Directions: In this section, you have two short passages. After each passage, you will find some items based on the passage. Read the passage carefully and answer the items based on it. You are required to select your answers based solely on the contents of the passage and the opinion of the author, and indicate your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly. Our tragedy today is a general and universal physical fear so long sustained by now that we can even bear it. There are no longer problems of the spirit. There is only the question : When will I be blown up? Because of this, the young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat. He must learn them again. He must teach himself that the basest of all things is to be afraid; and, teaching himself that, forget it forever, leaving no room in his workshop for anything but the old verities and truths of the heart, the old universal truths lacking which any story is ephemeral and doomed-love and honour and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice. Until he does so, he labours under a curse. He writes not of love but of lust, of defeats in which nobody loses anything of value, of victories without hope and, worst of all, without pity or compassion. His griefs grieve on no universal bones, leaving no scars. He writes not of the heart but of the glands. Until he relearns these things, he will write as though he stood among and watched the end of man. I decline to accept the end of man. It is easy enough to say that man is immortal simply because he will endure that when the last dingdong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, that even then there I will still be one more sound : that of his puny inexhaustible voice, still talking. I refuse to accept this. I believe man will not merely endure : he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice.
The tragedy of our times is
we have learnt to bear general and universal physical fear
The Tragedy of Our Times Explained
This section analyzes a passage discussing the current state of writing and the underlying human condition. The main focus is to identify what the author describes as "Our tragedy today."
Identifying the Central Tragedy in the Passage
The author begins the passage by directly stating the central issue they perceive: "Our tragedy today is a general and universal physical fear so long sustained by now that we can even bear it." This opening sentence clearly defines the tragedy as a prolonged and pervasive sense of physical fear that has become normalized to the point where people can endure it.
The passage contrasts this widespread physical fear with the "problems of the human heart in conflict with itself," suggesting that the focus on survival and fear has overshadowed the deeper, more meaningful themes that are essential for impactful writing and a fulfilling human experience.
Analyzing the Provided Options
Let's examine each option in light of the passage's content:
Option 1: We are unable to bear pain
The passage states that the fear is "so long sustained by now that we can even bear it." This implies an ability to endure the fear, not an inability to bear pain in general. Therefore, this option contradicts the passage.
Option 2: We have forgotten the problems of the human heart
While the passage does mention that young writers have "forgotten the problems of the human heart," it presents this forgetting as a consequence of the prevailing physical fear, not as the tragedy itself. The tragedy is the underlying cause (the fear) that leads to this forgetting.
Option 3: We have learnt to bear general and universal physical fear
This option directly aligns with the opening sentence of the passage: "Our tragedy today is a general and universal physical fear so long sustained by now that we can even bear it." The ability to bear this pervasive fear is identified as the core tragedy of the times.
Option 4: The fear of the spirit
The passage distinguishes between "problems of the spirit" and the "general and universal physical fear." It positions the physical fear as the primary tragedy, distinct from, and overshadowing, the spiritual or emotional conflicts that the author deems more significant for true artistic expression.
Based on the direct statement in the first sentence, the tragedy identified by the author is the normalization and endurance of widespread physical fear.
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