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.
What must writers learn again?
The problems of a heart in conflict with itself
Writers Must Learn Again: Key Insights from the Passage
This question asks us to identify what the author believes contemporary writers need to relearn, based on the provided passage. The passage discusses a shift in focus from internal struggles to external fears and argues for the importance of certain themes in creating meaningful literature. We need to carefully analyze the text to determine the specific knowledge or understanding writers are advised to regain.
Passage Analysis: The Core of Good Writing
The author contrasts the current state of writing with what makes for genuinely impactful work. Key points from the passage include:
- Current Societal Fear: The passage highlights a prevailing "general and universal physical fear" focused on external threats ("When will I be blown up?").
- Neglect of Internal Conflict: Because of this external focus, the author states that young writers today have forgotten the crucial element of "the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself."
- Essence of Good Writing: This internal conflict is identified as the sole source of "good writing" because it is what is truly "worth writing about." It involves deep emotional experiences like "agony and the sweat."
- Writer's Task: Writers must "learn them again" (referring to the problems of the human heart). They need to teach themselves that fear is base and then "forget it forever," dedicating their creative space to "the old verities and truths of the heart" such as love, honour, pity, pride, compassion, and sacrifice.
- Consequences of Neglect: Without this focus, writing becomes superficial, dealing with "lust" instead of love, hollow victories, and ultimately lacks the depth and emotional resonance derived from exploring the human condition. Writers focus on the physical ("glands") rather than the emotional core ("the heart").
Evaluating Writer's Learning Options
Let's examine each option in light of the passage's content:
| Option | Passage Support | Analysis |
| 1. The lessons of life | Implied but too general. The passage specifies a particular type of lesson. | While writing about the human heart involves life lessons, this option is not specific enough to capture the author's main point about what writers have forgotten and must relearn. |
| 2. The problems of a heart in conflict with itself | Directly stated. The passage says writers "has forgotten the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself" and "He must learn them again." | This option precisely matches the author's explicit statement about what writers need to relearn to create meaningful work. It encompasses the themes of love, honour, pity, etc., that the author values. |
| 3. To be afraid | Contradicted. The passage calls being afraid "the basest of all things" and advises writers to forget fear. | The author advises writers to recognize that fear is base and then overcome it, not to learn to be afraid. This option is the opposite of the author's advice regarding fear. |
| 4. To be fearless | An outcome, not the primary subject to be learned again. | While the passage implies that focusing on the heart's truths helps overcome fear, the core subject the writer must 'learn again' is the exploration of internal conflict, not the state of being fearless itself. Fearlessness is a consequence, not the subject matter to be relearned. |
The passage strongly emphasizes that the lack of focus on "the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself" is the reason why contemporary writing is failing to achieve depth and significance. The author explicitly states that writers must "learn them again." Therefore, the most accurate answer is that writers must learn again about the complexities and struggles within the human heart.
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