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.
Which of the following is the synonym of ‘tenuous’ as highlighted in the passage?
- A.
insubstantial
- B.
rigid
- C.
foisting
- D.
vitriolic
- E.
None of these
Attempted by 19 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept
A synonym question asks for the word closest in meaning to the target word, read in its sentence context. "Tenuous" derives from Latin tenuis ("thin"); it describes something having little substance, strength, or solidity — flimsy, weak, or insubstantial.
Application
In the passage the word appears in: "...the relationship between language and things is purely a matter of agreed-upon conventions, making knowledge tenuous, relative, and inexact." Here "tenuous" sits beside "relative" and "inexact", so it must describe knowledge that is weak, flimsy and lacking firm foundation. The word that captures "lacking substance or solidity" is insubstantial.
Contrast
Weighing the other choices against the meaning "thin / lacking substance":
"rigid" means stiff and unyielding — the opposite of thin or flimsy, so it is an antonym, not a synonym.
"foisting" means imposing something unwanted on someone; it has no connection to thinness or weakness.
"vitriolic" means bitter, caustic or harshly critical in tone; it describes hostility, not substance.
"None of these" cannot apply because a clear matching synonym is present among the choices.
Result
The synonym of "tenuous" in this context is insubstantial.