Case Based:
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.
Jack is a French businessman who has enormous wealth. His friend Oscar also has enormous wealth, and he is a lawyer. They have another friend named Oliver who is a rich merchant. All of them were travelling through the countryside of France before the French Revolution, and they encountered a poor peasant named Leo. The peasant's condition was really poor, and he had minimal clothes over his body. During the conversation, they discovered that he did not even have adequate food to eat in his house. All of them gave them some money to help him and left.
(A) Jack has enormous wealth as he is a successful businessman. Which estate does he belong to?
(a) 1st estate
(b) 2nd estate
(c) 3rd estate
(d) He belonged to both the 1st and the 2nd estates. (Apply)
(B) Which of the following statements stands true for Oscar and Leo?
(a) They were both employed in the same profession.
(b) Oscar belongs to France while Leo is an immigrant.
(c) Leo is bound to pay taxes to Oscar.
(d) Oscar and Leo are classified under the same estate in French society of the old regime. (Evaluate)
(C) Assertion (A): Jack is economically very rich, while Leo is extremely poor.
Reason (R): Jack belongs to the 2nd estate, while Leo belongs to the 3rd estate.
(a) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
(b) Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
(c) (A) is correct but (R) is wrong.
(d) (A) is wrong but (R) is correct. (Analyse)
(D) Enlist some professions of the people belonging to the 3rd estate. (Remember)
(E) Give two reasons why the government had to raise taxes. (Understand)
Ans. (A) (c) 3rd estate
Explanation: Jack belongs to the 3rd estate. As told in the passage, he is a businessman and all businessman, however rich, belong to the 3rd estate. They pay taxes and do not have any privileges by birth.
(B) (d) Oscar and Leo are classified under the same estate in the French society of the old regime.
Explanation: The estates were divided based on their birth and not economic status. Hence, in the given example, Oscar and Leo both belonged to one estate despite the difference in their economic statuses.
(C) (c) (A) is correct but (R) is wrong.
Explanation: The division of French society was not based on economic terms, but it was based on the accident of birth. The old order classified royal blood under the 2nd estate and the clergy men under the 1st estate, and the rest were classified under the 3rd estate. Economic status had nothing to do with the classification.
(D) The 3rd estate had a very heterogeneous character. The people included in it worked as lawyers, businessman, merchants, traders, peasants, city workers, artisans, labourers, shopkeepers, etc.
(E) Two reasons why the government had to raise taxes are as described follows:
(1) The burden of keeping the French administration afloat rested solely on the shoulders of the 3rd estate.
(2) To release state from tax burden.
