Which one of the following is the most important implication of the passage?
- (a) A happy world is a dream of science. ✓ UPSC's answer
- (b) Science only can build a happy world, but it is also the only major threat.
- (c) A happy world is not possible without science.
- (d) A happy world is not at all possible with or without science.
Why the answer is (a)
• The passage states that scientific knowledge 'opens up as nothing else can, the vision of a possible happy world'.
• This phrasing indicates that science provides the conceptual framework or 'vision' for a world without poverty, war, and illness.
• The text acknowledges dangers but emphasizes that science is 'in its very nature a liberator' that enables this vision.
• Therefore, the core implication is that the concept of a happy world is fundamentally linked to the insights provided by science.
• Option (a) correctly captures this by stating that a happy world is a 'dream' (vision) of science, aligning with the text's description of science opening up this specific vision.
Why the other options are wrong
- (b) Science only can build a happy world, but it is also the only major threat.
- The passage does not claim science is the 'only major threat' nor that it 'only can build' the world, but rather that it opens the vision of such a world.
- (c) A happy world is not possible without science.
- The passage suggests science opens the vision of a possible happy world, not that a happy world is impossible without science as an absolute condition.
- (d) A happy world is not at all possible with or without science.
- The passage explicitly states that science opens up the vision of a 'possible happy world', directly contradicting the claim that it is 'not at all possible'.
Asked in the CSAT Paper II of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2018, held on 3 June 2018. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.