UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

The Environmental Kuznets Curve suggests an inverted U shaped relationship between environmental degradation and per capita income. At low income levels,degradation rises as economies industrialise, but beyond a certain threshold, societies invest more in cleaner technologies and regulation, causing degradation to decline. The stem refers to this turning point and subsequent trend,so declines is the correct completion.

Option A:
Becoming infinite would imply unbounded growth in environmental damage,which contradicts the central idea of the curve. The hypothesis specifically involves a reduction in degradation after the turning point.

Option B:
Declines captures the right side of the inverted U, where environmental indicators improve as income continues to grow. This reflects increased public demand for environmental quality and better enforcement capacity. Hence this option accurately represents the theory.

Option C:
Remaining constant would suggest that environmental degradation stops changing with income after a certain point,which is not what the Kuznets curve predicts. The model instead proposes an eventual improvement in environmental conditions.

Option D:
Becoming unpredictable is not part of the formal hypothesis. While real world data may deviate from the idealised curve,the conceptual model presents a systematic trend rather than randomness.

The infant mortality rate (IMR) is a standard measure of child health and healthcare quality. It counts deaths of infants under one year per thousand live births during a specified period. The stem exactly reflects this definition,so infant mortality rate is the correct term. IMR is widely used to compare health outcomes across regions and over time.

Option A:
Crude death rate measures total deaths per thousand population,including all ages. It does not single out infants,so it fails to capture the specific focus on under one year of age described in the question.

Option B:
Infant mortality rate directly addresses the vulnerability of babies in their first year,which is a sensitive indicator of nutrition,immunisation and maternal health. Because the stem mentions both age limit and per thousand live births,this option is fully consistent.

Option C:
Under five population refers simply to the number or proportion of children younger than five years. It does not describe a death rate measure and therefore is not appropriate for the blank.

Option D:
Child dependency ratio compares the child population to the working age population. It serves as an economic burden indicator rather than a health statistic. Hence it does not match the mortality based concept in the question.

An anthropocentric worldview regards humans as the most significant entities and evaluates nature mainly in terms of its usefulness to people. Environmental decisions are made primarily on the basis of human interests and benefits. The stem explicitly mentions treating nature as a resource for human use and placing humans at the centre,which is the hallmark of anthropocentrism. Hence Option D is correct.

Option A:
Ecocentric gives intrinsic value to ecosystems and nature,not primarily human-centered usefulness.

Option B:
Biocentric extends moral concern to all living beings,not just humans.

Option C:
Holistic stresses interconnections rather than placing humans at the center of value.

Option D:
Anthropocentric explicitly centers humans and treats nature chiefly as a resource for human use,matching the stem.

The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesises an inverted U-shaped relationship between certain pollutants and per capita income. At low income levels,environmental degradation rises with growth but beyond a turning point it begins to fall. The stem describes exactly this pattern,worsening then improving with income,which defines the Kuznets curve. Therefore Option A is correct.

Option A:
Kuznets originally proposed a similar inverted U for income inequality,which inspired the application to environmental issues. The environmental version retains his name,matching the term requested in the question.

Option B:
The Laffer curve relates tax rates to tax revenue and does not directly address environment-income relationships. So Option B is not relevant here.

Option C:
The Gini coefficient is an inequality measure,not a curve describing environment versus income. It plays a different role in development analysis,so Option C is incorrect.

Option D:
The Engel curve describes how household expenditure on a good varies with income. It is unrelated to the environmental degradation pattern mentioned in the stem,so Option D does not fit.