Insta–DART (Daily Aptitude and Reasoning Test) 2020 - 21
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Considering the alarming importance of CSAT in UPSC CSE Prelims exam and with enormous requests we received recently, InsightsIAS has started Daily CSAT Test to ensure students practice CSAT Questions on a daily basis. Regular Practice would help one overcome the fear of CSAT too.
We are naming this initiative as Insta– DART – Daily Aptitude and Reasoning Test. We hope you will be able to use DART to hit bull’s eye in CSAT paper and comfortably score 100+ even in the most difficult question paper that UPSC can give you in CSP-2021. Your peace of mind after every step of this exam is very important for us.
Looking forward to your enthusiastic participation (both in sending us questions and solving them on daily basis on this portal).
Wish you all the best ! 🙂
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Question 1 of 5
1. Question
Ecological research over the last quarter of the century has established the deleterious effects of habitat fragmentation due to mining, highways and such other intrusions on forests. When a large block of forests gets fragmented into smaller bits, the edges of all these bits come into contact with human activities resulting in the degradation of the entire forests. Continuity of forested landscapes and corridors gets disrupted affecting several extinction-prone species of wildlife. Habitat fragmentation, is therefore considered as the most serious threat to biodiversity conservation. Adhoc grants of forest lands to mining companies coupled with rampant illegal mining is aggravating this threat.
What is the central focus of this passage?
Correct
Answer : (d)
The central focus of this passage is the ‘disruption of habitat which has affected wildlife. Illegal mining is mentioned in the last line and is certainly not the central focus. Extinction of wildlife is also not directly mentioned and is only touched upon briefly and is not the central theme. The central theme which runs across the whole passage is habitat fragmentation and thus the right answer is option (d).
Incorrect
Answer : (d)
The central focus of this passage is the ‘disruption of habitat which has affected wildlife. Illegal mining is mentioned in the last line and is certainly not the central focus. Extinction of wildlife is also not directly mentioned and is only touched upon briefly and is not the central theme. The central theme which runs across the whole passage is habitat fragmentation and thus the right answer is option (d).
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Question 2 of 5
2. Question
Ecological research over the last quarter of the century has established the deleterious effects of habitat fragmentation due to mining, highways and such other intrusions on forests. When a large block of forests gets fragmented into smaller bits, the edges of all these bits come into contact with human activities resulting in the degradation of the entire forests. Continuity of forested landscapes and corridors gets disrupted affecting several extinction-prone species of wildlife. Habitat fragmentation, is therefore considered as the most serious threat to biodiversity conservation. Adhoc grants of forest lands to mining companies coupled with rampant illegal mining is aggravating this threat.
- What is the purpose of maintaining the continuity of forested landscapes and corridors?
- Preservation of biodiversity.
- Management of mineral resources.
- Grant of forest lands for human activities.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below.
Correct
Answer : (a)
The passage mentions that mining of mineral resources and human activities are actually leading to the disruption of forests and their continuity so the purpose of maintaining continuity of forests is certainly not to aid these activities further. On the other hand, fragmentation of habitat is mentioned as the leading cause which threatens wildlife and thus maintaining a continuous forest is needed for the conservation of biodiversity which is clear from the passage. The only correct statement is thus and the right answer is option (a).
Incorrect
Answer : (a)
The passage mentions that mining of mineral resources and human activities are actually leading to the disruption of forests and their continuity so the purpose of maintaining continuity of forests is certainly not to aid these activities further. On the other hand, fragmentation of habitat is mentioned as the leading cause which threatens wildlife and thus maintaining a continuous forest is needed for the conservation of biodiversity which is clear from the passage. The only correct statement is thus and the right answer is option (a).
