For the author, silence is necessary in order to surmount
aconstitutional shyness.
bhesitancy in speech.
csuppression of thoughts.
dtendency to overstate.
AnswerUPSC’s answer is (d).
The author says silence is needed to overcome the natural human weakness of exaggerating, or of hiding or altering the truth, knowingly or not. That weakness is overstating, so (d) fits. His shyness and hesitancy are things he turned into advantages, not things silence has to overcome. The passage speaks of suppressing or modifying the truth, not suppressing thoughts; he in fact trained himself to restrain his thoughts as a virtue.
Why each option is right or wrong
(a) Wrong: shyness is described as having helped him, like a shield, not as an obstacle for silence to overcome.
(b) Wrong: hesitancy was an annoyance that became a pleasure; it is not what silence overcomes.
(c) Wrong: the weakness named concerns suppressing the truth, not thoughts; restraining thoughts is his habit.
(d) Right: silence helps surmount the human tendency to exaggerate.
Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
