Read the following passage and answer the next five questions by choosing the correct options:
When a subject was accused of a crime of sufficient importance to interest the king, a public notice was given that on an appointed day the fate of the accused person would be decided in the king's arena, a structure which well deserved its name, for, although its form and plan were borrowed from afar, its purpose emanated solely from the brain of this man.
When, all the people had assembled in the galleries, and the king, surrounded by his court, sat high up on his throne of royal state on one side of the arena, he gave a signal, a door beneath him opened, and the accused subject stepped out into the amphitheater. Directly opposite him, on the other side of the enclosed space, were two doors, exactly alike and side by side. It was the duty and the privilege of the person on trial to walk directly to these doors and open one of them. He could open either of the doors he pleased; he was subject to no guidance or influence but that of the aforementioned impartial and incorruptible chance. If he opened the one, there came out of it a hungry tiger, the fiercest and most cruel that could be procured, which immediately sprang upon him and tore him to pieces as a punishment for his guilt. The moment that the case of the criminal was thus decided, doleful iron bells were clanged, great wails went up from the hired mourners posted on the outer rim of the arena, and the vast audience, with bowed heads and downcast hearts, wended slowly their homeward way, mourning greatly that one so young and fair, or so old and respected, should have merited so dire a fate.
But, if the accused person opened the other door, there came forth from it a lady, the most suitable to his years and station that his majesty could select among his fair subjects, and to this lady he was immediately married, as a reward of his innocence. It mattered not that he might already possess a wife and family, or that his affections might be engaged upon an object of his own selection; the king allowed no such subordinate arrangements to interfere with his great scheme of retribution and reward. The exercises, as in the other instance, took place immediately, and in the arena. Another door opened beneath the king, and a priest, followed by a band of choristers....
Choose the word(s) which correctly describe(s) the king's way of dispensing justice.
(A) fair
(B) arbitrary
(C) thoughtful
(D) barbaric
(E) just
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → (B) and (D) Only
(A) fair — Incorrect.
- Contradicted: the fate of the accused does not depend on evidence of guilt or innocence.
- It depends only on which of two identical doors he happens to open.
(B) arbitrary — Correct.
- Arbitrary means based on chance or personal whim, not on reason.
- The accused "could open either of the doors he pleased", guided by nothing "but that of the aforementioned impartial and incorruptible chance".
- Example: The manager's arbitrary decisions upset the whole staff.
(C) thoughtful — Incorrect.
- Contradicted: nothing is weighed or considered.
- The judgement is left entirely to luck.
(D) barbaric — Correct.
- Barbaric means savagely cruel.
- A hungry tiger "tore him to pieces" before a crowd in a public arena.
- Example: Public flogging is now seen as a barbaric punishment.
(E) just — Incorrect.
- Contradicted: a just system punishes the guilty and frees the innocent.
- Here an innocent man may be killed and a guilty one rewarded with a bride, even if he already has a wife.