The idea which the first part of the passage mentions is
Answer & explanation
Answer: (d) disagreement about the harm in telling the truth.
UPSC's official answer: (d) · the answer UPSC accepted, and the one that counts in the exam
Also defensible: (a)
- The first part is one sentence: 'most people would agree that telling deliberate lies is wrong, except perhaps in certain special situations where more harm will be done by telling the truth.'
- Its main clause states an agreement about lying, 'most people would agree that telling deliberate lies is wrong', which is option (a) in so many words.
- UPSC's key builds on the qualifier: 'except perhaps' leaves open whether, and when, the truth does more harm than a lie, so the sentence also raises an unsettled point about the harm in telling the truth, option (d).
- Options (b) and (c) fail outright: nobody is said to disagree about lying in general or about telling the truth as such. The choice is between the plain main clause (a) and the hedged exception (d).
UPSC's key is (d), built on the 'except perhaps' hedge; the plain main clause gives (a). In the exam, when the stem asks for 'the idea' a part 'mentions', weigh the qualifying clause as heavily as the main clause.
This box is Minimalist IAS's analysis, with its sources; it does not change UPSC's answer.
The first part grants in passing that most people think deliberate lies are wrong, and then turns on its exception: 'except perhaps in certain special situations where more harm will be done by telling the truth'. The 'perhaps' marks that exception as unsettled: people are not of one mind about whether, and when, telling the truth does more harm than a lie. That unsettled point is the idea the first part raises, so (d).
- ✗ (a) The agreement that deliberate lies are wrong is the sentence's starting point, not its idea; the sentence exists to qualify that agreement with the 'except perhaps' clause.
- ✗ (b) No disagreement about lying in general is described; most people are said to agree that deliberate lies are wrong.
- ✗ (c) Nobody is said to dispute telling the truth as such; the doubt is about the harm the truth may do in special situations.
- ✓ (d) 'Except perhaps in certain special situations where more harm will be done by telling the truth': the hedge 'perhaps' shows people differ over the harm the truth can do, and that is the idea the first part mentions.
Remember · Watch qualifiers like 'except perhaps': the examiner often builds the answer on the hedge rather than on the main clause.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·