Read the passage about the purpose of education, examinations, and specialization. Then answer the question. According to the author, what is the primary purpose of education?

Introduction / Context:
The passage offers a thoughtful definition of education. It criticises examinations and specialization as serious obstacles, and then describes what education ought to do for human beings. The question asks what the purpose of education is according to this passage. To answer correctly, we must select the option that captures the full scope described, not a narrow or partial function such as passing exams or simply learning a list of moral rules.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The passage states that a person finds himself or herself a creature of unknown capacities in an unknown world.
• Such a person wants to learn what the world is like and what to be and do in it.
• The passage clearly says that helping a person answer these questions is the one and only purpose of education.
• Examinations are described as an opiate and a poison that hinder this purpose.
• Specialization is also identified as a serious hindrance.

Concept / Approach:
We must pick the option that matches the full statement of purpose in the passage. This purpose includes understanding one’s own capacities, understanding the world, and deciding how to act and live. It is wider than exam success, moral knowledge alone, or narrow career preparation. Therefore, any option that focuses only on tests, only on values, or only on jobs does not fully reflect the passage.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the key sentence: To help man answer what the world is like and what he should be and do in it is the one and only purpose of education. Step 2: Evaluate option D. It says that education should help a person understand personal potential, the surrounding world, and one’s role and actions in it. This accurately reflects the cited sentence. Step 3: Evaluate option A. It reduces education to performance in examinations, but the passage criticises exam centred thinking. Step 4: Evaluate option B. It mentions right values, which are certainly important, but the passage connects values with a wider purpose, not as the only aim. Step 5: Evaluate option C. It treats knowing right and wrong as the only aim, which is again too narrow and incomplete. Step 6: Evaluate option E. It describes preparation mainly for specialised careers, which the passage treats as a hindrance, not the central goal.

Verification / Alternative check:
We can verify our answer by asking what the author would likely think of a system that produces exam toppers who have no clarity about themselves or the world. The passage suggests that such a system fails in its main task. Thus, the author would insist on a broader aim of self discovery and world understanding. Option D is the only one that covers all these elements. The other options either contradict the passage or oversimplify the aim of education.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A is wrong because the passage sees exams as a hindrance, not as an end. Option B is wrong because while values are important, the passage presents them as part of a larger educational purpose. Option C is wrong because it reduces education to moral knowledge alone, which the passage does not do. Option E is wrong because the passage treats specialization as a serious problem, not as the main goal.

Common Pitfalls:
Many learners equate education with examination success or with career training because that is how they experience it in practice. When reading a reflective passage like this one, it is important to put aside these assumptions and focus on what the author actually states. Here, the author offers a much deeper and more philosophical view of education’s purpose, and that must guide the answer.

Final Answer:
According to the passage, the primary purpose of education is to help a person understand personal potential, understand the world, and decide what to be and do in it.