2022 CSAT — Q44

Locate. This asks for the best-supported inference — the one the passage forces, not merely one that’s plausible — so the drawn inference must stay inside the passage’s hedges. The passage: the dividend is “a great window of opportunity”; it “can be a source of energy and an engine of economic growth”; it “should help elevate our growth rate”; and “the benefits… depend on the quality of the working age population… bringing back the importance of education.”

Test — find the line, then watch the qualifier. Item 1 says the dividend is an “essential condition” for rapid growth. The passage’s language is enabling and hedged — “can be,” “should help,” “opportunity” — never “essential/necessary.” “Essential condition” inflates an opportunity into a necessity. Item 2 says higher education is an “essential condition for… rapid economic growth.” The passage says education matters for reaping the dividend’s benefits — a conditioner on the dividend, not a standalone necessity for growth; “essential condition for rapid economic growth” overreaches.

Eliminate by anatomy. (a) seats item 1’s over-statement — it flips the passage’s caution into certainty (“can be an engine” → “is essential”); (b) seats item 2’s over-statement (education-helps-reap-benefits → “essential condition for growth”); (c) takes both. The transferable rule: “can be / should help / opportunity” never licenses “essential / necessary.” Both inferences harden a hedge into a necessity, so neither can be drawn. Key: (d).

Item 1 — the passage calls the demographic dividend “a great window of opportunity” that “CAN be a source of energy and an engine of economic growth” and “SHOULD help elevate our growth rate”: all hedged (“can,” “should,” “opportunity”). “Essential condition” hardens an enabling opportunity into a necessity the passage never asserts → QUALIFIER fails → not drawable. Item 2 — “the benefits… depend on the quality of the working age population… bringing back the importance of education”: education helps reap the dividend; “essential condition for… rapid economic growth” overstates it into a standalone necessity for growth → not drawable. Neither → (d).

The passage frames the dividend as an opportunity that can drive growth, with benefits depending on education quality.

• Item 1 — “essential condition for rapid growth” converts “can be an engine / window of opportunity” into a necessity. Overstated; not drawable.
• Item 2 — “essential condition for rapid economic growth” converts “education helps reap the dividend” into a standalone necessity for growth. Overstated; not drawable.

Neither survives the qualifier test. Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2.

Both statements fail on the same move: swapping the passage’s enabling, hedged language (“opportunity,” “can be,” “should help,” “depend on”) for the hard modal “essential condition.” UPSC rejects exactly this strengthening. The discipline: when a passage says a factor can help or its benefits depend on something, you cannot infer that the factor is necessary — necessity is a stronger claim that needs its own textual warrant. Neither statement has it. (d).