Three of the following describe software professionals in the services sector. Which one is the odd one out?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Exhausted by forty, many taking voluntary retirement
Option (1) Middle class and well educated — Incorrect. Software professionals in the services sector are described as middle class and well educated. This fits the group, so it is not the odd one out.
Option (2) Skilled in a different way from a farmer — Incorrect. A farmer's skill rests on knowing crops, weather, soil and seeds. A software professional has another kind of knowledge, so both are skilled in different ways and this line also fits the group.
Option (3) Exhausted by forty, many taking voluntary retirement — Correct. This describes factory workers worn out by fast, repetitive work on an assembly line. It belongs to another group of workers, so it is the odd one out.
Option (4) Work supposed to be self-motivated and creative — Incorrect. Software work is supposed to be self-motivated and creative. This is the usual picture of the same group of professionals, so it is not the odd one out.
NCERT (2026-27): “5.4 How is work carried out … “One important debate in sociology is whether industrialisation and the shift to services and knowledge-based work, like IT, leads to greater skills in society. We often hear the phrase ‘knowledge economy’ to describe the growth of IT sector in India. But how do you compare the skills of a farmer who knows how to grow many hundreds of crops relying on his or her understanding of the weather, the soil and the seeds, with the knowledge of a software professional? Both are skilled but in different ways. …” |