Read the following passage carefully and answer Question. Initially, most…
2020
Read the following passage carefully and answer Question.
Initially, most children want to do well in school. But the student who has experienced consistent failure in the classroom tends to lower his own expectations concerning school success. He may direct his energy outside the classroom to athletics or youth gangs or to other areas where he can experience the satisfaction of success. The student who has been negatively evaluated in the classroom rationalizes that school is not important to him because he believes it is impossible for him to succeed there.
If a student is to continue to expect to do well in school, he needs to receive some positive evaluations for his academic performance. If an individual is to develop a positive concept of himself as a student, he needs to perform competently and to receive evaluations that interprets to be positive within his own frame of reference. When the student is perceived as a less competent learner, forces are set in motion that reduce the chances that his potential will be developed to its fullest extent in school. The other students and his teachers may come to view him as having less potential than he really has. The academic goals he sets for himself and those that are set for him by his well-intentioned teachers may not sufficiently challenge his true abilities. A student may divert his own personal resources to non-academic areas because he believes that success in academic subjects is not open to him. If he does not apply his maximum efforts to learning school subjects, he may fail to acquire some of the skills and knowledge he needs as a basis for further learning.
Ques: The gist of the passage is that
- A.
A less competent student should seek his future in areas other than academics.
- B.
He should put maximum efforts to have a successful academic performance.
- C.
Teachers should motivate him to use his personal resources properly.
- D.
He should evaluate his own skills and knowledge as against teacher's expectations.
Attempted by 1 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept
The “gist” of a passage is its single controlling idea — the central claim that ties every paragraph together — not any one supporting detail, example, or the problem it merely describes. To find it, ask which statement, if removed, would collapse the author’s overall argument.
Application
This passage tracks one causal chain: a student who is repeatedly judged “less competent” lowers his expectations, is underestimated by teachers and peers, has weak goals set for him, and so redirects his personal resources to non-academic areas because he believes academic success is closed to him. The author’s corrective runs throughout — the student needs positive, fair evaluation and to have his potential properly channelled rather than written off. The idea that captures this whole chain is that teachers should motivate the student to use his personal resources properly, because the passage’s core worry is exactly that those resources are being diverted away from learning.
Contrast
“A less competent student should seek his future outside academics” only restates the escapist rationalisation the passage criticises; it is the problem, not the author’s point.
“He should put maximum effort into academic performance” places the whole burden on the student and ignores the passage’s central stress on evaluation and the teacher’s role in shaping his potential, so it is too narrow to be the gist.
“He should evaluate his own skills against the teacher’s expectations” is a single sub-action and is not what the passage is fundamentally about.
Result
The controlling idea is the motivating, channelling role of the teacher in helping the student apply his personal resources to academics.