aPeople should not be influenced by the opinions of others.
bPeople should accumulate as much money as they can.
cPeople should neither give nor accept the opinions.
dPeople will succeed in any undertaking if they do not accept any opinion at all.
AnswerUPSC’s answer is (a).
The passage links failing to build wealth with handing your thinking over to the press and to gossip, calls opinions cheap and plentiful, and warns that decisions swayed by opinions will not bring success. The main idea is that people should not be guided by others' opinions. It does not urge piling up as much money as possible, nor does it say people should neither give nor take opinions, or that rejecting all opinions guarantees success.
Why each option is right or wrong
(a) Correct: the passage warns against being swayed by others' opinions.
(b) Wrong: money is the example, not the advice.
(c) Wrong: it warns against being influenced, not against every exchange of opinions.
(d) Wrong: it says being influenced leads to failure, not that refusing all opinions assures success.
Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
