GATE CSE 2010 | Question: 63

Question

Modern warfare has changed from large scale clashes of armies to suppression of civilian populations. Chemical agents that do their work silently appear to be suited to such warfare; and regretfully, there exist people in military establishments who think that chemical agents are useful tools for their cause.

Which of the following statements best sums up the meaning of the above passage:

• A. Modern warfare has resulted in civil strife.
• B. Chemical agents are useful in modern warfare.
• C. Use of chemical agents in warfare would be undesirable.
• D. People in military establishments like to use chemical agents in war.

Comments

Chemical warfare is the use of the toxic properties of chemical substances to kill, injure or incapacitate an enemy in warfare and associated military operations.

---

i think option B also seems correct

---

I am not able to understand how to solve this type of question, as more than one option seems correct

Answer 1

D. People in military establishments like to use chemical agents in war.

Comments

Is the answer really option D? Both C and D seem correct here, but C seems to summarise the passage better, which is what the question asks for.

---

“there exist people in military establishments who think that chemical agents are useful tools for their cause” The cause here means “suppression of civilian populations” and not a conventional war. The option D is wrong.

---

@abhiTronix, I also agree.

"Modern warfare has changed from large scale clashes of armies to suppression of civilian populations."

Modern warfare  $\equiv$  suppression of civilian populations

While War and Warfare are closely related terms, but they're not exactly synonyms.

War: Refers to a state of armed conflict between different countries or groups within a country. It's a broader term that encompasses the entire conflict situation.

Warfare: Refers to the actual conduct or methods of war. It's more specific, focusing on the strategies, tactics, and activities involved in fighting a war.

Answer 2

At First sentence

Modern warfare has changed from large scale clashes of armies to suppression of civilian populations"
->talks about shrinking of the level of wars in todays world

In Second Sentence  
Chemical agents that do their work silently appear to be suited to such warfare;
->talks about advantages of the chemical agent in wars

In Third Sentence
and regretfully, there exist people in military establishments who think that chemical agents are useful tools for their cause.
->It says There Exist People in military who thinks they are useful
Looking at options
A. As civil Strife would be between To different parties and not armies and population, not the correct answer according to me.(Not Correct)
B. It tells about the 1st and 2nd sentence but Doesn't tell about 3rd sentence so It won't summarize it.(Not Correct)
C. "it basically tells that there are some people who don't desire to send chemical agents to war, yes there has been a word used "regretfully"  but the question has mentioned about Likeness of chemical agent from military and not about "undesirability" so it doesn't summarize the question correctly.(Not Correct)
D. It covers all the sentence and summarizes it very well, somepoints may feel like it is not summarizes well but in compared to other options it is the best possible option we have.
(please do correct me if I am wrong anywhere I would love to improve my thinking about this)

Answer 3

I think the best answer is C: "Use of chemical agents in warfare would be undesirable."

The passage doesn't really support option A or B. It's not talking about civil strife, and it's not saying chemical agents are actually useful.
Option D goes too far - it says ALL people in the military like chemical weapons, which isn't what the passage says.

The passage seems pretty negative about chemical weapons overall. It uses words like "regretfully" when talking about people who support them. It also describes modern warfare as "suppression of civilian populations," which sounds bad.

The author is basically saying "Some military people think chemical weapons are useful for modern warfare", and that's regretful. So C fits best - it's capturing that chemical weapons in war would be a bad thing, which seems to be the main point the author is making.

It's not a perfect option either, but it's the closest of the options given. the overall tone of the passage fits option C best.

Comments

@anujs agree ,i also have same thoughts