A conservation problem equally as important as that of soil erosion is the loss of soil fertility. Most agriculture was originally supported by the natural fertility of the soil; and, in areas in which soils were deep and rich in minerals, farming could be carried on for many years without the return of any nutrients to the soil other than those supplied through the natural breakdown of plant and animal wastes. In river basins, such as that of the Nile, annual flooding deposited a rich layer of silt over the soil, thus restoring its fertility. In areas of active volcanism, such as Hawaii, soil fertility has been renewed by the periodic deposition of volcanic ash. In other areas, however, natural fertility has been quickly exhausted. This is true of most forest soils, particularly those in the humid tropics. Because continued cropping in such areas caused a rapid decline in fertility and therefore in crop yields, fertility could be restored only by abandoning the areas and allowing the natural forest vegetation to return. Over a period if time, the soil surface would be rejuvenated by parent materials, new circulation channels would form deep in the soil, and the deposition of forest debris would restore minerals to the topsoil. Primitive agriculture in such forests was of shifting nature: areas were cleared of trees and the woody material burned to add ash to the soil; after a few years of farming, the plots would be abandoned and new sites cleared. As long as populations were sparse in relation to the area of forestland, such agricultural methods did little harm. They could not, however, support dense populations or produce large quantities of surplus foods.
Starting with the most easily depleted soils, which were also the easiest to farm, the practice of using various fertilizers was developed. The earliest fertilizers were organic manures, but later, larger yields were obtained by adding balanced combinations of those nutrients (e.g. potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus and calcium) that crop plants require in greatest quantity. Because high yields are essential, most modern agriculture depends upon the continued addition of chemical fertilizers to the soil. Usually these substances are added in mineral form, but nitrogen is often added as urea, an organic compound.
Early in agricultural history, it was found that the practice of growing the same crop year after year in a particular plot of ground not only caused undesirable changes in the physical structure of the soil, but also drained the soil of its nutrients. The practice of crop rotation was discovered to be a useful way to maintain the condition of the soil, and also to prevent the buildup of those insects and other plant pests that are attracted to a particular kind of crop. In rotation systems, a grain crop is often grown the first year, followed by a leafy vegetable crop in the second year, and pasture crop in the third. The last usually contains legumes (e.g. clover, alfalfa), because such plants can restore nitrogen to the soil through the action of bacteria that live in nodules on their roots.
In irrigation agriculture, in which water is brought in to supply the needs of crops in an area with insufficient rainfall, a particular soil-management problem that develops is the salinization (concentration of salts) of the surface soil. This most commonly results from inadequate drainage of the irrigated land; because the water cannot flow freely, it evaporates, and the salts dissolved in the water are left on the surface of the soil. Even though the water does not contain a large concentration of dissolved salts, the accumulation over the years can be significant enough to make the soil unsuitable for crop production. Effective drainage solves the problem; in many cases, drainage canals must be constructed, and drainage tiles must be laid beneath the surface of the soil. Drainage also requires the availability of an excess of water to flush the salts from the surface soil. In certain heavy soils with poor drainage, this problem can be quite severe; for example, large areas of formerly irrigated land in the Indus basin, in the Tigris Euphrates region, in the Nile Basin, and in the Western United States, have been seriously damaged by salinization.
The areas most prone to salinization are
Show Hint
- those irrigated with well-water.
- those in which crop rotation is not practiced.
- sub-tropical forests.
- flat land irrigated from reservoirs.
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
Step 2: It highlights severe cases in flat lands like the Indus, Tigris-Euphrates, Nile basins, and the Western U.S., often irrigated from reservoirs.
Step 3: Option D (flat land irrigated from reservoirs) matches the passage’s description of areas prone to salinization due to poor drainage.
Step 4: Option A (well-water) is not mentioned as a specific cause of salinization.
Step 5: Option B (no crop rotation) is unrelated to salinization in the passage.
Step 6: Option C (sub-tropical forests) refers to areas with exhausted fertility, not salinization.
Verification: Flat lands with reservoir irrigation align with the passage’s examples of salinization-prone areas.
