CLOZE COMPREHENSION - I. In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Fill in the blank with the most appropriate option.
Passage: The question whether war is ever justified, and if so under what circumstances, is one which has been forcing itself __(36)__ the attention of all thoughtful men. On this question I find myself in the somewhat __(37)__ position of holding that no single one of the combatants is justified in the present war, while not taking the extreme Tolstoyan view that war is under all circumstances a __(38)__. Opinions on such a subject as war are the outcome of __(39)__ rather than of thought: given a man's emotional temperament, his convictions, __(40)__ on war in general, and on any particular war which may occur during his lifetime, can be __(41)__ with tolerable certainty. The arguments used will be mere reinforcements to convictions otherwise reached. The fundamental facts in this as in all ethical __(42)__ are feelings; all that thought can do is to clarify and systematize the expression of those feelings, and it is such clarifying and systematizing of my own feelings that I wish to __(43)__ in the present article. In fact, the question of rights and wrongs of a particular war is generally __(44)__ from a juridical or quasi-juridical __(45)__.
Blank (40): ...given a man's emotional temperament, his convictions, __(40)__ on war in general, and on any particular war which may occur during his lifetime...
- Ahowever
- Bas well as
- Cboth
- Ddespite
Explanation
The correlative pair "both ... and" is required: "his convictions, both on war in general, and on any particular war which may occur during his lifetime". "However", "as well as", and "despite" cannot complete the both/and structure. Hence (C).