Question 24
ComprehensionJAMB 2002 Passage IV: Defining words
If our thought is to be clear and we are to succeed in communicating it to other people, we must have some method of fixing the meaning of the words we use. When we use a word whose meaning is not certain, we may well be asked to define it. There is a useful traditional device for doing this by indicating the class to which whatever is indicated by the term belongs, and also other particular property which distinguishes it from all other members of the same class. Thus we may define a whale as a 'marine animal that spouts.' 'Marine animal' in this definition indicates the general class to which the whale belongs, and 'spouts' indicates the particular property that distinguishes whales from other such marine animals as fishes, seals, jellyfish and lobsters. In the same way, we can define an even number as a finite integer divisible by two, or a democracy as a system [about two lines unreadable in the book] … find it hard to make a suitable definition of the word 'animal', so we say that an animal is such a thing as a rabbit, dog, fish or goat. Similarly we may say that religion is such a system as Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. This way of indicating the meaning of a term by enumerating examples of what it includes is obviously of limited usefulness. If we indicated our use of the word 'animal' as above, our hearers might, for example, be doubtful whether a sea-anemone or a slug was to be included in the class of animals. It is, however, a useful way of supplementing a definition if the definition itself is definite without being easily understandable. Failure of an attempt at definition to serve its purpose may result from giving as distinguishing mark one which either does not belong to all the things the definition is intended to include, or does belong to some members of the same general class which the definition is intended to exclude.
Adapted from Straight and Crooked Thinking, by R. H. Thouless
Adapted from Straight and Crooked Thinking, by R. H. Thouless
Which of the following statements can be deduced from the passage?
- A.Definitions aid communication when enumeration is accurately handled
- B.Accurate definition is invaluable to communication but difficult to achieve
- C.Every speaker or writer has a method of defining words
- D.There are both traditional and modern methods of defining words.
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: B (Accurate definition is invaluable to communication but difficult to achieve)
Explanation
The writer says clear communication needs definitions, but also shows how definitions can fail, so good definition is valuable yet hard.