Which one of the following statements best reflects the message of the author of the passage?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) We need to devise a method of barring incompetence from public office.
The author contrasts our insistence on trained shoe-makers and physicians with our acceptance of anyone who can win votes as fit to run the State. The closing question asks for “the wisest and the best”, so the message is that incompetence must be kept out of public office.
- ✗ (a) This is the presumption the author attacks (“we presume that everyone who knows how to get votes knows how to administer a State”). It describes the problem, not the message.
- ✗ (b) Too narrow and specific. The author asks for “the wisest and the best”; the physician analogy is about proven competence, not a rule that politicians must come from administrative training.
- ✓ (c) “Should we not look for the service and guidance of the wisest and the best?” implies that we must find a way to keep the incompetent from governing.
- ✗ (d) Reverses the author’s view — the passage questions exactly the idea that winning votes proves fitness to govern.
Remember · In ‘message of the author’ items, the closing rhetorical question usually carries the message; options restating the criticised view are traps.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·