The most appropriate title to this passage is
Show Hint
- Problems of soil erosion
- Agriculture in Volcanic islands
- The importance of chemical fertilizers
- Causes of and remedies of soil-infertility
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
Step 2: It explains causes like natural fertility exhaustion (e.g., in humid tropical forests) and salinization in irrigated lands.
Step 3: It also describes remedies like crop rotation, organic manures, chemical fertilizers, and drainage systems to restore fertility.
Step 4: Option D (Causes of and remedies of soil-infertility) captures both the causes (exhaustion, salinization) and remedies (fertilizers, drainage) discussed.
Step 5: Option A (soil erosion) is mentioned but not the main focus.
Step 6: Option B (volcanic islands) is a minor example, not the central theme.
Step 7: Option C (chemical fertilizers) covers only one remedy, not the full scope.
Verification: Option D best summarizes the passage’s focus on soil infertility’s causes and solutions.
Natural fertility exhausts most quickly in
Show Hint
- river valley lands
- humid tropical forests
- volcanic areas
- lands near urban areas
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Step 2: It explains that continued cropping in these areas leads to rapid fertility decline, requiring abandonment for natural restoration.
Step 3: Option B (humid tropical forests) directly matches the passage’s emphasis on rapid fertility exhaustion in these regions.
Step 4: Option A (river valley lands) is incorrect as the passage cites the Nile’s annual flooding as restoring fertility.
Step 5: Option C (volcanic areas) is wrong because volcanic ash renews fertility, as seen in Hawaii.
Step 6: Option D (lands near urban areas) is not mentioned in the passage.
Verification: Humid tropical forests are explicitly identified as losing fertility fastest.
The factor that can restore fertility to the soil not mentioned in the passage is
Show Hint
- alluvium brought by rivers
- bacterial action
- fertilizer fixation through lightning
- organic manure
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
Step 2: Option A (alluvium) is mentioned (e.g., Nile’s silt deposits).
Step 3: Option B (bacterial action) is implied in the natural breakdown of wastes, which involves bacteria.
Step 4: Option D (organic manure) is explicitly mentioned as an early fertilizer.
Step 5: Option C (fertilizer fixation through lightning) is not mentioned anywhere in the passage.
Step 6: Lightning can fix nitrogen in the soil, but the passage does not reference this process.
Verification: Option C is the only factor not discussed in the passage.
Crop rotation helps to
I. increase the farmer’s seasonal income.
II. preserve soil condition.
III. desalinize the soil.
IV. destroy pests.
Show Hint
- I, II, III & IV
- I, II & IV only
- II & IV only
- II, III & IV only
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
Step 2: Generally, crop rotation is known to preserve soil condition (II) by maintaining nutrient balance and to destroy pests (IV) by disrupting their life cycles.
Step 3: Desalinization (III) is addressed in the passage through drainage and flushing, not crop rotation.
Step 4: Increasing seasonal income (I) is not a direct benefit of crop rotation mentioned in the passage or generally associated with it.
Step 5: Thus, only II (preserve soil condition) and IV (destroy pests) are correct.
Step 6: Option C (II & IV only) matches these benefits.
Verification: Options including I or III are incorrect based on the passage and standard agricultural knowledge.
One of the characteristics of agricultural land in Nile basin is
Show Hint
- it contains a lot of bacteria.
- it consists of heavy soil with poor drainage properties.
- the Nile water contains an excess of salts.
- it contains nutritive minerals.
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Step 2: Option B (heavy soil with poor drainage) directly matches this description.
Step 3: Option A (bacteria) is not mentioned as a characteristic of Nile basin soil.
Step 4: Option C (excess salts in Nile water) is incorrect; the passage implies salts accumulate from irrigation, not that Nile water inherently contains excess salts.
Step 5: Option D (nutritive minerals) is true due to silt deposits, but the question asks for a characteristic linked to salinization, making B more specific.
Verification: The passage explicitly links the Nile basin to heavy soils with poor drainage causing salinization.
