Comprehension
The fact that gaia, in her monstrous avatar, decided to distribute fossil fuels very unevenly across the earth has been central to the emergence of the world’s current geopolitical order. From a vitalist point of view, it could be said that the wars of the twentieth century were won as much by the fossilized energy of botanical matter as by particular groups of humans.
In the First World War germany’s lack of oil put it at a huge disadvantage against the Allies, more or less ensuring its defeat. the shortage of oil effectively cancelled the technological advantages Germany enjoyed at the start of the war: despite having a large fleet, for instance, it was unable to use its navy effectively because its coal-burning ships needed to refuel every eleven days. Conversely, the assured supply of American oil conferred so great an advantage on Britain and France that "it could be fairly stated that the war was won for the Western allies by tankers." Not for nothing was it said of the First World War that Britain, France, and the United States floated "to victory on a sea of oil."
In the Second World War the shortage of oil was even more critical to the defeat of the Axis powers. The German Luftwaffe was forced to rely on synthetic fuels derived from coal, and these could not provide the high-octane energy that was necessary for high-compression aero engines: "it was largely due to the inferior engines in German aircraft that the Luftwaffe lost the Battle of Britain." The shortage of oil also dictated Germany's war strategy: it was in order to seize the oilfields of the Caucasus that the German army pushed eastward into the Soviet Union in 1942, leading to a defeat at Stalingrad from which it never recovered. Japan's invasion of the Dutch East Indies was similarly forced by its lack of oil.
In short, over the course of the twentieth century access to oil became the central focus of global geopolitical strategy: for a Great Power, to be able to ensure or hinder the flow of oil was to have a thumb on the jugulars of its adversaries. In the first part of the twentieth century the guarantor of the flow of oil was Britain. After the Second World War, the baton was passed, along with a string of British naval bases, to the United States. The role of guarantor of global energy flows is still crucial to US strategic dominance and to its position as global hegemon.
Today, as Elizabeth DeLoughrey has pointed out, "US energy policy has become increasingly militarized and secured by the Navy, the largest oceanic force on the planet." In the words of the historian Michael Klare, the Iraq War of 2003 marked the transformation of the US military into "a global oil protection service, guarding pipelines, refineries, and loading facilities in the Middle East and elsewhere."
It is important to note that the strategic value of controlling oil flows is tangentially related to the US's energy requirements. The period in which the American military was turning into "a global oil protection service" was one in which the US was well on its way to reducing its dependence on imported oil. The fact that the US is now self-sufficient in fossil fuels has in no way diminished the strategic importance of oil as an instrument for the projection of power- it is the ability to deny energy supplies to rivals that is strategically of central importance.
Question: 1

What is the central idea of the passage?

Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
  • Fossil fuels in war-making.
  • Strategic value fossil fuels in uS dominance in the world.
  • Role of fossil fuels in modern geopolitical order.
  • Distribution of fossil fuels in the world.
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The Correct Option is C

Solution and Explanation

The fastest way to find a passage's central idea among four options is to check which option every paragraph can be filed under, and rule out options that only cover one section.

"Fossil fuels in war-making" only covers the WWI/WWII paragraphs, not the later US-dominance paragraphs.
"Strategic value in US dominance" only covers the closing paragraphs, not the war history that comes before it.
"Distribution of fossil fuels" appears once, in the first line, and is never returned to.
"Role of fossil fuels in the modern geopolitical order," however, is broad enough to hold the wars, Britain's historical role, and the US's present strategy all under one umbrella, nothing in the passage falls outside it.

Since only one option survives this paragraph-by-paragraph check, the correct answer is Role of fossil fuels in modern geopolitical order.

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Question: 2

What was the cause of germany’s defeat in the First World War?

Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
  • Germany’s shortage of oil
  • Advantage of britain and France
  • Weaknesses of germany’s navy
  • All the above
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The Correct Option is D

Solution and Explanation

For "cause" questions with an "All the above" option, check whether the listed causes are really links in one chain rather than independent, competing reasons.

Here they are clearly one chain: Germany lacked oil, which is why Britain and France's oil supply gave them a comparative advantage, which is why Germany's coal-burning navy (needing to refuel every eleven days) could not be used effectively despite its size.
Each statement follows directly from the one before it in the passage's own explanation, so removing any one of them would break the causal chain the passage describes.

Because the shortage, the Allied advantage, and the naval weakness are all presented together as one connected explanation, the correct answer is All the above.

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Question: 3

Which of the following could be inferred from michael Klare’s opinion on US military?

Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
  • The US military interferes with energy needs of other countries.
  • The US energy policy has become increasingly militarized.
  • The US has changed energy policy drastically.
  • The US has fully understood the strategic value of controlling oil flows.
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The Correct Option is B

Solution and Explanation

When a question asks what can be "inferred" from a specific person's opinion, stick closely to what that person actually described, and don't borrow ideas from a different part of the passage attributed to someone else.

