Education plays a great transformatory role in life, particularly so in this rapidly changing and globalizing world. Universities are the custodians of the intellectual capital and promoters of culture and specialized knowledge. Culture is an activity of thought, and receptiveness to beauty and human feelings. A merely well-informed man is only a bore on God’s earth. What we should aim at is producing men who possess both culture and expert knowledge. Their expert knowledge will give them a firm ground to start from and their culture will lead them as deep as philosophy and as high as art. Together these will impart meaning to human existence.

Question: On the basis of the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:
1. A society without well-educated people cannot be transformed into a modern society.
2. Without acquiring culture, a person’s education is not complete.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid ?

The correct option is 2 only.

Let us analyze the validity of the assumptions based strictly on the provided passage:

1. Analysis of Assumption 1:
The passage states that "Education plays a great transformatory role in life, particularly so in this rapidly changing and globalizing world." However, this does not imply a strict necessary condition that a society cannot be transformed into a modern society without well-educated people. The passage talks about life and globalizing world transformation in general terms, but does not declare education as the sole absolute prerequisite for a society's modernization. Therefore, Assumption 1 is an overgeneralization and is not a valid assumption that can be directly derived from the passage.

2. Analysis of Assumption 2:
The passage explicitly critiques a purely well-informed (or merely educated with facts) person, stating: "A merely well-informed man is only a bore on God’s earth." It further adds: "What we should aim at is producing men who possess both culture and expert knowledge." This directly indicates that specialized or expert knowledge (education) alone is insufficient; it must be coupled with culture to fulfill its true purpose and impart meaning to human existence. Thus, without acquiring culture, a person's education (or knowledge) is not complete. This makes Assumption 2 a valid and direct assumption supported by the text.

Consequently, only Assumption 2 is valid.