Directions (1-10): Read the passage and answer the following questions:
The task which Gandhiji undertook was not only the achievement of political freedom but also the establishment of a social order based on truth and non-violence, unity and peace, equality and universal brotherhood, and maximum freedom for all. This unfinished part of his experiment was perhaps even more difficult to achieve than the achievement of political freedom. Political struggle involved fight against a foreign power and all one could do was either join it or wish it success and give it his moral support. In establishing the social order of this pattern, there was a lively possibility of a conflict arising between groups and classes of our own people. Experience shows that man values his possessions even more than his life because in the former he sees the means for perpetuation and survival of his descendants even after his body is reduced to ashes. A new order cannot be established without radically changing the mind and attitude of men towards property and, at some stage or the other, the ‘haves’ have to yield place to the ‘have-nots’. We have seen, in our time, attempts to achieve a kind of egalitarian society and the picture of it after it was achieved. But this was done, by and large, through the use of physical force.
In the ultimate analysis, it is difficult, if not impossible, to say that the instinct to possess has been rooted out or that it will not reappear in an even worse from under a different guise. It may even be that, like a gas kept confined within containers under great pressure, or water held by a big dam, once a barrier breaks, the reaction will one day sweep back with a violence equal in extent and intensity to what was used to establish and maintain the outward egalitarian form. This enforced egalitarianism contains, in its bosom, the seed of its own destruction.
The root cause of class conflict is possessiveness or the acquisitive instinct. So long as the ideal that is to be achieved is one of securing the maximum material satisfaction, possessiveness can neither be suppressed nor eliminated but will grow on what it feeds. Nor will it cease to be such- it is possessiveness, still, whether it is confined to only a few or is shared by many.
If egalitarianism is to endure, it has to be based not on the possession of the maximum material goods by a few or by all but on voluntary, enlightened renunciation of those goods which cannot be shared by others or can be enjoyed only at the expense of others. This calls for substitution of spiritual values for purely material ones. The paradise of material satisfaction, that is sometimes equated with progress these days neither spells peace nor progress. Mahatma Gandhi has shown us how the acquisitive instinct inherent in man could be transmuted by the adoption of the ideal of trusteeship by those who ‘have’ for the benefit of all those who ‘have not’ so that, instead of leading to exploitation and conflict, it would become a means and incentive for the amelioration and progress of society, respectively.
Q1. According to the passage, egalitarianism will not survive if
(a) It is based on voluntary renunciation
(b) It is achieved by resorting to physical force
(c) Underprivileged people are not involved in its establishment
(d) People’s outlook towards it is not radically changed
(e) None of these
Q2. According to the passage, why does man value his possessions more than his life?
(a) He has an inherent desire to share his possessions with others
(b) He is endowed with the possessive instinct
(c) Only his possessions help him earn love and respect from his descendants
(d) Through his possessions he can preserve his name even after his death
(e) None of these
Q3. According to the passage, which was the unfinished part of Gandhiji’s experiment?
(a) Educating people to avoid class conflict
(b) Achieving total political freedom for the country
(c) Establishment of an egalitarian society
(d) Radically changing the mind and attitude of men towards truth and non-violence
(e) None of these
Q4. Which of the following statements is ‘not true’ in the context of the passage?
(a) True egalitarianism can be achieved by giving up one’s possessions under compulsion
(b) Man values his life more than his possessions
(c) Possessive instinct is a natural part of the human being
(d) In the political struggle, the fight was against the alien rule
(e) The root cause of class conflict is possessiveness
Q5. According to the passage, true egalitarianism will last if
(a) It is thrust upon people
(b) It is based on truth and non-violence
(c) People inculcate spiritual values along with material values
(d) ‘Haves’ and ‘have-nots’ live together peacefully
(e) None of these
Q6. According to the passage, people ultimately overturn the form of a social order
(a) Which is based on coercion and oppression
(b) Which does not satisfy their basic needs
(c) Which is based upon conciliation and rapprochement
(d) Which is not congenial to the spiritual values of the people
(e) None of these
Q7. According to the passage, the root cause of class conflict is
(a) The paradise of material satisfaction
(b) Dominant inherent acquisitive instinct in man
(c) Exploitation of the ‘have-nots’ by the ‘haves’
(d) A social order where the unprivileged are not a part of the establishment
(e) None of these
Q8. Which of the following statements is not true in the context of the passage?
(a) A new order can be established by radically changing the outlook of people towards it
(b) Adoption of the ideal of trusteeship can minimise possessive instinct
(c) Enforced egalitarianism can be the cause of its own destruction
(d) Idea of new order is to secure maximum material satisfaction
(e) None of these
Q9. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
(a) A social order based on truth and non-violence alone can help the achievement of political freedom
(b) In establishing the social order of Gandhiji’s pattern, the possibility of a conflict between different classes of society hardly exists
(c) It is difficult to change the mind and attitude of men towards property
(d) In an egalitarian society, material satisfaction can be enjoyed only at the expenses of others
(e) None of these
Q10. According to the passage, what does adoption of the ideal of trusteeship mean?
(a) Equating peace and progress with material satisfaction
(b) Adoption of the ideal by the ‘haves’ for the benefit of the society
(c) Voluntary, enlightened renunciation of the possessive instinct by the privileged class
(d) Substitution of spiritual values by material ones by those who live in the paradise of material satisfaction
(e) None of these
Directions (11-15): Which of the following is synonym/antonym of the given word from the passage?
Q11. Possessions
(a) Perfection
(b) Custody
(c) Parameters
(d) Arguments
(e) Arrangement
Q12. Radically
(a) Presumably
(b) Possibility
(c) Elaborate
(d) Conservative
(e) Fixed
Q13. Egalitarian
(a) Elitist
(b) Magician
(c) Pessimistic
(d) Optimistic
(e) Delusional
Q14. Acquisitive
(a) Greedy
(b) Needy
(c) Helpful
(d) Artistic
(e) Manner
Q15. Paradise
(a) Plague
(b) Place
(c) Den
(d) House
(e) Heaven
