Question map
Direction: In this section you have a short passage. After the passage, you will find some items based on the passage. First read the passage and then answer the items based on it. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of the author only. 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 judgement 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. According to the author, one should read to
Explanation
The passage, excerpted from Francis Bacon's essay 'Of Studies', explicitly outlines the purpose of reading. Bacon argues that one should not read to 'contradict and confute' (argue) or to 'believe and take for granted' (blindly accept), but rather to 'weigh and consider'. This implies a process of critical evaluation and understanding. Bacon, known as the father of empiricism, emphasizes that studies perfect nature but must be bounded by experience . He suggests that while 'crafty men' condemn studies and 'simple men' admire them, 'wise men' use them through observation and judgment. Therefore, the author's opinion is that reading serves as a tool for intellectual weighing and consideration, which aligns with evaluating and understanding the material rather than using it for mere discourse or preaching.
Sources
- [1] History , class XII (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 10: Modern World: The Age of Reason > Renaissance in England > p. 134