Instructions

Answer questions on the basis of the paragraph below

We are not only afraid of being in the dark; we are also suspicious of being kept in the dark. We often feel that the universe has a hidden order that we cannot quite comprehend. In ancient times, this order was attributed to the gods – omnipotent beings who controlled humans’ fates. Greek myths in particular portrayed humans as pawns in the great games played by the gods. More recently, there are suspicions of global conspiracies. These conspiracies are cited for events that are too important to be random. We no longer describe them as “Acts of God,” so they must be the work of other people - people who are hiding their influence over us, covering up their involvement. They are keeping the rest of us in the dark. Among the events attributed to these people are political assassinations and UFO sightings.
Examining these events in minute detail results in a long list of “coincidences” which,
in the minds of the conspiracy buffs, are too numerous to be truly random. There must be a central planner who is at the hub of a sinister form of order. No one admits to the conspiracy, so there must be a cover - up. Better to think that we are all being kept in the dark by sinister forces than to admit that there is no order.

Question 27

Which of the following statements, if true, would weaken the underlying logic of the above passage?
i. The human need for order is a highly exaggerated notion. It more often than not leads to creation of theories about the universe. The more sensational the theory, the more prevalent it becomes.
ii. The universe is less guided by pure randomness than by well - defined natural processes which are subjected to randomness at varying intervals of time and space.
iii. To strengthen their case for a variety of conspiracies the conspiracy buffs are extrapolating from a very small set of observed “coincidences”.
iv. The persons propounding the different conspiracy theories are usually novelists who use these theories as a backdrop during the construction of the plots of the novels.
v. The human fear of being kept in the dark is much stronger than the fear of lack of order in the working of the universe.

Solution

According to conspiracy theorists, there is an underlying cause behind every happening.
Statement I weakens as it mentions order as exaggerated notion.
Statement II weakens as it says that there is a randomness in the order.|
Statement III weakens as it says that conspiracy theorists have a very small sample space of observation.
Statement IV strengthens and statement V is neutral.

Hence, option A is the correct answer.


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