Read the following passage and answer the questions based on it.

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 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 happens when the time to be spent on some work increases ?

Question

Read the following passage and answer the questions based on it.

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 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 happens when the time to be spent on some work increases ?

Accepted Answer

Here's a detailed explanation based on the provided passage:

**Justification for Option 3 (The work consumes all the time):**

The passage explicitly states its central premise in the very first sentence: "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." This statement directly supports Option 3. When the time available for a task increases, the work itself expands to occupy that entire duration. The example of the elderly lady perfectly illustrates this: a task (writing a postcard) that would take a busy man three minutes ends up consuming her entire day because she has a full day available. The work, therefore, "consumes all the time" that is made available for it.

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

*   **Option 1: The work is done leisurely**
    While the elderly lady might appear to be at leisure, the passage clarifies that her day is filled with "doubt, anxiety and toil," and she is left "completely exhausted." This contradicts the idea of the work being done simply "leisurely." The core point is not the relaxed pace, but the expansion of the work to fill the available time, which can lead to inefficiency and exhaustion, not necessarily a pleasant, leisurely experience.

*   **Option 2: The work is done smoothly**
    The passage directly refutes this. The elderly lady's process involves "finding the postcard," "hunting for spectacles," "search for the address," and "deciding whether or not to take an umbrella." This fragmented, time-consuming, and anxiety-ridden process ("doubt, anxiety and toil") is the opposite of smooth. The expansion of work often leads to overcomplication and inefficiency, not smoothness.

*   **Option 4: The work needs additional time**
    This option implies that the inherent nature of the work itself demands more time. However, the passage demonstrates the opposite. The same work (writing a postcard) takes a busy man only three minutes. This shows that the work does not *inherently need* additional time. Instead, it *expands to fill* the additional time that is *available*. The problem isn't the work's inherent need, but its tendency to expand to fill the given timeframe.