Paper 1 · Comprehension
UGC NET December 2023 (08.12.2023) Shift-II
Passage
Science and the techniques to which it has given rise have changed human life during the last hundred and fifty years more than it had been changed since men took to agriculture, and the changes that are being wrought by science continue at an increasing speed. There is no sign of any new stability to be attained on some scientific plateau. On the contrary, there is every reason to think that the revolutionary possibilities of science extend immeasurably beyond what has so far been realized. Can the human race adjust itself quickly enough to these vertiginous transformations, or will it, as innumerable former species have done, perish from lack of adaptability? The dinosaurs were in their day the lords of creation, and if there had been philosophers among them, not one would have foreseen that the whole race might perish. But they became extinct because they could not adapt themselves to a world without swamps. In the case of man and science there is a wholly new factor, namely that man himself is creating the changes of environment to which he will have to adjust himself with unprecedented rapidity. Although these changes come about through human agencies, they have, or at any rate have had so far, something of the inexorable inevitability of natural forces. Whether men will be able to survive the changes of environment that their own skill has brought about is an open question. If the answer is to be in the affirmative, men will have to apply scientific ways of thinking to themselves and their institutions.
Which of the following facts related to climate change are true according to the passage? Choose the correct answer from the options given below.
- 1. The global leaders are indifferent to the issue of climate change
- 2. The climate change talks are sometimes directed towards political and economic gain rather than climate change
- 3. It is about the shift in economic balance from the developed economies to the emerging economies
- 4. Developing economies like India can afford to spend large sums of money to cut emissions
A2 and 3 only ✓ Correct
B1, 2 and 3 only
C2, 3 and 4 only
D1 and 4 only
Correct answer: (A) 2 and 3 only — The true facts are that talks serve political and economic gain and that it involves an economic shift, so the answer is 2 and 3.
Explanation
★The true facts are that talks serve political and economic gain and that it involves an economic shift, so the answer is 2 and 3.
★The passage says the rhetoric of leaders must be taken with a pinch of salt.
★It says the debate is sometimes about political and economic gain, not only climate, so statement 2 is true.
★It says the issue involves the shift in economic balance to emerging economies, so statement 3 is true.
★It does not say leaders are indifferent, only that their rhetoric has other motives.
★It says such nations cannot afford large spending on emission cuts, so statements 1 and 4 are false.
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