—Mudit Gupta

(Are you preparing for UPSC CSE 2025? You must not ignore the CSAT paper. UPSC Prelims 2024 had a clear message for students that CSAT practice has to be a constant part of preparation. So, UPSC Essentials’ special series ‘UPSC CSAT Simplified’ presents some important topics from the qualifying CSAT paper of UPSC prelims or answers your general queries.)

In the last few years, the English Reading Comprehension in the UPSC CSAT paper has diversified quite a bit, with UPSC challenging the aspirants with a new set of keywords. In this article, we will decipher the current set of keywords that seem to create a problem for the aspirants in the exam hall. We will try to simplify each of these keywords, the closest accurate meanings, and their respective usage.

In the easiest possible words, the keyword ‘inference’ means something that is there in the paragraph but not visible to the eyes directly. Whenever you encounter the keyword ‘inference’, it means that you have to read between the lines and draw a conclusion from the paragraph. The keyword ‘inference’ tests your ability to connect the dots of the paragraph and derive a suitable meaning from it. Whenever the question is about ‘inference’ never try to find the exact lines in the paragraph as have been given in the four options of the question.

Let us try to understand this argument with the help of a comprehension asked by UPSC in CSAT 2024.

Today, if we consider cities such as New York, London and Paris as some of the most iconic cities in the world, it is because plans carrying a heavy systems approach were imposed on their precincts. The backbone of the systems theory is the process of translating social, spatial and cultural desirables into mathematical models using computing, statistics, optimization and an algorithmic way of formulating and solving problems. The early universities of the West which began to train professionals in planning, spawned some of the most ingenious planners, who were experts in these domains. This was because these very subjects were absorbed into the planning curriculum that had its roots in the social sciences, geography and architecture. Planning in India, and its education differ from the West. 

The question associated with the above paragraph is as follows:

Which one of the following statements best reflects the most logical and rational inference that can be made from the above passage?

1. Curriculum for urban planning courses should have diverse and interdisciplinary approach.

2. In India, city administration is under bureaucracy which lacks formal training in urban planning and management.

3. In India, the management of urban areas is a local affair with a chronic problem of insufficient funds.

4. With high density of population and widespread poverty in our urban areas, planned development in them is very difficult.

If we look at the question above, we won’t be able to find the statements in the options verbatim in the paragraph. This is the essence of the question based on the keyword ‘inference’. You have to read the paragraph and arrive at a suitable meaning by reading between the lines. For example, the above paragraph talks about urban planning education in the West.

However, a closer understanding of the paragraphs tells us that urban planning education should be multidisciplinary, as conveyed by option A.

Whenever you encounter the word ‘assumption’, it means a belief that the author carries, and she has written the paragraph based on that belief. These beliefs of the author are not mentioned in the paragraph, but you have to identify them on your own. For example, If the author is writing about the medals won by India at the Olympics, there is an underlying assumption that the athletes had access to training facilities. This assumption is to be made by you and will not be mentioned in the paragraph. One hack to arrive at assumptions flawlessly is to make sure that your assumption strengthens the argument of the author. If your assumption is weakening the author’s argument, it is probably not the right assumption.

Let us try and understand this argument with the help of a comprehension asked by UPSC in CSAT 2024.

Not every voice on the internet commands the same kind of audience. When anonymous private entities with high capital can pay for more space for their opinions, they are effectively buying a louder voice. If political discourse in the digital sphere is a matter of outshining one’s opponent till the election is won, then the quality of politics suffers. The focus of social media is restricted to the promotion of content that generates more user engagement, regardless of how inflammatory the content may be.

The question associated with this paragraph is as follows:

Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:

1. Internet is not inclusive enough.

2. Internet can adversely affect the quality of politics in a country.

Which of the assumptions given above is/are valid?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

In the paragraph, the author highlights the inequalities on the internet and how they can be used to negatively impact political narratives. We can easily deduce that the author finds the internet not inclusive enough and that the quality of politics is being adversely impacted due to its ruthless usage.

Another very important keyword used by the UPSC in the CSAT paper is ‘central idea’. Whenever the keyword is mentioned, you have to identify the underlying theme or the main topic of the paragraph. You might think that ‘central idea’ is the same as the keyword ‘inference’ however, there is a considerable difference between the two words. In ‘inference’, you have to find out the underlying conclusion by connecting the dots, whereas, in ‘central idea’, you have to identify the topic or the theme that the author is talking about. In both the words, though, you may be required to connect the dots to arrive at the answer however, the underlying meaning of both the words is different.

Let us try and understand this argument with the help of a comprehension asked by UPSC in CSAT 2024.

By the time children reach class 8, the bulk of them tend to be in the age range of 13 years to 15 years. But in our country, about a quarter of children in class 8 struggle with reading simple texts and more than half are still unable to do basic arithmetic operations like division. Every year about 25 million young boys and girls from elementary school move into the life that lies for them beyond compulsory schooling. They cannot enter the workforce at least in the organized sector till they are 18. For many families, these children are the first from their families ever to get this far in school. Parents and children expect that such ‘graduates’ from school will go on to high school and college. Hardly anyone wants to go back to agriculture. On the other hand, abilities in terms of academic competencies are far lower than they should be even based on curricular expectations of class 8.

The question asked by the UPSC based on the above passage is as follows:

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

(a) Total eradication of poverty in the country will resolve the issue of under-performance of our school- children.

(b) Monetary incentives to parents and teachers are a strategy to improve the children’s academic performance.

(c) Public policy should ensure that the competencies and achievements of young people are aligned with their expectations.

(d) India is not going to take advantage of the demographic dividend unless some school pass-outs go back to agriculture.

The above paragraph talks about the aspirations of the people regarding the career path and the mismatch of the expectations with the reality and how this gap between the reality and the expectation can be bridged using the proper policy tools.

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