How many of the following are services rather than goods?
(A) A lecture given by a teacher
(B) A cotton shirt
(C) A health check-up done by a doctor
(D) A bag of rice
(E) Delivery of letters by the post office
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Three
Goods are physical, tangible objects. Services are the intangible satisfaction of wants, like the tasks of doctors and teachers.
(A) A lecture given by a teacher — Service. Teaching is a task done for us, not an object.
(B) A cotton shirt — Good. A shirt is a physical object, like other clothes.
(C) A health check-up done by a doctor — Service. It is a doctor’s task.
(D) A bag of rice — Good. Rice is a food item that can be touched and stored.
(E) Delivery of letters by the post office — Service. Delivering letters is a postal service.
(A), (C) and (E) are services: three in all.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.1 A Simple Economy Think of any society. People in the society need many goods and services in their everyday life including food, clothing, shelter, transport facilities like roads and railways, postal services and various other services like that of teachers and doctors. In fact, the list of goods and services that any individual needs is so large that no individual in society, to begin with, has all the things she needs. …” “By goods we means physical, tangible objects used to satisfy people’s wants and needs. The term ‘goods’ should be contrasted with the term ‘services’, which captures the intangible satisfaction of wants and needs. As compared to food items and clothes, which are examples of goods, we can think of the tasks that doctors and teachers perform for us as examples of services.” |