Directions: Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to the question out of the four alternatives given. The speech is a great blessing but it can also be a great curse. While it helps…
Question and options
Directions: Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to the question out of the four alternatives given.
The speech is a great blessing but it can also be a great curse. While it helps us to make our intentions and desires known to our fellows, it can also, if we use it carelessly make our attitudes completely misunderstood. A slip of the tongue, the use of an unusual word or of an ambiguous word may create an enemy where we have hoped to win a friend. Again different classes of people use different vocabularies and ordinary speech of an educated man may strike an uneducated listener as showing pride; unwillingly we may use a word which bears a different meaning to our listeners from what it does to men of our own class. Thus speech is not a gift to use lightly without thought but one which demands careful handling, only a fool will express himself alike to all.
The speech is a great blessing but it can also be a great curse. While it helps us to make our intentions and desires known to our fellows, it can also, if we use it carelessly make our attitudes completely misunderstood. A slip of the tongue, the use of an unusual word or of an ambiguous word may create an enemy where we have hoped to win a friend. Again different classes of people use different vocabularies and ordinary speech of an educated man may strike an uneducated listener as showing pride; unwillingly we may use a word which bears a different meaning to our listeners from what it does to men of our own class. Thus speech is not a gift to use lightly without thought but one which demands careful handling, only a fool will express himself alike to all.
The passage reveals that
- the use of ambiguous and unusual words brings us friends
- careless use of words creates enemies
- careful use of words may bring us profit but not friends
- speech always reflects one's attitudes
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B - careless use of words creates enemies
The passage states that a slip of the tongue or an ambiguous word may create an enemy where we hoped to win a friend, i.e. careless use of words creates enemies.
Practice for these exams
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CUSAT Three-Year LL.B.
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