Difficulty: Medium
Correct Answer: Only assumption II is implicit.
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
This question asks you to analyse a well known proverb style statement: Laugh and the world will laugh with you. You must decide which assumptions lie behind this optimistic view of social behaviour. Such proverb based questions test whether you can go beyond the literal wording and identify the attitudes or beliefs that must be taken for granted for the saying to make sense.
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:
The proverb suggests that if you express joy or positivity, others will share and reflect it. Laughter is used here as a sign of joy or happiness. Thus the central idea is that laughter represents happiness and that happiness is contagious. The assumption that people generally laugh in day to day life is not required; the proverb only needs people to be capable of laughing and responding to someone who laughs. Assumptions must be necessary for the statement to hold, not merely related facts that might often be true.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: The core message is that when you laugh, others will laugh with you. This expresses the belief that your positive mood influences others.Step 2: For this to have meaning, laughter must stand for something positive, such as joy, happiness, or a pleasant emotional state. This is captured in Assumption II.Step 3: If laughter did not symbolise happiness, inviting people to laugh with you would not convey the idea of sharing joy. The statement would lose its motivational force.Step 4: Now consider Assumption I: People generally laugh. The proverb does not need to assume that laughter is frequent in everyday life; it only presumes that when someone laughs in a positive context, others may join.Step 5: Even in a very serious society where people rarely laugh, the idea of the proverb could still hold: if you laugh, others will laugh with you, even if this happens rarely.Step 6: Therefore the statement does not logically require Assumption I to be true.Step 7: Hence only Assumption II is implicit in the proverb like statement.
Verification / Alternative check:
Imagine a culture where laughter is considered a neutral noise with no emotional meaning. In that context, the sentence Laugh and the world will laugh with you would not convey the idea that joy spreads and comes back to you. The proverb would lose its sense. This shows that assuming laughter symbolises happiness is essential. On the other hand, imagine a world where people normally stay serious but still laugh when they genuinely feel happy. The proverb can still work: your happiness can make others happy, even if laughter is not common in every moment. So the general frequency of laughter is not a necessary assumption.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Common Pitfalls:
Final Answer:
Only assumption II is implicit: laughter symbolises happiness in the context of this proverb.
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