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CSAT 2017 paper

UPSC CSE CSAT 2017 · Question 21 · Reading comprehension

The challenge the author of the above passage throws to the public is to achieve

Directions for the following 7 (seven) items: Read the following seven passages and answer the items that follow the passages. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only.

Passage—1

We have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any of us till we redeem our pledge in full, till we make all the people of India what destiny intends them to be. We are citizens of a great country, on the verge of bold advance, and we have to live up to that high standard. All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations. We cannot encourage communalism or narrow-mindedness, for no nation can be great whose people are narrow in thought or action.

CSAT 2017 · Q21

Reading comprehension Easy

The challenge the author of the above passage throws to the public is to achieve

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) hard work, brotherhood and national unity

The passage opens with 'hard work ahead', calls all Indians, whatever their religion, equally the children of India, and warns that a narrow-minded people cannot make a great nation. Its challenge is hard work, brotherhood and national unity.

  • ✗ (a) 'High standard' in the passage means living up to the country's greatness, not a standard of living; privileges are not held out as the goal.
  • ✗ (b) Equal privileges are stated as something citizens already share, not as a goal; 'political tolerance' is not the passage's concern — it speaks against communalism and narrow thinking.
  • ✗ (c) Neither a spirit of adventure nor economic parity is mentioned.
  • ✓ (d) 'Hard work ahead' (hard work), 'equally the children of India' (brotherhood), and the rejection of communalism and narrow-mindedness (national unity).

Remember · When options list three ideas, all three must be in the passage; one unsupported item sinks the option.

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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