XAT 2016 — VARC Question 11
Read the following conversation:
OINOS: I can comprehend you thus far-that certain operations of what we term Nature, or the natural laws, will, under certain conditions, give rise to that which has all the appearance of creation. Shortly before the final overthrow of the earth, there were, I well remember, many very successful experiments in what some philosophers were weak enough to denominate the creation of animaculae.
AGATHOS: The cases of which you speak were, in fact, instances of the secondary creation-and of the only species of creation which has ever been, since the first word spoke into existence the first law.
Which of the following options CANNOT be DEFINITELY inferred based on the above conversation?
Answer & solution
- A
Agathos was explaining something related to creation to Oinos.
- B
At the time of conversation there was nothing called Earth.
- C
The creation of animalculae is a natural law.
Natural laws are creations of philosophers.
- E
Law is a spoken word.
Option 1 can definitely be concluded from elaborate explanation of creation given by Agathos in response to Oinos's understanding of creation.
Option 2 can be concluded from the phrase “final overthrow of Earth” which indicates that during this conversation, Earth had ceased to exist.
Option 3 is incorrect according to the passage. In the passage, Oinos says that many philosophers were wrong in denominating their successful experiments as the creation of animalculae. This is because creation of animalculae is happens naturally.
Option 4 cannot be inferred because it is only given that philosophers tried to name their experiments as animalculae and nothing about their creation of natural laws has been mentioned.
Option 5 is mentioned verbatim in the last line of the passage.
Hence, the correct answer is option 4.