Cause of failure number one, is the habit of quitting when the going gets hard. No matter who you are or how skilled you may be in your occupation, there will be times when the going gets hard and unpleasant circumstances will overtake you. If you yield easily to these obstacles, you may as well write yourself off as far as becoming a great success is concerned. But, assuming that you will follow the success rules when you meet with opposition of any nature, instead of quitting, you will turn on more willpower, stoke the fires of a stronger faith in your own ability, and make up your mind that come what may you will not sell yourself short. Do that and you will soon succeed.
I had one of the greatest insights of my life when Thomas A. Edison told me how he reacted to failure when he was trying to perfect the incandescent electric lamp. Before he found the solution to his problem he tried more than ten thousand different ideas, every one of which was a failure. Just think of that, a man keeping on despite ten thousand failures with faith unshaken, and at long last being crowned with victory. One failure is sufficient to make the average person quit. Perhaps this is why there are so many average persons and there was only one Thomas A. Edison.
According to the writer, why is there only one Thomas A. Edison? Because __________.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → he kept on trying without losing hope
Edison tried more than ten thousand ideas, every one a failure, and kept on "with faith unshaken" until he succeeded. The writer contrasts this with the average person, whom one failure is enough to make quit, and says this is perhaps why there was only one Edison.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: an average man cannot do the research — Incorrect. Wrong reason: the passage speaks of the average person's habit of quitting, not of any lack of ability to do research.
Option 3: an average person does not have strong will power — Incorrect. Wrong focus: the question asks why Edison was unique; the passage answers with what he did, keeping on after every failure. It does not judge the average person's will power; it says only that one failure makes him quit.
Option 4: he knew the rules of success — Incorrect. Not mentioned: the passage never says Edison knew any rules; what marks him out is that he did not give up.