources and forests.
2. When the growth brings about a change in humankind's creative potential.
3. When the growth is envisaged only for providing houses and social security to the people.
4. When the growth occurs due to emphasis on farming only.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
The question asks to identify which conditions of growth, as described in the passage, can add to vulnerability. We need to carefully read the passage and locate the sections that discuss growth strategies leading to increased vulnerability.
Correct Option: A) 1 only