Top Questions on Reading Comprehension
Meta is recalibrating content on its social media platforms as the political tide has turned in Washington, with Mark Zuckerberg announcing last week that his company plans to fire its US fact-checkers. Fact-checking evolved in response to allegations of misinformation and is being watered down in response to accusations of censorship. Social media does not have solutions to either. Community review — introduced by Elon Musk at X and planned by Zuckerberg for Facebook and Instagram — is not a significant improvement over fact-checking. Having Washington lean on foreign governments over content moderation does not benefit free speech. Yet, that is the nature of the social media beast, designed to amplify bias.
Information and misinformation continue to jostle on social media at the mercy of user discretion. Social media now has enough control over all other forms of media to broaden its reach. It is the connective tissue for mass consumption of entertainment, and alternative platforms are reworking their engagement with social media. Technologies are shaping up to drive this advantage further through synthetic content targeted precisely at its intended audience. Meta’s algorithm will now play up politics because it is the flavour of the season.
The Achilles’ Heel of social media is informed choice which could turn against misinformation. Its move away from content moderation is driven by the need to be more inclusive, yet unfiltered content can push users away from social media towards legacy forms that have better moderation systems in place. Lawmakers across the world are unlikely to give social media a free run, even if Donald Trump is working on their case. Protections have already been put in place across jurisdictions over misinformation. These may be difficult to dismantle, even if the Republicans pull US-owned social media companies further to the right.
Media consumption is, in essence, evidence-based judgement that mediums must adapt to. Content moderation, not free speech, is the adaptation mechanism. Musk and Zuckerberg are not exempt- IPMAT - 2025
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
According to the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard, commodities available for consumption are not inherently negative things. Baudrillard tried to interpret consumption in modern societies by engaging with the ’cargo myth’ prevalent among the indigenous Melanesian people living in the South Pacific. The Melanesians did not know what aeroplanes were. However,they saw that these winged entities descended from the air for white people and appeared to make them happy. They also noted that aeroplanes never descended for the Melanesian people. The Melanesian natives noted that the white people had placed objects similar to the aeroplane on the ground. They concluded that these objects were attracting the aeroplanes in the air and bringing them to the ground. Through a magical process, the aeroplanes were bringing plenty to the white people and making them happy. The Melanesian people concluded that they would need to place objects that simulated the aeroplane on the ground and attract them from the air. Baudrillard believes that the cargo myth holds an important analogy for the ways in which consumers engage with objects of consumption.
According to Baudrillard, the modern consumer ”sets in place a whole array of sham objects, of characteristic signs of happiness, and then waits for happiness to alight”. For instance, modern consumers believe that they will get happiness if they buy the latest available version of a mobile phone or automobile. However, consumption does not usually lead to happiness. While consumers should ideally be blaming their heightened expectations for their lack of happiness, they blame the commodity instead.
They feel that they should have waited for the next version of a mobile phone or automobile before buying the one they did. The version they bought is somehow inferior and therefore cannot make them happy. Baudrillard argues that consumers have replaced ’real’ happiness with ’signs’ of happiness. This results in the endless deferment of the arrival of total happiness. In Baudrillard’s words, ”in everyday practice, the blessings of consumption are not experienced as resulting from work or from a production process; they are experienced as a miracle”. Modern consumers view consumption in the same magical way as the Melanesian people viewed the aeroplanes in the cargo myth. Television commercials also present objects of consumption as miracles. As a result, commodities appear to be distanced from the social processes which lead to their production. In effect, objects of consumption are divorced from the reality which produces them.- IPMAT - 2025
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
CONVERSATION ANALYSIS: Read the following transcript and choose the answer that is closest to each of the questions that are based on the transcript.
Lucia Rahilly (Global Editorial Director, The McKinsey Podcast): Today we’re talking about the next big arenas of competition, about the industries that will matter most in the global business landscape, which you describe as arenas of competition. What do we mean when we use this term?
Chris Bradley (Director, McKinsey Global Institute): If I go back and look at the top ten companies in 2005, they were in traditional industries such as oil and gas, retail, industrials, and pharmaceuticals. The average company was worth about $250 billion. If I advance the clock forward to 2020, nine in ten of those companies have been replaced, and by companies that are eight times bigger than the old guards.
And this new batch of companies comes from these new arenas or competitive sectors. In fact, they’re so different that we have a nickname for them. If you’re a fan of Harry Potter, it’s wizards versus muggles.
