Why does the author not recommend too much of studies?
- (a)Because it reflects idleness
- (b)Because it requires too much money
- (c)Because it is dangerous for the health of the mind
- (d)Because it makes men crafty
Correct — A, Because it reflects idleness. The author writes 'To spend too much time in studies is sloth', and sloth means laziness or idleness — so excessive study is criticised as a mark of idleness, exactly what option A states.
- (b)Because it requires too much money — The passage never mentions cost or money as a reason to limit study.
- (c)Because it is dangerous for the health of the mind — The author calls excess study 'sloth' and 'affectation', not a health hazard; this reads a danger into the text that is not there.
- (d)Because it makes men crafty — The passage says 'crafty men condemn studies' — craftiness is a trait of those who reject study, not a result of studying too much, so the causation is reversed.
A reading-comprehension item on the author's caution against excessive study, keyed to the line that names it 'sloth'.
This item is based on the short passage printed above Questions 41-45 in the NDA-II 2019 GAT (Series A) — a verbatim extract widely known as Francis Bacon's essay 'Of Studies'. The passage reads: "Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight, is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment, and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning, by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation. Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider." The answer turns on the phrase 'To spend too much time in studies is sloth', where sloth means idleness.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
In Bacon's 'Of Studies', to use studies 'too much for ornament' is called
- (a)sloth
- (b)affectation
- (c)the humor of a scholar
- (d)wisdom
Answer(b) affectation — the text says using them too much for ornament 'is affectation'.
- practice — not a real PYQ
According to the passage, to make judgment wholly by the rules of studies is
- (a)sloth
- (b)affectation
- (c)the humor of a scholar
- (d)ability
Answer(c) the humor of a scholar — the text names this the 'humor of a scholar'.