Question:
Read the following passage carefully and answer the question that follows:
Machines were made to be man's servant, yet he has grown so dependent on them that they are on a fair way to become his master. Although most men spend most of their lives looking after and waiting upon machines. And machines are very stern masters. They must be fed with coal and given petrol to drink, and oil to wash with and they must be kept at the right temperature. If they do not get their meals, they grow sulky and refuse to work or burst with rage and blow up and spread ruin and destruction all round them. So, we have to wait upon them very attentively and do all that we can to keep them in good temper. Already we find it difficult either to work or play without machines, and a time may come when they will rule us as we rule the animals.
(a) "Machines were made to be man's servant." What does it suggest?
Read the following passage carefully and answer the question that follows:
Machines were made to be man's servant, yet he has grown so dependent on them that they are on a fair way to become his master. Although most men spend most of their lives looking after and waiting upon machines. And machines are very stern masters. They must be fed with coal and given petrol to drink, and oil to wash with and they must be kept at the right temperature. If they do not get their meals, they grow sulky and refuse to work or burst with rage and blow up and spread ruin and destruction all round them. So, we have to wait upon them very attentively and do all that we can to keep them in good temper. Already we find it difficult either to work or play without machines, and a time may come when they will rule us as we rule the animals.
(a) "Machines were made to be man's servant." What does it suggest?
Machines were made to be man's servant, yet he has grown so dependent on them that they are on a fair way to become his master. Although most men spend most of their lives looking after and waiting upon machines. And machines are very stern masters. They must be fed with coal and given petrol to drink, and oil to wash with and they must be kept at the right temperature. If they do not get their meals, they grow sulky and refuse to work or burst with rage and blow up and spread ruin and destruction all round them. So, we have to wait upon them very attentively and do all that we can to keep them in good temper. Already we find it difficult either to work or play without machines, and a time may come when they will rule us as we rule the animals.
(a) "Machines were made to be man's servant." What does it suggest?
Updated On: Sep 24, 2026
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Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Understanding the line:
The statement introduces the passage's irony — machines were originally invented to serve and ease human labour.
Step 2: What it suggests:
It suggests that although machines were meant to be tools that obey and assist man, man has grown so dependent on them that their intended, subordinate role is being reversed — the servant is turning into the master.
The statement introduces the passage's irony — machines were originally invented to serve and ease human labour.
Step 2: What it suggests:
It suggests that although machines were meant to be tools that obey and assist man, man has grown so dependent on them that their intended, subordinate role is being reversed — the servant is turning into the master.
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