Directions : Read the given passage and answer the questions based on that…
2022
Directions : Read the given passage and answer the questions based on that
What it means to "explain" something in science often comes down to the application of mathematics. Some thinkers hold that mathematics is a kind of language--a systematic contrivance of signs, the criteria for the authority of which are internal coherence, elegance, and depth. The application of such a highly artificial system to the physical world, they claim, results in the creation of a kind of statement about the world. Accordingly, what matters in the sciences is finding a mathematical concept that attempts, as other language does, to describe the functioning of some aspect of the world. At the center of the issue of scientific knowledge can thus be found questions about the relationship between language and what it refers to. A discussion about the role played by language in the pursuit of knowledge has been going on among linguists for several decades. The debate is on whether language corresponds in some essential way to objects and behaviors, making knowledge a solid and reliable commodity; or, on the other hand, whether the relationship between language and things is purely a matter of agreed-upon conventions, making knowledge tenuous, relative, and inexact.
Lately the latter theory has been gaining wider acceptance. According to linguists who support this theory, the way language is used varies depending upon changes in accepted practices and theories among those who work in particular discipline. These linguists argue that, in the pursuit of knowledge, a statement is true only when there are no promising alternatives that might lead one to question it. Certainly, this characterization would seem to be applicable to the sciences. In science, a mathematical statement may be taken to account for every aspect of a phenomenon it is applied to, but some would argue, there is nothing inherent in mathematical language. Under this view, acceptance of a mathematical statement by the scientific community--by virtue of the statement's predictive power or methodological efficiency--transforms what is basically an analogy or metaphor into an explanation of the physical process in question, to be held as true until another, more compelling analogy takes its place.
What is the reason of contention among the linguists?
- A.
The debate is centered around language’s reachability in providing a reliable communication over being just an agreed-upon convention.
- B.
The discussion is over whether language is an effective medium of connecting all section of society irrespective financial status.
- C.
The debate is on giving mathematics the universal language status.
- D.
The discussion is on creating a single language effective in all countries.
- E.
None of these
Attempted by 1 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept
A "reason of contention" question in reading comprehension asks for the precise point on which the named group disagrees. The correct option must restate BOTH sides of the disagreement faithfully and stay within what the passage actually claims — not a nearby theme, an example used as framing, or an idea imported from outside the text.
Application to this passage
The passage states the linguists' debate explicitly:
One side: language corresponds in some essential way to objects and behaviours, which would make knowledge a solid and reliable commodity.
Other side: the relationship between language and things is purely a matter of agreed-upon conventions, which would make knowledge tenuous, relative, and inexact.
So the contention is exactly: does language reliably reach and correspond to real things, or is it only an agreed-upon convention? The choice that pairs language's reliable reachability against being merely an agreed-upon convention captures both poles, and is therefore correct.
Contrast with the other choices
Language connecting sections of society regardless of financial status: introduces an economic/access theme the passage never raises.
Giving mathematics universal-language status: that is the opening framing about science and mathematics, not the linguists' disagreement.
Creating a single language for all countries: a global-communication idea found nowhere in the text.
"None of these": rejected because an accurate restatement of the contention is already present among the choices.
Result
The reason for contention among the linguists is whether language reliably corresponds to objects and behaviours or is merely an agreed-upon convention.