Directions: Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. The general recognition of this fact is shown in the proverbial phrase, “It is the busiest man who has time to spare”. Thus, an elderly lady at leisure can spend the entire day writing a postcard to her niece. An hour will be spent in finding the postcard, another hunting for spectacles, half an hour to search for the address, an hour and a quarter in composition and twenty minutes in deciding whether or not to take an umbrella when going to the $\underline{pillar-box}$ in the street. The total effort that would occupy a busy man for three minutes, all told, may in this fashion leave another person completely exhausted after a day of doubt, anxiety and toil.

What is the total time spent by the elderly lady in writing a postcard?

Question

Directions: Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. The general recognition of this fact is shown in the proverbial phrase, “It is the busiest man who has time to spare”. Thus, an elderly lady at leisure can spend the entire day writing a postcard to her niece. An hour will be spent in finding the postcard, another hunting for spectacles, half an hour to search for the address, an hour and a quarter in composition and twenty minutes in deciding whether or not to take an umbrella when going to the $\underline{pillar-box}$ in the street. The total effort that would occupy a busy man for three minutes, all told, may in this fashion leave another person completely exhausted after a day of doubt, anxiety and toil.

What is the total time spent by the elderly lady in writing a postcard?

Accepted Answer

The question asks for the total time spent by the elderly lady in writing a postcard.

**Justification for Option 2: A full day**

The passage explicitly states, "Thus, an elderly lady at leisure can spend the entire day writing a postcard to her niece." This sentence directly answers the question, indicating that the total time she dedicates to this task is "the entire day." The subsequent breakdown of specific time intervals for various sub-tasks (finding the postcard, hunting for spectacles, searching for the address, composition, deciding about an umbrella) serves to illustrate *how* she fills that "entire day" due to her leisure and the principle that "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." The passage concludes by stating that this process "may in this fashion leave another person completely exhausted after a day of doubt, anxiety and toil," further reinforcing that the overall duration of her engagement with the postcard is a full day.

**Explanation for why other options are incorrect:**

*   **Option 1: Three minutes**
    This option is incorrect because the passage states, "The total effort that would occupy a busy man for three minutes, all told..." This refers to the time a *busy man* would take to complete the task, not the elderly lady. The elderly lady, being at leisure, takes significantly longer.

*   **Option 3: Four hours and five minutes**
    This option is incorrect because, while it is the approximate sum of the specific time intervals mentioned for individual sub-tasks (1 hour + 1 hour + 30 minutes + 1 hour 15 minutes + 20 minutes = 4 hours and 5 minutes), the passage's main point and direct statement is that she "can spend the entire day." The detailed breakdown illustrates *how* the work expands to fill the available time, leading to her exhaustion *after a day*. The "entire day" is the total duration she dedicates to the task, not just the sum of the explicitly listed components. The passage emphasizes the expansion of work to fill the *available time*, which for her is a full day.

*   **Option 4: Half an hour**
    This option is incorrect because "half an hour" is only the time spent on one specific sub-task: "half an hour to search for the address." It does not represent the total time spent on writing the entire postcard.