Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the only animal that…
2023
Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be. We weep at what exceeds our expectations in serious matters; we laugh at what disappoints our expectations in trifles. We shed tears from sympathy with real and necessary distress; as we burst into laughter from want of sympathy with that which is unreasonable and unnecessary. Tears are the natural and involuntary response of the mind overcome by some sudden and violent emotions. Laughter is the same sort of convulsive and involuntary movement, occasioned by mere surprise or contrast.
The serious is the stress which the mind lays upon the expectations of a given order of events and the weight attached to them. When this stress is increased beyond its usual intensity and strains the feelings by the violent opposition of good and bad, it becomes the tragic. The ludicrous is the unexpected relaxing of this stress below its usual intensity, by an abrupt transposition of ideas that takes the mind by surprise and startles it into lively sense of pleasure.
It can be inferred from the passage that the ludicrous is most nearly opposite to the
Answer: A. Serious — CONCEPTAn opposite is a word or idea that reverses the governing relationship in context, not merely a word that appears nearby. For an inference question,…
- A.
Serious
- B.
Surprise
- C.
Pleasure
- D.
Unexpected
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
CONCEPT
An opposite is a word or idea that reverses the governing relationship in context, not merely a word that appears nearby.
For an inference question, identify how the passage defines each idea and compare the direction of the defining relationship.
APPLICATION
The passage defines the serious as the mind's stress on an expected order and the weight attached to it. It then defines the ludicrous as an unexpected relaxation of that same stress below its usual intensity. Increased or maintained stress and relaxed stress therefore point in opposite directions.
CONTRAST
Serious: the governing stress whose relaxation produces the ludicrous contrast.
Surprise: the reaction caused by the abrupt transposition of ideas.
Pleasure: the lively feeling produced after the mind is startled.
Unexpected: the manner in which the relaxation occurs.
RESULT
Thus, in the passage, the ludicrous is most nearly opposite to serious.