Passage

Medium

Words have their limitations and those who write, or those who read, also have their limitations or their own frameworks to understand words. Many words start their journey with some meaning, but over the centuries they gather different nuances or acquire a totally different meaning. When the writer uses a specific word with some specific meaning in mind, it is not necessary that the reader will have exactly the same meaning in mind while reading. Thus, the communication, and the intent of the writer gets hampered. The problem increases manifold when we talk about essentially Indian concepts in English.

Several Sanskrit words like Dharma, Yajna, Srishti, Jeevan Darshan, Ishvara, and Aatman are untranslatable in English, as of course, there are words in English like 'religion', 'secularism', 'exclusivism', 'theology', 'ideology', etc. which are untranslatable in Indian languages. These are not just words. They denote the characteristic thought process of that culture, which the people belonging to that culture can understand in that one word, but others outside that culture would need long explanation and yet may not grasp its meaning. Generally, people try to understand the word in the context of their cultural experience.

Thus, 'religion' is understood as Dharma by many Indians, whereas it is not Dharma. Dharma is understood as 'religion' by West-oriented thinkers, Indians and non-Indians. Similarly, Secularism is understood as equal treatment of all religions in India, whereas that is not its meaning in Europe. The usage of terms and their inherent meanings is a big topic in itself.

According to the given passage, Secularism is :

a term which originated in India

something that conveys the same thought and context across the globe

the term which has different meanings in the European and the Indian contexts

All Europeans are 'secular'

✅ Correct Option: 3

Option 1 -> The passage doesn't state that secularism originated in India; rather, it's listed among English words that are untranslatable in Indian languages, suggesting Western origin.

Option 2 -> This contradicts the passage, which explicitly shows that secularism has different meanings across cultures.

Option 3 -> The passage clearly states: "Secularism is understood as equal treatment of all religions in India, whereas that is not its meaning in Europe."

Option 4 -> The passage makes no claim about all Europeans being secular; it only discusses the meaning of the term.

Hence, Option 3 -> The passage uses secularism as a key example to illustrate how words acquire different meanings across cultures - it means "equal treatment of all religions" in India but has a different meaning in Europe, demonstrating the communication gap when concepts cross cultural boundaries -> correct

Question 9

Which of the following statements is not true according to the passage?

(A) All Sanskrit words are translatable into English.

(B) Meanings of many words change with time.

(D) People tend to understand words in the context of their cultural experience.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Question 10

Which of the following statements is true according to the given passage?

(A) A word is absolutely free from its usage and cultural influences.

(B) The reader interprets what the writer means by admiring the qualifications of the writer.

(D) A word gathers different meanings over time, context and place.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Question 12

According to the passage, which of the following is true of Dharma?

According to the given passage, Secularism is :

Solution

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CUET English Past Year Questions (Topic-Wise)