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Direction: Go through the passage and answer the question: Passage: Most of us use the products of science - railway, aeroplanes, electricity, wireless and thousands of others without thinking how…

Question and options

Direction: Go through the passage and answer the question:
Passage:
Most of us use the products of science - railway, aeroplanes, electricity, wireless and thousands of others without thinking how did they come into existence. We take them for granted, as if we are entitled to them as a matter of right. And we are very proud of the fact that we live in an advanced age and are ourselves so very advanced. Now, there is no doubt that our age is a very different from previous ages and I think it is perfectly correct to say that it is far more advanced. But that is a different thing from saying that we as individuals or groups are more advanced. It would be the height of absurdity to say that because an engine driver can run an engine and Plato or Socrates could not, the engine driver is more advanced than, or is superior to, Plato or Socrates. But it would be perfectly correct to say that the engine itself is a more advanced method of locomotion than Plato's chariot was.

In this passage, the writer mentions Plato and Socrates to emphasise that
  1. they had a great respect for learning
  2. they were men of great scholarship
  3. people as individuals in the modern age are not more advanced than their predecessors
  4. ancient philosophers were ignorant of science

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: C - people as individuals in the modern age are not more advanced than their predecessors
The author uses Plato and Socrates to show that although our age is more advanced, we as individuals are not more advanced than our predecessors. Their learning and scholarship are not his point, and he does not call them ignorant.

Practice for these exams

  • CUSAT Three-Year LL.B.

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