Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
The third great defect of our civilization is that it does not know what to do with its knowledge. Science has given us powers fit for the gods, yet we use them like small children. For example, we do not know how to manage our machines. Machines were made to be man’s servants; yet he has grown so dependent on them that they are in a fair way to become his master. Already most men spend most of their lives looking after and waiting upon machines. And the machines are very stern masters. They must be fed with coal, and given petrol to drink, and oil to wash with, and they must be kept at the right temperature. And if they do not get their meals when they expect them, they grow sulky and refuse to work, or burst with rage, and blow up, and spread ruin and destruction all around them. So, we have to wait upon them very attentively and do all that we can to keep them in a good temper. Already we find it difficult either to work or play without the machines, and a time may come when they will rule us altogether, just as we rule the animals.
And this brings me to the point at which I asked, “What do we do with all the time which the machines have saved for us, and the new energy they have given us?” On the whole, it must be admitted, we do very little. For the most part we use our time and energy to make more and better machines; but more and better machines will only give us still more time and still more energy, and what are we to do with them? The answer, I think, is that we should try to become mere civilized. For the machines themselves, and the power which the machines have given us, are not civilization but aids to civilization. But you will remember that we agreed at the beginning that being civilized meant making and linking beautiful things. Thinking freely and living rightly and maintaining justice equally between man and man. Man has a better chance today to do these things than he ever had before; he has more time, more energy, less to fear and less to fight against. If he will give his time and energy which his machines have won for him to making more beautiful things, to finding out more and more about the universe, to removing the causes of quarrels between nations, to discovering how to prevent poverty, then I think our civilization would undoubtedly be the greater, as it would be the most lasting that there has ever been.

1. Instead of making machines our servants the author says they have become our masters. In what sense has this come about?
The author states that machines were meant to be servants to humans, but instead humans have become dependent on them and are now serving the machines by constantly maintaining and looking after them. The machines have also become strict masters as they need to be fed and cared for constantly, and if they don't get their needs met they can become malfunctional.

2. The use of machines has brought us more leisure and more energy. But the author says that this has been a curse rather than a blessing. Why?
The author argues that the increased leisure and energy brought by machines has not been a blessing because people have not used it to improve their lives or the world around them. Instead, people are primarily using the extra time and energy to make more machines, creating a cycle of dependency.

3. What exactly is the meaning of ‘civilization’? Do you agree with the author’s views?
A civilization is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language. I agree with the author's assertion that civilization entails the creation and fusion of lovely things. Some other characteristics of civilization include ensuring equality of justice between mankind and safeguarding one's freedom of thought and expression.

4. ‘Making more beautiful things’ – what does this expression mean? Make a list of the beautiful things that you would like to make and how you would make them.
The expression "making more beautiful things" means creating things that can be beneficial for mankind as a whole and that can also help him to become more civilized. The list of beautiful things that I would like to make by working on my creative expression would include art and literature.

5. Mention some plans you may have to prevent poverty in the world. Who would receive your most particular attention, and why?
Equitable distribution of wealth, ending indirect taxes, raise in pay with respect to inflation, and most importantly taxing the rich in accordance with their wealth are some of the plans through which poverty can be eliminated in the world. The recipient of this particular attention will be the incredibly rich who are not paying their due share in taxes, legislatures of the different countries to end indirect taxes and make laws for taxing the rich, and the researchers to increase productivity by increasing crop yield.