RC1

The history of human growth and development is at the same time the
history of the terrible struggle of every
new idea heralding the approach of a brighter dawn. In its tenacious
hold on tradition, the Old has never
hesitated to make use of the foulest and cruelest means to avoid the
advent of the New, in whatever form or
period the latter may have asserted itself. We need not retrace our
steps into the distant past to realize the
enormity of opposition, difficulties, and hardships placed in the path
of every progressive idea. The rack, the
thumbscrew, and the knout are still with us; so are the convict's garb
and the social wrath, all conspiring
against the spirit that is serenely marching on. Anarchism could not
hope to escape the fate of all other ideas
of innovation. Indeed, as the most revolutionary and uncompromising
innovator, Anarchism must meet with
the combined ignorance and venom of the world it aims to reconstruct.
The strange phenomenon of the opposition to Anarchism is that it
brings to light the relation between socalled
intelligence and ignorance. And yet this is not so very strange when
we consider the relativity of all
things. The ignorant mass has in its favor that it makes no pretense
of knowledge or tolerance. Acting, as it
always does, by mere impulse, its reasons are like those of a child.
"Why?" "Because." Yet the opposition of
the uneducated to Anarchism deserves the same consideration as that of
the intelligent man.

What, then, are the objections? First, Anarchism is impractical,
though a beautiful ideal. Second, Anarchism
stands for violence and destruction, hence it must be repudiated as
vile and dangerous. Both the intelligent
man and the ignorant mass judge not from a thorough knowledge of the
subject, but either from hearsay or
false interpretation.
A practical scheme, says Oscar Wilde, is either one already in
existence, or a scheme that could be carried out
under the existing conditions; but it is exactly the existing
conditions that one objects to, and any scheme that
could accept these conditions is wrong and foolish. The true criterion
of the practical, therefore, is not
whether the latter can keep intact the wrong or foolish; rather is it
whether the scheme has vitality enough to
leave the stagnant waters of the old, and build, as well as sustain,
new life. In the light of this conception,
Anarchism is indeed practical. More than any other idea, it is helping
to do away with the wrong and foolish;
more than any other idea, it is building and sustaining new life.
The emotions of the ignorant man are continuously kept at a pitch by
the most blood-curdling stories about
Anarchism. Not a thing too outrageous to be employed against this
philosophy and its exponents. Therefore
Anarchism represents to the unthinking what the proverbial bad man
does to the child,—a black monster bent
on swallowing everything; in short, destruction and violence.
Destruction and violence! How is the ordinary man to know that the
most violent element in society is
ignorance; that its power of destruction is the very thing Anarchism
is combating? Nor is he aware that
Anarchism, whose roots, as it were, are part of nature's forces,
destroys, not healthful tissue, but parasitic
growths that feed on the life's essence of society. It is merely
clearing the soil from weeds and sagebrush, that
it may eventually bear healthy fruit. Someone has said that it
requires less mental effort to condemn than to
think. The widespread mental indolence, so prevalent in society,
proves this to be only too true. Rather than
to go to the bottom of any given idea, to examine into its origin and
meaning, most people will either condemn
it altogether, or rely on some superficial or prejudicial definition
of non-essentials.

48. The passage is primarily concerned with
(1) identifying the contribution of the old ideologies to the present world
(2) exposing the dubious character of the intelligent men
(3) the novelty value of the idea of anarchism and its understanding
(4) revealing the untimely death of progressive ideas
(5) to express support to the basic idea of violence and destruction

49. Which of the following best describes the function of the fourth paragraph?
(1) To identify the flaws in the pragmatic and anarchistic approach
(2) To describe the complimentary relationship between the existing
condition and anarchism
(3) To revert to the objections of the disbelievers of anarchism by
magnifying its true pragmatic approach
(4) To refute Oscar Wilde's beliefs about the existing world and the
practical scheme
(5) To identify the misgivings of the people toward Oscar Wilde's theory

50. By the author's statements, it can be inferred that she would be
most likely to agree with which one of
the following?
(1) The ignorant man's ignorance is not only employed by the lack of
his own understanding but also
by the efforts of those who want them to be oblivious.
(2) The acceptance of new ideas depends on that community of people
which propagates those ideas
(3) Anarchism dichotomizes the intelligent from the ignorant and
destroys those who have been thriving
in society as parasites.
(4) The only pragmatic way is the present one which presents the
correct order of things as proposed by
our ancestors.
(5) That intelligence often gives way to Anarchism and is just a tool
for the erudite to discuss in their
living rooms.


51. The author is outraged by the judgement of anarchism from both the
ignorant and intelligent men
because
(1) their judgement is consistent with the exponents of anarchism
(2) their judgement is based on religion and social ethics
(3) their judgement is in opposition with the views of proponents of anarchism
(4) their judgement is based on unsubstantiated information and misconceptions
(5) their judgement is based on selfish motives

52. The tone of the author can be described as:
(1) adulatory (2) sympathetic (3) opinionated (4) equivocal (5) reverential