Practice Question - The Devil's Dictionary

One source that's appeared in at least one GAMSAT test and several practice tests is Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary. The entire dictionary makes use of satirical definitions for humour.

Question:

TELEPHONE, n.

An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance.

The author suggests that telephones are bad because

a) They are an invention of the devil.
b) They allow one to avoid disagreeable people.
c) They abrogate, or force, higher levels of contact between all people.
d) They allow disagreeable people to contact one.

ACER also provided a test question to the Guardian when they published an article on the use of the GAMSAT in the UK.

Question:

IMPARTIAL, adj. Unable to perceive any promise of personal advantage from espousing either side of a controversy or adopting either of the two conflicting opinions.

The definition suggests that being impartial is a sign of:

a) indecision
b) lack of insight
c) lack of interest
d) lack of prejudice

Answer: C

The usual meaning of 'impartial' is closest to answer D, lack of prejudice. However, the Devil's Dictionary definition undermines the very possibility of such a notion of impartiality. The unstated premise is that people are motivated by self-interest and that no one would bother to take sides on an issue unless they had something to gain by doing so. Here, the point of criticism is not that people are too blind to recognise personal advantage, but they are all too likely to recognise nothing else.