- Reading comprehension involves a proof reading of a passage of about 300 – 1000 words and answering the questions that follow.
- RC forms an important part of the verbal ability section. This section mainly focuses on to check the ability to understand the language and the underlying concept of the passage. The main focus should be to have a good command over the language as well as time management.
- Make sure you attempt these passage on a regular basis and with complete seriousness.
- Read the passage below and then answer the questions that follow.
- Once you are finished, click the ‘Get Results’ button below. Any items you have not completed will be marked incorrect.
Two hundred years after Malthus predicted that population growth would overtake food production by a margin of 256 to 9, the simple fact is that food production had always been ahead of the population growth. Malthus’ doomsday prediction simply did not come true due to two major reasons: first, population did not grow geometrically and birth rates in all Western countries fell during the 20th Century, resulting in very slow population growth. Over the past quarter century, birth rates have been falling in the developing countries too. Second, modem agricultural practices and better irrigation have resulted in tremendous growth in food production in almost all parts of the globe, with the notable exception of sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, at the global level, the Malthusian doomsday never befell on us. India’s population grew by about two and a half times in the past 45 years -from 361 million in 1951 to an estimated 916 million in 1995. But during the same period, India’s food grain production grew by nearly four times -from 51 million tonnes in 1951 to 191 million tonnes in 1995. As a result, the per capita food grain availability in India has gone up considerably since the independence. That is, the Malthusian prediction has not come true even in India.
SSC RC: Passage-27
