Minimalist IAS
CSAT 2017 paper

UPSC CSE CSAT 2017 · Question 2 · Reading comprehension

The keynote that seems to be emerging from the passage is that

Passage—2

The man who is perpetually hesitating which of the two things he will do first, will do neither. The man who resolves, but suffers his resolution to be changed by the first counter-suggestion of a friend—who fluctuates from opinion to opinion and veers from plan to plan—can never accomplish anything. He will at best be stationary and probably retrograde in all. It is only the man who first consults wisely, then resolves firmly and then executes his purpose with inflexible perseverance, undismayed by those petty difficulties which daunt a weaker spirit—that can advance to eminence in any line.

CSAT 2017 · Q2

Reading comprehension Medium

The keynote that seems to be emerging from the passage is that

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) we should first consult wisely and then resolve firmly

The passage rejects two failures — endless hesitation, and a resolve that bends at the first suggestion — and names the only route to eminence: consult wisely first, then resolve firmly, then persevere. Option (a) keeps this sequence; the others drop the consulting step or add ideas of their own.

  • ✓ (a) It restates the passage's key sentence: the man who 'first consults wisely, then resolves firmly' is the one who advances.
  • ✗ (b) The passage does not ask us to reject a friend's advice; it criticises changing a decision at the 'first counter-suggestion'. Wise consultation is itself part of the formula.
  • ✗ (c) Broad-mindedness is never discussed; if anything, veering 'from opinion to opinion' is criticised.
  • ✗ (d) Firmness is part of the message, but this option leaves out wise consultation, which the passage puts first; 'achievement-oriented' is the reader's own addition.

Remember · When a passage lays down a sequence of steps, the keynote must keep that sequence; an option built on one step alone is incomplete.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·

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