One of the peculiarities which distinguish the present age is the multiplication of books. Everyday brings new advertisements of literary undertakings, and we are flattered with repeated promises of…
Question and options
One of the peculiarities which distinguish the present age is the multiplication of books. Everyday brings new advertisements of literary undertakings, and we are flattered with repeated promises of growing wise on easier terms than our progenitors. How much either happiness or knowledge is advanced by this multitude of authors, is not very easy to decide.
He that teaches us anything which we know not before, is undoubtedly to be loved as a benefactor; and he that supplies life with innocent amusement, will certainly be caressed as a pleasing companion.
But a few of those who fill the world with books, have any pretensions to the hope either of pleasing or instructing. They have often no other task than to lay two books before them out of which they compile a third, without any new materials of their own, and with little application of judgement to those which former authors have supplied.
That all compilations are useless, I do not assert. Particles of science are often widely scattered upon topics very remote from the principal subject, which are often more valuable than formal treatises, and which yet are not known because they are not promised in the title. He that collects those under proper heads is laudably employed; for though he exerts no great abilities in the work, he facilitates the progress of others, and, by making that easy of attainment which is already written, may give some mind more vigorous or more adventurous than his own, leisure for new thoughts and originality of designs.
But the collections poured lately from the press have seldom been made at any great expense of time or inquiry and therefore only serve to distract choice without supplying any real want.
Which of the following terms suitably describe the idea stated in the given passage:
I. Copyright laws
II. Plagiarism
III. Duplication
IV. Innovation
He that teaches us anything which we know not before, is undoubtedly to be loved as a benefactor; and he that supplies life with innocent amusement, will certainly be caressed as a pleasing companion.
But a few of those who fill the world with books, have any pretensions to the hope either of pleasing or instructing. They have often no other task than to lay two books before them out of which they compile a third, without any new materials of their own, and with little application of judgement to those which former authors have supplied.
That all compilations are useless, I do not assert. Particles of science are often widely scattered upon topics very remote from the principal subject, which are often more valuable than formal treatises, and which yet are not known because they are not promised in the title. He that collects those under proper heads is laudably employed; for though he exerts no great abilities in the work, he facilitates the progress of others, and, by making that easy of attainment which is already written, may give some mind more vigorous or more adventurous than his own, leisure for new thoughts and originality of designs.
But the collections poured lately from the press have seldom been made at any great expense of time or inquiry and therefore only serve to distract choice without supplying any real want.
Which of the following terms suitably describe the idea stated in the given passage:
I. Copyright laws
II. Plagiarism
III. Duplication
IV. Innovation
- I and II only
- II and III only
- I and IV only
- II, III and IV only
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B - II and III only
The writer criticises authors who ‘lay two books before them out of which they compile a third, without any new materials of their own’. That is copying, so II (plagiarism) and III (duplication) describe it. Copyright law (I) is not discussed, and innovation (IV) is what the writer finds missing.
Practice for these exams
-
JIPMAT
-
Supreme Court Law Clerk and Research Associate
Subject revision
Related question papers
Related exam syllabi
More solved explanations in Reading comprehension
- Read the passage and answer the question. Over the years legal scholars have attempted to define privacy but it is only in the last century this word has been used…
- Directions: Read the passage carefully and answer the question that follows. PASSAGE 4 In the world today we make health an end in itself. We have forgotten that…
- While a majority of homeless groups exist solely in modernized cultures, homelessness remains a problem throughout the world. Everywhere there are people in…
- Employers expect managers and leaders to consider the various viewpoints to make thoughtful and tough decisions. Good decision-makers do not get influenced by…
- Read the following passage and answer the question given below: The Olympic flame or Olympic fire is a symbol of the Olympic Games. It is ignited several months…