Passage

Directions for the following 4 (four) items : Read the following two passages and answer the items that follow the passages. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only. Passage—1 For two or three generations past, ever-increasing numbers of individuals have been living as workers merely, not as human beings. An excessive amount of labour is rule today in every circle of society, with the result that man's spiritual element cannot thrive. He finds it very difficult to spend his little leisure in serious activities. He does not want to think; or he cannot even if he wants to. He seeks not self-improvement, but entertainment which would enable him to be mentally idle and to forget his usual activities. Therefore, the so-called culture of our age is dependant more on cinema than on theatre, more on newspapers, magazines and crime stories than on serious literature.

The passage is based on the idea that

(a) man should not work hard
(b) the great evil of our age is overstrain ✓ UPSC's answer
(c) man cannot think well
(d) man cannot care for his spiritual welfare

Why the answer is (b)

• The passage opens by stating that for the last two or three generations, individuals have been living as 'workers merely' rather than as human beings.

• It explicitly identifies 'an excessive amount of labour' as the rule in every circle of society today.

• The text argues that this excessive labour prevents man's spiritual element from thriving and makes it difficult to engage in serious activities during leisure.

• The resulting reliance on entertainment like cinema and crime stories is presented as a symptom of the inability to think due to this overwork.

• Therefore, the central idea is that the primary problem or 'great evil' of the current age is this state of overstrain or excessive labor.

Why the other options are wrong

(a) man should not work hard: The passage criticizes the *excessive* amount of labour, not the act of working hard itself, and does not advocate for a cessation of work.
(c) man cannot think well: The passage states that man finds it difficult to think or does not want to think *as a result* of excessive labour, not that he is inherently incapable of thinking well.
(d) man cannot care for his spiritual welfare: The passage argues that man *cannot* thrive spiritually due to overwork, but the core argument is about the cause (overstrain) rather than a general statement on his inability to care for his welfare.

Asked in the CSAT Paper II of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2022, held on 5 June 2022. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.