<p>Help please if you don’t mind a little reading :), for some reason no matter how hard I try I can’t “get” the answers to the questions of this passage, it doesn’t seem to make any sense:</p>
<p>A work that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry its justification in every line. And art itself may be defined as a single-minded attempt to render the highest kind of justice to the visible universe, by bringing to light the truth, manifold and one, underlying its every aspect. It is an attempt to find in its forms, in its colours, in its light, in its shadows, in the aspects of matter and in the facts of life, what of each is fundamental, what is enduring and essential – their one illuminating and convincing quality – the very truth of their existence. The artist, then, like the thinker or the scientist, seeks the truth and makes his appeal. Impressed by the aspect of the world the thinker plunges into ideas, the scientist into facts – whence, presently, emerging they make their appeal to those qualities of our being that fit us best for the hazardous enterprise of living. They speak authoritatively to our common-sense, to our intelligence, to our desire of peace or to our desire of unrest; not seldom to our prejudices, sometimes to our fears, often to our egoism – but always to our credulity. And their words are heard with reverence, for their concern is with weighty matters: with the cultivation of our minds and the proper care of our bodies; with the attainment of our ambitions; with the perfection of the means and the glorification of our precious aims. </p>
<p>It is only some such train of thought, or rather of feeling, that can in a measure explain the aim of the attempt, made in the tale which follows, to present an unrestful episode in the obscure lives of a few individuals out of all the disregarded multitude of the bewildered, the simple and the voiceless. For, if there is any part of truth in the belief confessed above, it becomes evident that there is not a place of splendour or a dark corner of the earth that does not deserve, if only a passing glance of wonder and pity. The motive, then, may be held to justify the matter of the work; but this preface, which is simply an avowal of endeavour, cannot end here – for the avowal is not yet complete. </p>
<p>The sincere endeavour to accomplish that creative task, to go as far on that road as his strength will carry him, to go undeterred by faltering, weariness or reproach, is the only valid justification for the worker in prose. And if his conscience is clear, his answer to those who, in the fulness of a wisdom which looks for immediate profit, demand specifically to be edified, consoled, amused; who demand to be promptly improved, or encouraged, or frightened, or shocked, or charmed, must run thus: – My task which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel – it is, before all, to make you see. That – and no more, and it is everything. If I succeed, you shall find there according to your deserts: encouragement, consolation, fear, charm – all you demand; and, perhaps, also that glimpse of truth for which you have forgotten to ask. </p>
<p>The questions I’m having trouble with are -</p>
<li><p>According to Conrad, a problem such as whether exploration into space will be of benefit to future generations should be of greatest interest to the
A. Scientist
B. Philosopher
C. Politician
D. Artist
E. Clergy</p></li>
<li><p>To which of the following ideas would Conrad be most likely to subscribe?
A. Writers who go beneath the surface of their characters’ lives do so at their peril
B. A writer is a creator of beautiful things
C. Literature is bound to be antiscientific
D. The problems of the human heart in conflict with itself are the best subjects of great writing
E. Literature cannot establish values as facts</p></li>
</ol>
<p>3.According to Conrad, fiction above all must seek to achieve a structure in which
A. there is a union of content and form
B. the author stands apart from the world he/she creates
C. Vice as well as virtue is treated with sympathy
D. Characters reflect the author’s view of life
E. Nothing that is not true to life is included</p>
<li><p>According to this passage, the artists in our society seek to appeal to all of the following qualities in people EXCEPT their
A. aspirations
B. dreams and illusions
C. faith in the divine
D. egoism and self-esteem
E. yearnings for a better life</p></li>
<li><p>According to Conrad, fiction must above all
A. expose human degradation
B. avoid the spectral and vistionary
C. recreate a world with universal appeal
D. present a diversity of view and scene
E. penetrate the mind of the reader</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks! This is from barrons btw.</p>