Passage

Medium

It's essential to focus on what you control, especially when life feels difficult. This mindset is often overshadowed by the flood of information we consume daily. For instance, I spent 30 minutes this morning going down a rabbit hole after reading about Bitcoin. I ended up lost in unrelated Wikipedia pages.

Stoicism teaches us that time is our most valuable resource. While it's nice to know many things, most of the information we consume has little real value. We waste time on trivial pursuits, like reading negative news, stalking social media profiles, or watching shows just to "kill time." Why kill something so precious?

We're quick to get upset by things we can't control. Responding to every little thing we encounter is a habit. But true happiness comes from accepting that we don't control most things. Worrying about global issues like recessions, wars, or natural disasters is unproductive. Indifference to things outside our control is the key to happiness.

Happiness comes from meaningful activities: good friendships, enjoyable work, reading thought-provoking books, walking in nature, working out, or watching a great movie. For example, a recent Saturday was fulfilling because I spent time reading, writing, walking, and enjoying meals with family.

Contrast that with another day when I got caught up in negative conversations about COVID. The negativity drained me, and I accomplished nothing useful. Things are the way they are. The best we can do is focus on what matters and how we spend our time.

Select the central idea of the passage from the options given below:

Consuming more information leads to happiness

Responding to global issues is essential

Happiness comes from following current events

Time is a valuable resource we should use it wisely

✅ Correct Option: 4

Option 1 -> The passage argues against consuming information, describing it as going down "rabbit holes" and having "little real value."

Option 2 -> The passage explicitly states that "worrying about global issues like recessions, wars, or natural disasters is unproductive."

Option 3 -> The author criticizes following current events, mentioning how negative COVID conversations "drained me, and I accomplished nothing useful."

Option 4 -> The passage emphasizes that "time is our most valuable resource," warns against killing "something so precious," and advocates focusing on meaningful activities and how we spend our time.

Hence, Option 4 -> The entire passage revolves around the Stoic principle that time is precious and should be spent wisely on things within our control and meaningful activities (friendships, work, nature, family) rather than wasted on information overload, negative news, or worrying about uncontrollable external events -> correct

Question 1

**Select the activity that contributes to happiness from the options given below:

Question 3

Choose the best option to complete the sentence:**

Practicing indifference to uncontrollable things helps to achieve____

Question 4

Choose an example of wasting time based on the passage from the options given below:

Select the central idea of the passage from the options given below:

Solution

More from this set:

Keyboard Shortcuts

CUET English Past Year Questions (Topic-Wise)