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CSAT 2017 paper

UPSC CSE CSAT 2017 · Question 26 · Reading comprehension

With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:

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.

CSAT 2017 · Q26

Reading comprehension Easy

With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:

  1. 1.People always see the leisure time as a gift and use it for acquiring more material possessions.
  2. 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?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 2 only

The passage says technology's real gift is leisure, not material possessions, and that the creative use of leisure by a minority has driven all human progress. Assumption 2 restates this; assumption 1 goes against it.

  • ✗ 1. The passage separates leisure from material possessions and notes that leisure may be abused by some; 'always' and 'acquiring more possessions' both go against it.
  • ✓ 2. The 'creative use of leisure by a minority' being 'the mainspring of all human progress' is exactly this assumption.

Remember · 'Always' in an assumption is a warning sign; accept it only if the passage allows no exception.

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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