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Question 3 of 5
3. Question
The law in many parts of the world increasingly restricts the discharge of agricultural slurry into watercourses. The simplest and often the most economically sound practice returns the material to the land as semisolid manure or as sprayed slurry. This dilutes its concentration in the environment to what might have occurred in a more primitive and sustainable type oi agriculture and converts pollutant into fertilizer. Soil microorganisms decompose the organic components of sewage and slurry and most of the mineral nutrients become available to be absorbed again by the vegetation. The excess input of nutrients, both nitrogen and phosphorus based, from agricultural runoff (and human sewage) has caused many ‘healthy’ oligotrophic lakes (low nutrient concentrations, low plant productivity clear water) to change to eutrophic condition with abundant water weeds, and where high nutrient inputs lead to high phytoplankton productivity (sometimes dominated by bloom-forming toxic species). This makes the water turbid, eliminates large plants and, in the worst situations, leads to anoxia and fish kills; so called cultural eutrophication. Thus, important ecosystem serv1ces are lost, including the provisioning service of wild-caught fish and the cultural services associated with recreation. The process of cultural eutrophication of lakes has been understood for some time. But only recently did scientists notice huge ‘dead zones’ in the oceans near river outlets, particularly those draining large catchment areas such as the Mississippi in North America and the Yangtze in China. The nutrient-enriched water flows through streams, rivers and lakes, and eventually to the estuary and ocean where the ecological impact may be huge, killing virtually all invertebrates and fish in areas up to 70000 km in extent. More than 150 sea areas worldwide are now regularly starved of oxygen as a result of decomposition of algal blooms, fuelled particularly by nitrogen from agricultural runoff of fertilizers and sewage from large cities. Oceanic dead zones are typically associated with industrialised nations and usually lie off countries that subsidise their agriculture, encouraging farmers to increase productivity and use more fertilizer to increase productivity and use more fertilizer.
- According to the passage, why should the discharge of agricultural slurry into watercourses be restricted?
- Losing nutrients in this way is not a good practice economically.
- Watercourses do not contain the microorganisms that can decompose organic components of agricultural slurry.
- The discharge may lead to the eutrophication of water bodies
Select the correct answer using the codes given below.
Correct
Answer : c
Statement 1 is correct as the economic case is made clearly in the starting of the first paragraph. Statement 5 is also correct as eutrophication due to discharge of agricultural slurry is mentioned in the last of the second paragraph. Hence, in the View of this, option (c) is correct.
Incorrect
Answer : c
Statement 1 is correct as the economic case is made clearly in the starting of the first paragraph. Statement 5 is also correct as eutrophication due to discharge of agricultural slurry is mentioned in the last of the second paragraph. Hence, in the View of this, option (c) is correct.
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Question 4 of 5
4. Question
The law in many parts of the world increasingly restricts the discharge of agricultural slurry into watercourses. The simplest and often the most economically sound practice returns the material to the land as semisolid manure or as sprayed slurry. This dilutes its concentration in the environment to what might have occurred in a more primitive and sustainable type oi agriculture and converts pollutant into fertilizer. Soil microorganisms decompose the organic components of sewage and slurry and most of the mineral nutrients become available to be absorbed again by the vegetation. The excess input of nutrients, both nitrogen and phosphorus based, from agricultural runoff (and human sewage) has caused many ‘healthy’ oligotrophic lakes (low nutrient concentrations, low plant productivity clear water) to change to eutrophic condition with abundant water weeds, and where high nutrient inputs lead to high phytoplankton productivity (sometimes dominated by bloom-forming toxic species). This makes the water turbid, eliminates large plants and, in the worst situations, leads to anoxia and fish kills; so called cultural eutrophication. Thus, important ecosystem serv1ces are lost, including the provisioning service of wild-caught fish and the cultural services associated with recreation. The process of cultural eutrophication of lakes has been understood for some time. But only recently did scientists notice huge ‘dead zones’ in the oceans near river outlets, particularly those draining large catchment areas such as the Mississippi in North America and the Yangtze in China. The nutrient-enriched water flows through streams, rivers and lakes, and eventually to the estuary and ocean where the ecological impact may be huge, killing virtually all invertebrates and fish in areas up to 70000 km in extent. More than 150 sea areas worldwide are now regularly starved of oxygen as a result of decomposition of algal blooms, fuelled particularly by nitrogen from agricultural runoff of fertilizers and sewage from large cities. Oceanic dead zones are typically associated with industrialised nations and usually lie off countries that subsidise their agriculture, encouraging farmers to increase productivity and use more fertilizer to increase productivity and use more fertilizer.
