Which of the following is the most logical and rational inference that can be made from the above passage?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) Science and faith can be mutually complementary if their proper domains are understood.
The author uses science to understand nature and turns to faith for questions science cannot answer, and finds the belief that the two are incompatible oddly out of date. The inference is that each has its own domain, and seen that way they complement each other.
- ✗ (a) Too extreme: faith is a better path only 'In those domains', the questions science cannot answer; the author never says faith can solve all of mankind's problems.
- ✓ (b) One person practises science for nature and relies on faith for questions like 'Why are we here?'; the author rejects the presumption that the two are incompatible.
- ✗ (c) The author says faith 'provides a better path to answers' for these questions, so they are not beyond both.
- ✗ (d) The passage mentions a presumption of incompatibility, not that science is valued above spirituality.
Remember · Watch for 'all', 'only' and 'neither'; the right inference keeps the author's limits, such as 'in those domains'.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·