Difficulty: Easy
Correct Answer: Only conclusion II follows
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:Proverbs encode specific ideas. “Adversity makes a man wise” focuses on the educational impact of hardship, not on social class. We must evaluate two conclusions: I) The poor are wise. II) Man learns from bitter experience. The correct reading preserves the proverb’s intended scope and avoids unwarranted generalizations about poverty.
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:Map the proverb to a general causal relation: adversity —> wisdom. While many poor people may face adversity, the proverb does not equate poverty with adversity nor guarantee wisdom to a group by economic status. It instead implies that difficult experiences can teach valuable lessons, which is captured by conclusion II.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Assess I: “The poor are wise.” This leaps from adversity to poverty as a defining criterion. The statement makes no such identification and therefore I does not follow.Assess II: “Man learns from bitter experience.” This is a near-paraphrase of the proverb’s claim that hardship educates, so II follows.Verification / Alternative check:
Counterexample to I: A person may be poor without facing formative adversity that yields wisdom; conversely, a wealthy person may experience adversity (e.g., illness) and become wiser.Why Other Options Are Wrong:
A: Accepts I, which is unsupported.C: “Either” is incorrect because II clearly follows and I does not.D: Rejecting both ignores the proverb’s evident meaning captured by II.E: Accepting both wrongly includes I.Common Pitfalls:
Equating adversity with poverty, or treating a figurative statement as a categorical statement about a demographic group.Final Answer:Only conclusion II follows
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