UPSC Prelims 2017 CSAT Paper II · Q26 of 79 Comprehension medium

Passage

Passage—6 The greatest blessing that technological progress has in store for mankind is not, of course, an accumulation of material possessions. The amount of these that can be effectively enjoyed by one individual in one lifetime is not great. But there is not the same narrow limit to the possibilities of the enjoyment of leisure. The gift of leisure may be abused by people who have had no experience of making use of it. Yet the creative use of leisure by a minority in societies has been the mainspring of all human progress beyond the primitive level.

With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made : 1. People always see the leisure time as a gift and use it for acquiring more material possessions. 2. Use of leisure by some people to produce new and original things has been the chief source of human progress. Which of these assumptions is/are valid?

  1. (a) 1 only
  2. (b) 2 only ✓ UPSC's answer
  3. (c) Both 1 and 2
  4. (d) Neither 1 nor 2

Why the answer is (b)

• The passage explicitly states that the 'creative use of leisure by a minority' has been the 'mainspring of all human progress beyond the primitive level,' which directly validates Assumption 2.

• Assumption 1 claims people 'always' see leisure as a gift and use it for acquiring material possessions, but the passage argues that the greatest blessing is not material accumulation and notes that leisure can be abused, not that it is universally used for material gain.

• The text distinguishes between the limited enjoyment of material possessions and the unlimited possibilities of leisure enjoyment, contradicting the idea that leisure is primarily used for material acquisition.

• Therefore, only Assumption 2 is supported by the text, making option (b) the correct answer.

Why the other options are wrong

(a) 1 only
Assumption 1 is invalid because the passage does not state that people always use leisure for acquiring material possessions, and Assumption 2 is valid.
(c) Both 1 and 2
Assumption 1 is invalid as the passage argues against the primacy of material accumulation and does not support the claim that people always use leisure for this purpose.
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Assumption 2 is valid because the passage explicitly identifies the creative use of leisure by a minority as the mainspring of human progress.

Asked in the CSAT Paper II of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2017, held on 18 June 2017. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

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