Directions: Read the following passage and each group of four statements given below contains one statement which is most acceptable in the light of the passage and answer the questions 72 to 75.
There are a great many people who have all the material conditions of happiness i.e., health, income at a sufficient income, and who, nevertheless, are profoundly unhappy. In such cases it would seem as if the fault must lie with a wrong theory as to how to live. We imagine ourselves more different from the animals than we are. Animals live on impulses, and are happy as long as external conditions are favorable. If it is food and warmth and opportunities for a occasional mating, they are happy. Your needs are more complex than those of your cat, but they still have their basis in instinct. In civilized societies this is too apt to be forgotten. People propose to themselves some far-paramount object, and marinate all impulses that do not minister to it. A businessman is too anxious to grow rich that he’d end his exercises; health and private affections. When at least he has become rich, no pleasure remains to him except harrying other people to imitate his noble exhortations to imitate his noble exploits.
If you look around you at the men and women whom you can call happy, you will see that they all happy, you will see that they all have certain things in common. The have certain things in common. The most important of these things is an activity which at most times is enjoyable on its own account and which, in addition, gradually builds up something that you are glad to see coming into existence. Many see coming into existence. Many men who spend their working life in the city devote their work-end to voluntary and unremunerated toil in their gardens, and when the spring comes they experience all the joys of having created beauty. It is the simple things that really matter: If a man delights in his wife and children, has success in his work, and finds pleasure in alternation of day and night, spring and autumn, he will be happy whatever his philosophy may be. Man is an animal, and his happiness depends on his physiology more than he likes to think. This is humble conclusion, but I cannot make myself disbelieve it. Unhappy businessmen would increase their happiness more by walking six miles every day than by any conceivable change of philosophy.
Questions:
72. According to the passage:
We are not in any sense different from the animals.
We are superior to the animals in all respects.
We are not as different from the animals as we think we are.
We are descended from the animals.
Correct Answer: (3) We are not as different from the animals as we think we are.
Explanation: The passage emphasizes that although humans think they are vastly different from animals, in reality, our needs and behaviors are still fundamentally rooted in instinct, similar to animals.
73. The passage points out that:
City-dwellers hardly find any time to work in their gardens.
By working in their gardens, men engage in a profit-making activity.
Many men working in their gardens get the joy of creating beauty in spring.
Working in the gardens should be made compulsory for city-dwellers.
Correct Answer: (3) Many men working in their gardens get the joy of creating beauty in spring.
Explanation: The passage describes how men who work in their gardens find joy and satisfaction in creating beauty, especially when spring comes, which highlights the simple pleasures that contribute to happiness.
74. According to the passage:
Man likes to think that his happiness depends on his physiology.
Man’s happiness depends on having a right philosophy.
Man does not like to think that his happiness largely depends on his physiology.
Physiology and philosophy are basically related.
Correct Answer: (3) Man does not like to think that his happiness largely depends on his physiology.
Explanation: The passage suggests that while happiness is closely tied to physiological well-being, people often prefer to believe that it is more related to their philosophy of life.
75. In civilized societies:
It is quietly forgotten that man’s needs are more complex than those of animals.
People have a tendency to forget that man’s needs are rooted in instinct.
It is seldom forgotten that man is basically an animal.
Man’s happiness is determined by the wealth he possesses.
Correct Answer: (4) Man’s happiness is determined by the wealth he possesses.
Explanation: The passage argues that in civilized societies, people often forget that human needs, although more complex, are still fundamentally rooted in basic instincts, similar to animals.
