Which one of the following statements best reflects the crux of the passage?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (d) Trust is important though it entails risk.
The passage presents trust as essential — to entrepreneurship, to global markets, even as a 'super-commodity' — while defining it as accepting vulnerability and the chance of betrayal. The crux is that trust matters despite its risk.
- ✗ (a) The passage says entrepreneurship implies trust in others; it does not say trustworthiness cannot be expected.
- ✗ (b) The passage says trusting means being vulnerable; it says nothing about trustworthy people being 'the most vulnerable'. The option confuses 'trusting' with 'trustworthy' and adds a superlative.
- ✗ (c) 'No economic activity' is too sweeping; the passage speaks of entrepreneurship and trust in expert systems.
- ✓ (d) Trust means 'being vulnerable' and a 'willingness to expose oneself to betrayal', yet it is 'the essence of globalizing behaviour' and a 'super-commodity'. Trust is valuable even though it carries risk.
Remember · When a passage both praises something and names its cost, the crux usually balances the two ('important though risky').
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). ·