Read the following passage carefully and answer the question by choosing the correct option.

The great Roman orator, Cicero, in his celebrated treatise on Friendship, remarks with truth that it increases happiness and diminishes misery by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief. When we do well, it is delightful to have friends who are so proud of our success that they receive as much pleasure from it as we do ourselves. For the friendless man the attainment of wealth, power, and honour is of little value. Such possessions contribute to our happiness most by enabling us to do good to others but if all those whom we are able to benefit are strangers, we take far less pleasure in our beneficence than if it were exerted on behalf of friends whose happiness is as dear to us as our own. Further, when we do our duty in spite of temptation, the mental satisfaction obtained from the approval of our conscience is heightened by the praise of our friends; for their judgement is as it were a second conscience, encouraging us in good and deterring us from evil. Our amusements have little zest and soon pall upon us if we engage in them in solitude, or with uncongenial companions, for whom we can feel no affection. Thus in every case our joys are rendered more intense and more permanent by being shared with friends.

It is equally true that, as Cicero points out, friendship diminishes our misery by enabling us to share the burden of it with others. When fortune has inflicted a heavy unavoidable blow upon us, our grief is alleviated by friendly condolence, and by the thought that as long as friends are left to us, life is still worth living.

But many misfortunes which threaten us are not inevitable and in escaping such misfortunes, the advice and active assistance of our friends may be invaluable. The friendless man stands alone, exposed, without protection, to his enemies and to the blows of fortune; but whoever has loyal friends is thereby provided with a strong defence against the worst that fortune can do to him.

(A) Our joys lose their charm if they are shared with friends.
(B) Cicero celebrates 'friendship' by stating that it divides our grief.
(C) The judgement of our friends is like a second conscience that deters us from good work.
(D) Our joys become more permanent when shared with friends.
(E) For a friendless man, attainment of wealth is of utmost value.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :

(A), (C) and (E) Only

The correct answer is: (A), (C) and (E) Only

(A) Our joys lose their charm if they are shared with friends. (This is incorrect; the passage actually states that our joys become more intense and more permanent when shared with friends.)

(C) The judgment of our friends is like a second conscience that deters us from good work. (This is incorrect; the passage states that their judgment encourages us in good and deters us from evil, which means it helps us do good work.)

(E) For a friendless man, attainment of wealth is of utmost value. (This is incorrect; the passage states that for the friendless man, the attainment of wealth, power, and honor is of little value.)

(B) Correct. The passage mentions dividing grief as a benefit of friendship.

(D) Correct. The passage says sharing joys makes them more permanent.