The passage refers to the conversion of ‘pollutant to fertilizer. What is pollutant and what is fertilizer in this context?
Correct
Answer : b
Answer of this question is clearly mentioned in last of the first paragraph. Here, it is mentioned that soil microorganisms decompose the organic Components of slurry which makes nutrients available to be absorbed by the vegetation. Thus, fertilizer refers to the decomposed slurry. The previous sentence in the same paragraph also mentions that pollutant is converted into fertilizer. Thus, before its decomposition by the soil microorganisms, the agricultural slurry was a pollutant. Hence, right answer is option (b).
Incorrect
Answer : b
Answer of this question is clearly mentioned in last of the first paragraph. Here, it is mentioned that soil microorganisms decompose the organic Components of slurry which makes nutrients available to be absorbed by the vegetation. Thus, fertilizer refers to the decomposed slurry. The previous sentence in the same paragraph also mentions that pollutant is converted into fertilizer. Thus, before its decomposition by the soil microorganisms, the agricultural slurry was a pollutant. Hence, right answer is option (b).
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Question 5 of 5
5. Question
The law in many parts of the world increasingly restricts the discharge of agricultural slurry into watercourses. The simplest and often the most economically sound practice returns the material to the land as semisolid manure or as sprayed slurry. This dilutes its concentration in the environment to what might have occurred in a more primitive and sustainable type oi agriculture and converts pollutant into fertilizer. Soil microorganisms decompose the organic components of sewage and slurry and most of the mineral nutrients become available to be absorbed again by the vegetation. The excess input of nutrients, both nitrogen and phosphorus based, from agricultural runoff (and human sewage) has caused many ‘healthy’ oligotrophic lakes (low nutrient concentrations, low plant productivity clear water) to change to eutrophic condition with abundant water weeds, and where high nutrient inputs lead to high phytoplankton productivity (sometimes dominated by bloom-forming toxic species). This makes the water turbid, eliminates large plants and, in the worst situations, leads to anoxia and fish kills; so called cultural eutrophication. Thus, important ecosystem serv1ces are lost, including the provisioning service of wild-caught fish and the cultural services associated with recreation. The process of cultural eutrophication of lakes has been understood for some time. But only recently did scientists notice huge ‘dead zones’ in the oceans near river outlets, particularly those draining large catchment areas such as the Mississippi in North America and the Yangtze in China. The nutrient-enriched water flows through streams, rivers and lakes, and eventually to the estuary and ocean where the ecological impact may be huge, killing virtually all invertebrates and fish in areas up to 70000 km in extent. More than 150 sea areas worldwide are now regularly starved of oxygen as a result of decomposition of algal blooms, fuelled particularly by nitrogen from agricultural runoff of fertilizers and sewage from large cities. Oceanic dead zones are typically associated with industrialised nations and usually lie off countries that subsidise their agriculture, encouraging farmers to increase productivity and use more fertilizer to increase productivity and use more fertilizer.
- According to the passage, what are the effects of indiscriminate use of fertilizers?
- Addition of pollutants to the soil and water.
- Destruction of decomposer microorganisms in Soil.
- Nutrient enrichment of water bodies.
- Creation of algal blooms.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below.
Correct
Answer : b
Statement 1 is correct, that agricultural slurry is a pollutant is clear from the first paragraph. It is the use of fertilizers which creates agricultural slurry. Statement 2 is incorrect, as nowhere in the passage, the destruction of decomposer microorganisms is mentioned. Statement 3 is also correct as it is e clear from the last paragraph that runoff of fertilizers causes nutrient-enrichment of water bodies. Statement 4 is also correct, that algal blooms are created by use of fertilizer is clearly mentioned in the last paragraph.
Incorrect
Answer : b
Statement 1 is correct, that agricultural slurry is a pollutant is clear from the first paragraph. It is the use of fertilizers which creates agricultural slurry. Statement 2 is incorrect, as nowhere in the passage, the destruction of decomposer microorganisms is mentioned. Statement 3 is also correct as it is e clear from the last paragraph that runoff of fertilizers causes nutrient-enrichment of water bodies. Statement 4 is also correct, that algal blooms are created by use of fertilizer is clearly mentioned in the last paragraph.
