CSAT Solved Papers/ 2022/Q31
2022 CSAT — Q31
Passage
Natural selection cannot anticipate future environments on the earth. Therefore, the set of existing organisms can never be fully prepared for environmental catastrophes that await life. An outcome of this is the extinction of those species which cannot overcome environmental adversity. This failure to survive, in modern terms, can be attributed to the genomes which are unable to withstand geological vagaries or biological mishaps (infections, diseases and so on). In biological evolution on the earth, extinction of species has been a major feature. The earth may presently have up to ten million species, yet more than 90% of species that have ever lived on the earth are now extinct. Once again, the creationist doctrines fail to satisfactorily address why a divine creator will firstly bother to create millions of species and then allow them to perish. The Darwinian explanation for extinct life is once again simple, elegant and at once convincing—organisms go extinct as a function of environmental or biological assaults for which their inheritance deems them ill-equipped. Therefore, the so-called Darwinian theory of evolution is not a theory at all. Evolution happens—this is a fact. The mechanism of evolution (Darwin proposed natural selection) is amply supported by scientific data. Indeed, to date no single zoological, botanical, geological, paleontological, genetic or physical evidence has refuted either of the central two main Darwinian ideas. If religion is not taken into consideration, Darwinian laws are acceptable just like the laws proposed by Copernicus, Galileo, Newton and Einstein—sets of natural laws that explain natural phenomena in the universe.
According to the passage, natural selection cannot anticipate future environments on the earth as
-
species not fully prepared to face the environmental changes that await them will face extinction
-
all the existing species would get extinct as their genomes will not withstand biological mishaps
-
inability of the genome to withstand environmental changes would result in extinction
-
extinction of species is a common feature
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Thinking pathway
Locate. This is a locate-the-detail question: match each numbered item to the passage. The passage: organisms “can never be fully prepared for environmental catastrophes,” so “those species which cannot overcome environmental adversity” go extinct; this is “attributed to the genomes which are unable to withstand geological vagaries or biological mishaps”; and “extinction of species has been a major feature.”
Test (qualifier-match). Item 1 (the unprepared face extinction) — stated. Item 3 (genome unable to withstand → extinction) — stated. Item 4 (extinction a common feature) — stated (“major feature”). Item 2 says “all the existing species would get extinct” — but the passage says only those that cannot overcome go extinct; the “all” is an overreach (and the 90% figure is about species already extinct, not all current species).
Eliminate by anatomy. (a)/(b)/(d) seat item 2 — too strong for what the passage says: “those which cannot overcome” inflated to “all existing species.” The transferable rule on “select all that the passage says” items: an option with a universal quantifier (“all”) that the passage qualifies (“those which cannot”) is the plant. Drop item 2; keep 1, 3, 4. Key: (c).
Evidence in the text
Item 1 — “the set of existing organisms can never be fully prepared for environmental catastrophes… An outcome of this is the extinction of those species which cannot overcome environmental adversity” → stated. Item 3 — “attributed to the genomes which are unable to withstand geological vagaries or biological mishaps” → stated. Item 4 — “extinction of species has been a major feature” → common feature, stated. Item 2 — “ALL the existing species would get extinct” overshoots: the passage says only those which cannot overcome go extinct (and notes >90% already extinct, not all current species doomed) → QUALIFIER (“all”) fails → out. So 1, 3, 4 → (c).
Worked rationale
The passage’s chain: no organism is fully future-proof → species that cannot overcome adversity go extinct → traced to genomes that cannot withstand vagaries/mishaps → extinction is a major feature of evolution.
- Item 1 — stated. Item 3 — stated. Item 4 — stated.
- Item 2 — “all existing species would get extinct” overstates the passage, which extincts only the non-overcomers.
Answer: (c) 1, 3 and 4.
Why the other options miss
- A too strong for what the passage says: seats item 2’s “all species would get extinct,” and drops the genuinely-stated “extinction is a common feature” (item 4).
- B too strong for what the passage says: keeps item 2 and drops the clearly-stated item 1.
- D too strong for what the passage says: keeps item 2 and drops the genome-mechanism item 3.
Specialist insight
This is a pure quantifier-watch item. Three statements (1, 3, 4) restate the passage faithfully; the fourth (2) smuggles in “all existing species” where the passage carefully says “those which cannot overcome.” The 90% figure makes the overreach feel licensed — but 90% of species that ever lived are already extinct is not “all existing species will go extinct.” Refuse the universal the passage qualifies. (c).
The passage extincts only "those which cannot overcome," not "all existing species" — item 2 overreaches, so the answer is (c).