The paradox mentioned in the passage refers to the fact that:

Question

The paradox mentioned in the passage refers to the fact that:

1. A. Technological advancement coexists with declining physical health. (Correct answer)
2. B. People are more active but less productive in modern times.
3. C. Automation has reduced mental workload while increasing stress.
4. D. Rest and exercise have become indistinguishable concepts.

Correct Answer

Option A — Technological advancement coexists with declining physical health.

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is Technological advancement coexists with declining physical health..

Key Points

• The passage flags the paradox in its first paragraph: this lifestyle is *paradoxically associated with progress*.
• The contradiction is that the very advances counted as progress — urbanisation, automation, digitalisation — are what *minimized the need for bodily exertion* and produced the health decline.
• So technological advancement coexists with declining physical health.

Additional Information

• Option B reverses the passage, which describes people as *less* physically active.
• Option C misstates the second paradox in the text — that people mistake *mental busyness* for physical engagement — and wrongly claims automation cut mental workload.
• Option D is unsupported; the passage asks for activity and rest in *dynamic equilibrium*, which keeps them distinct.
• The passage contains two paradoxes; the question asks for the one governing the whole argument, signalled by the word *paradoxically* in the opening paragraph.

*Ministry of Papers worked solution. The Commission has not yet published the official key for this paper; this answer will be reconciled with it on release.*