CSAT Solved Papers/ 2022/Q51
2022 CSAT — Q51
Passage
In an economic organization, allowing mankind to benefit by the productivity of machines should lead to a very good life of leisure, and much leisure is apt to be tedious except to those who have intelligent activities and interests. If a leisured population is to be happy, it must be an educated population, and must be educated with a view to enjoyment as well as to the direct usefulness of technical knowledge.
Which of the following statements best reflects the underlying tone of the passage?
Thinking pathway
Locate. On a “tone/central idea” item, fix the passage’s controlling claim. The passage: machine productivity should bring leisure, but “much leisure is apt to be tedious except to those who have intelligent activities,” and “if a leisured population is to be happy, it must be an educated population.” The controlling idea: education is what lets people benefit from (enjoy) the leisure that progress brings.
Test — necessary vs. sufficient, and does it fit the passage’s claim. (a) “only an educated population can best make use of the benefits of economic progress” preserves the passage’s “must be educated / except to those with intelligent interests” — a necessity framing. Test the others: (c) “more educated population → more happiness” converts a necessary condition (must be educated to enjoy leisure) into a causal guarantee (education produces happiness) — a reversal/overreach. (b) “all economic development should be aimed at leisure” over-generalises beyond the passage. (d) “encourage machines to create leisure” makes machinery the goal, which the passage doesn’t argue.
Eliminate by anatomy. (c) gets the direction backwards and over-states it — a necessary condition recast as a sufficient cause. (b) is too strong for what the passage says — a universal “all development” claim. (d) is out of scope — machines-as-goal. The transferable rule: “X must be educated to be happy” means education is required, not that education produces happiness. Key: (a).
Evidence in the text
“…much leisure is apt to be tedious except to those who have intelligent activities and interests. If a leisured population is to be happy, it must be an educated population, and must be educated with a view to enjoyment as well as to the direct usefulness of technical knowledge.” — education is the NECESSARY condition for a leisured population to enjoy (make use of) the fruits of machine productivity. (a) “only an educated population can best make use of the benefits” matches the “only… educated” tone. (c) flips a necessary condition into a sufficient/causal one (more education → more happiness); (b) “all development aimed at leisure” over-generalises; (d) makes machines the goal → (a).
Worked rationale
The passage’s tone: leisure from machine productivity is only valuable to the educated; an educated population is the precondition for happy, well-used leisure.
- (a) “only an educated population can best make use of the benefits” mirrors the necessity tone. Correct.
- (c) turns “must be educated to be happy” into “education increases happiness” — a causal flip.
- (b) over-generalises the aim of all economic development.
- (d) elevates machine use to the goal.
Answer: (a).
Why the other options miss
- B too strong for what the passage says: “all economic development should be aimed at the creation of leisure” is a sweeping prescriptive claim the passage never makes; it discusses what makes leisure valuable, not the aim of all development.
- C cause and effect reversed: recasts the necessary condition (“a happy leisured population must be educated”) as a sufficient cause (“more education leads to more happiness”). The passage says education is required, not that it guarantees happiness.
- D out of scope: makes encouraging machines (to create a leisured population) the message, which the passage does not argue.
Specialist insight
The trap pair is (a) vs (c). Both sound education-positive, but they differ in logical direction. The passage states a necessity — “if a leisured population is to be happy, it must be an educated population” — and (a) keeps that (“only… can best make use”). (c) slides to a causal sufficiency (“education leads to happiness”), which the passage never asserts. Read the conditional’s direction: “must be educated to enjoy” is not “educating produces enjoyment.” (a).
The passage makes education a *necessary* condition for enjoying leisure (a); (c) flips it into a causal guarantee that education increases happiness.