PASSAGE 17

This rule of always trying to do things as well as one can do them has an important bearing upon the problem of ambition. No man or woman should be without ambition, which is the inspiration of activity. But if one allows ambition to drive one to attempt things which are beyond one’s own personal capacity, then unhappiness will result. If one imagines that one can do everything better than other people, then envy and jealousy, those twin monsters, will come to sadden one’s days. But if one concentrates on one’s attention upon developing one’s own special capacities, the things one is best at, then one does not worry over much if other people are more successful.

1. Which one of the following alternatives brings out the meaning of ‘to have a bearing upon’ clearly?
A) to have an effect on
B) to carry the weight on oneself
C) to put up with
D) to decrease friction

2. Which one of the following statements is correct?
A) There is a close relationship between ambition and activity.
B) Ambition and activity belong to two different areas.
C) Ambition is useless.
D) Activity is responsible for ambition.

3. The statement ‘if one allows ambition to drive one to attempt things which are beyond one’s own personal capacity, then unhappiness will result’ means that
A) One must always try to do less than one’s capacity.
B) One must always try to do more than one’s capacity.
C) Ambition must be consistent with one’s capacity.
D) There should be no ambition at all.

4. Which one of the following statements best reflects the underlying tone of the passage?
A) One must do everything as well as one can.
B) One must try to be better than others.
C) One must continuously worry about others.
D) One must try beyond one’s capacity to get results.

5. Which one of the following statements can be assumed to be true?
A) It is good to imagine oneself better than others.
B) One should not imagine oneself always to be better than others.
C) All persons have equal capacity.
D) One should have more ambition than others

Answer Key

Solution with explanation

2. Option ‘A’ (There is a close relationship between ambition and activity). The answer lies in the second sentence. According to this sentence AMIBITION is responsible to do a certain activity; it means they are closely related. Also according to this option ‘D’ is rejected as ACTIVITY is not responsible for AMBITION, rather it’s the opposite.

3. Option ‘C’ (Ambition must be consistent with one’s capacity). CONSISTENT = If one factor idea is  consistent with another, they do not contradict each other; e.g.  New goals are not always consistent with the existing policies. So, AMBITION MUST BE CONSISTENT WITH ONE’S CAPACITY means one’s ambition should be according to one’s capacity to do a certain activity.

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