Klare's own words describe the US military functioning as "a global oil protection service, guarding pipelines, refineries, and loading facilities." That is a description of military force being used as a tool of energy policy, in other words, energy policy carried out through militarized means.
"Interferes with energy needs" (Option A) overstates this into obstruction, when Klare describes protection, not disruption. "Changed drastically" (Option C) and "fully understood the strategic value" (Option D) both pull in ideas from other parts of the passage that are not part of Klare's specific statement.

Staying strictly within what Klare's quote supports points to The US energy policy has become increasingly militarized.

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Question: 4

What does the phrase ‘tangentially related’ to mean?

Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
  • Related directly and in straightforward way
  • Related closely and centrally
  • Related only slightly and peripherally
  • None of the above
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The Correct Option is C

Solution and Explanation

Break the word down: "tangential" shares its root with "tangent," a line in geometry that touches a circle at exactly one point and then moves away, rather than running through it. That single, glancing point of contact is the whole idea behind the word.

Applied to the sentence, saying the strategic value of oil is "tangentially related" to US energy needs means the two touch only slightly, not that they're tightly bound together. That is confirmed by the very next lines of the passage, which say the US became self-sufficient in fossil fuels WITHOUT this reducing the strategic importance of controlling oil flows, showing the two really are only loosely, incidentally connected.

This rules out "direct" and "central" (both opposite in meaning), leaving Related only slightly and peripherally as the correct answer.

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Question: 5

What makes the US strategically dominating global hegemon?

Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
  • Capacity of the US to provide oil protection service, guarding pipelines, refineries, and loading facilities.
  • Increasingly militarized energy policy of the US Navy, the largest oceanic force on the planet.
  • The role of US as a guarantor of global energy flows.
  • All the above
Show Solution

The Correct Option is C

Solution and Explanation

On questions like this, watch out for options that are true statements from the passage but answer a slightly different question than the one being asked, the question here is specifically about WHY the US is a "strategically dominating global hegemon," not about what the US military does or how its policy is run.

The passage directly says the US's role as "guarantor of global energy flows... is still crucial to US strategic dominance and to its position as global hegemon," which is a near word-for-word match for option C.
Option A describes a specific action (guarding pipelines and refineries) that happened AFTER the Iraq War, a symptom of the hegemonic role rather than its source. Option B describes a trend in policy style (militarization), also a downstream feature, not the reason for hegemony itself.

Since only one option restates the passage's actual stated cause, "All the above" over-includes, and the correct answer is The role of US as a guarantor of global energy flows.

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Top Questions on Reading Comprehension

Questions Asked in CLAT exam

Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): The work which Gandhiji had taken up was not only regarding the achievement of political freedom but also the establishment of a new social order based on truth and non-violence, unity and peace, equality and universal brotherhood and maximum freedom for all. A new order cannot be established without radically changing the mind and attitude of men towards property and, at some stage or the other, the 'haves' have to yield place to the 'have-nots'. We have seen, in our time, attempts to achieve a kind of egalitarian society and the picture of it after it was achieved. But this was done, by and large, through the use of physical force. It may even be that, like a gas kept confined within containers under great pressure, or water held back by a big dam, once the barrier breaks, the reaction will one day sweep back with a violence equal in extent and intensity to what was used to establish and maintain the outward egalitarian form. This enforced egalitarianism contains, in its bosom, the seed of its own destruction. If egalitarianism is to endure, it has to be based not on the possession of the maximum material goods by a few or by all but on voluntary, enlightened renunciation of those goods which cannot be shared by others or can be enjoyed only at the expense of others.

According to the passage, egalitarianism will not survive if
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Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): The work which Gandhiji had taken up was not only regarding the achievement of political freedom but also the establishment of a new social order based on truth and non-violence, unity and peace, equality and universal brotherhood and maximum freedom for all. This unfinished part of his experiment was perhaps even more difficult to achieve than the achievement of political freedom. In the political struggle, the fight was against a foreign power and all one could do was either join it or wish it success and give it his/her moral support. In establishing a social order on this pattern, there was a strong possibility of a conflict arising between diverse groups and classes of our own people.

According to the passage, which was the unfinished part of Gandhi's experiment?
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Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): In the political struggle, the fight was against a foreign power and all one could do was either join it or wish it success and give it his/her moral support. Experience shows that man values his possessions even more than his life because in the former he sees the means for perpetuation and survival of his descendants even after his body is reduced to ashes. We have seen, in our time, attempts to achieve a kind of egalitarian society and the picture of it after it was achieved. But this was done, by and large, through the use of physical force. This enforced egalitarianism contains, in its bosom, the seed of its own destruction. The root cause of class conflict is possessiveness or the acquisitive instinct.

Which of the following statements is 'not true' in the context of the passage?
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