The greatest blessing that technological progress has in store for mankind is not, of course, an accumulation of material possessions. The amount of these that can be effectively enjoyed by one individual in one lifetime is not great. But there is not the same narrow limit to the possibilities of the enjoyment of leisure. The gift of leisure may be abused by people who have had no experience of making use of it. Yet the creative use of leisure by a minority in societies has been the mainspring of all human progress beyond the primitive level. 46. With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made: 1. People always see the leisure time as a gift and use it for acquiring more material possessions. 2. Use of leisure by some people to produce new and original things has been the chief source of human progress. Which of these assumptions is/are valid?

The passage states that the "creative use of leisure by a minority in societies has been the mainspring of all human progress beyond the primitive level."

Let's analyze each assumption:

1. People always see the leisure time as a gift and use it for acquiring more material possessions.

   • The passage says, "The gift of leisure may be abused by people who have had no experience of making use of it." This contradicts the idea that people always see it as a gift and use it productively.
   • The passage contrasts leisure with material possessions, stating that the greatest blessing is not an accumulation of material possessions. It does not suggest leisure is used to acquire more material possessions.
   • Therefore, this assumption is invalid.

2. Use of leisure by some people to produce new and original things has been the chief source of human progress.

   • The passage explicitly states, "the creative use of leisure by a minority in societies has been the mainspring of all human progress beyond the primitive level."
   • "Creative use of leisure" aligns with "use of leisure by some people to produce new and original things."
   • "Mainspring of all human progress" means the chief source or driving force of progress.
   • Therefore, this assumption is valid and directly supported by the passage.

Since only assumption 2 is valid, option B is the correct answer.