Directions: You have one brief passage with 5 questions following each passage. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.
The Printing Press has made knowledge available to the vast multitude of people-Pray, what kind of knowledge is it? Is it of any permanent character? Books have become common and, when we say that books like the Sexton Blake series sell like hot cakes, we have an index of the nature of knowledge which a typical person in a vast multitude seeks. Let me tell you of an incident that took place in America a few years ago. An American publisher printed a million copies of the works of Charles Dickens in the hope that he could easily sell them on the name of the author. But to his disappointment, not even the widest publicity and advertisement could enable him to sell the books. Being sorely tired, he hit on a plan. He tore off the cover pages, substituted covers containing sensational love headings for the titles and again advertised the new books. In a week, all the books were sold out. We are not concerned here with the moral of the bookseller’s action. What we have to note is that only books of a sensational type are really sought for by the ordinary folk who have a great aversion to serious study. So, you will see that the grand argument that the Printing Press has made knowledge available even to the masses is certainly fallacious and quite misleading. To put it correctly, it has created a taste for a low order of books.

Q:

What is the main contention of the passage?

• 1
  To stress the popularity of the printing press.
• 2
  To point out the disappointment of serious readers.
• 3
  To bring out the evil impacts of the printing press.
• 4
  To shed light on the morale of the publishers.