Paragraph: Only with long experience and opening of his wares on many a beach where his language is not spoken,
will the merchant come to know the worth of what he carries, and what is parochial and what is universal in his choice.
Such delicate goods as justice, love and honour, courtesy, and indeed all the things we care for, are valid everywhere but they are variously moulded and often differently handled, and sometimes nearly unrecognizable if you meet them in a foreign land, and the art of learning fundamental common values is perhaps the greatest gain of travel to those who wish to live at ease among their fellows.
Q1. When we meet other people while we travel, we learn to differentiate between
a) imagination and understanding
b) communities and nationalities
c) local values and universal values
d) friends and foes
Correct answer: c) local values and universal values
Q2. With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:
1. Travel leads to an understanding of humans.
2. Travel helps those who wish to learn fundamental common values.
3. A person with long experience in travel can resolve differences amongst people.
Which of the assumptions given above are valid?
a) 1 and 2 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Correct answer: a) 1 and 2 only
Question from UPSC Prelims 2024 CSAT
Explanation :
For Q1:
1. The passage discusses a merchant who learns through travel what aspects of his goods (including abstract concepts like justice, love, honor) are:
– “parochial” (local/specific to a place)
– “universal” (common across cultures)
2. The passage explicitly states these values are “valid everywhere but variously moulded and differently handled”
3. Therefore, c) “local values and universal values” is indeed correct, as travel helps distinguish between what’s culturally specific and what’s fundamentally common across cultures.
For Q2:
Let’s examine each assumption:
1. “Travel leads to an understanding of humans” – Valid ✓
The passage suggests travel helps understand how different cultures interpret common values.
2. “Travel helps those who wish to learn fundamental common values” – Valid ✓
Explicitly stated in the last line: “the art of learning fundamental common values is perhaps the greatest gain of travel”
3. “A person with long experience in travel can resolve differences amongst people” – Invalid ✗
The passage only mentions understanding differences, not resolving them.
Therefore, answer a) “1 and 2 only” is correct since only assumptions 1 and 2 are directly supported by the passage.