Arena industries are wizardish; we found that there’s a set of industries that play by very different set of economic rules and get very different results, while the rest, the muggles (even though they run the world, finance the world, and energize the world), play by a more traditional set of economic rules.
Lucia Rahilly: Could we put a finer point on what is novel or different about the lens that you applied to determine what’s a wizard and what’s a muggle?
Chris Bradley: Wizards are defined by growth and dynamism. We looked at where value is flowing and the places where value is moving. And where is the value flowing? What we see is that this set of wizards, which represent about ten percent of industries, hog 45 percent of the growth in market cap. But there’s another dimension or axis too, which is dynamism. That is measured by a new metric we’ve come up with called the ”shuffle rate.” How much does the bottom move to the top? It turns out that in this set of wizardish industries, or arenas, the shuffle rate is much higher than it is in the traditional industry.
Lucia Rahilly: So, where are we seeing the most profit?
Chris Bradley: The economic profit, which is the profit you make minus the cost for the capital you employ is in the wizard industries. It’s where R&D happens; they’re two times more R&D intensive. They’re big stars, the nebulae, where new business is born.- IPMAT - 2025
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
- On the first day of January 2025, the Indian Meteorological Department [IMD] announced that 2024 was the hottest year on record. A study by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water shows that nearly eight out of ten Indians live in districts that are at risk of either a flood, a cyclone, or a drought. Nearly twenty three States in India are heatwave-prone. In the summer of 2024, India recorded more than 44,000 cases of heatstroke and over 300 heat-related mortalities, as per the bulletin of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Water reservoirs and the energy demand that keeps India powered are impacted too. During a ten-day long heatwave in Delhi, peak power demand was 16% higher than the previous year.
- IPMAT - 2025
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
- What is a classical dance ?
A dance which is created or choreographed and performed according to the tenets of the Natya Shastra is called a classical dance. The two broad aspects of classical dancing are the tandava and the lasya. Power and force are typical of the tandava; grace and delicacy, of the lasya. Tandava is associated with Shiva, and lasya with Parvati. Dance which is pure in movement is called nritta, and dance which is interpretative in nature is called nritya. A dancer in the classical tradition has to have years of training before he or she can begin to perform on the stage.
What are the main schools of classical dancing ?
Bharata Natyam, Kathakali, Manipuri, Kathak. Bharata Natyam is the oldest and most popular dance-form of India. Earlier, it was known by various names. Some called it Bharatam, some Natyam some Desi Attam and some Sadir.
The districts of Tanjore and Kanchipuram of Tamil Nadu were the focal points in the development of Bharata Natyam. It was danced as a solo performance by devadasis (temple dancers) on all auspicious occasions. Later, kings and rich people lent their patronage to it and it started shedding its purely sacred character.- Maharashtra Class X Board - 2025
- English
- Reading Comprehension
Questions Asked in CAT exam
- The sum of all four-digit numbers that can be formed with the distinct non-zero digits $a$, $b$, $c$, and $d$, with each digit appearing exactly once in every number, is $153310 + n$, where $n$ is a single digit natural number. Then, the value of $(a + b + c + d)$ is ?
- CAT - 2024
- Permutations and Combinations
- Let $x$, $y$, and $z$ be real numbers satisfying
\(4(x^2 + y^2 + z^2) = a,\)
\(4(x - y - z) = 3 + a.\)
Then $a$ equals ?- CAT - 2024
- Algebra
- A regular octagon ABCDEFGH has sides of length 6 cm each. Then the area, in sq. cm, of the square ACEG is
- CAT - 2024
- Mensuration
- If \(x\) and \(y\) are real numbers such that \(4x^2 + 4y^2 - 4xy - 6y + 3 = 0\), then the value of \((4x + 5y)\) is
- CAT - 2024
- Linear & Quadratic Equations
- If $(a + b\sqrt{n})$ is the positive square root of $(29 - 12\sqrt{5})$, where $a$ and $b$ are integers, and $n$ is a natural number, then the maximum possible value of $(a + b + n)$ is ?
- CAT - 2024
- Algebra