Which one of the following statements best reflects the central idea conveyed by the passage?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (d) Classroom needs to be reimagined and teaching needs to be re-invented.
The author criticises exam-focused teaching and calls for critical thinking, learning by doing and questioning from many disciplines, ending with 'Teaching has to be re-invented'. Option (d), reimagining the classroom and re-inventing teaching, carries that central idea.
- ✗ (a) Resources and funding are not discussed; the passage is about how teaching and learning are done.
- ✗ (b) The quotation says higher education should not be 'a mere servant of the government policy' — a point about independent thinking, not about removing institutions from Government control. The option overreaches.
- ✗ (c) The author wants teaching re-invented, not the classroom abolished. 'Done away with' is extreme.
- ✓ (d) The passage contrasts learning for the examination with critical thinking, learning through doing and multidisciplinary enquiry, and ends with 'Teaching has to be re-invented' — which (d) restates.
Remember · In a short passage the last line often states the thesis; pick the option that restates it without extremes.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2025, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·