Sentence completion and meaning of the sentence, please do help!!

Question

Dear people:Do help plzSentence completion:Direction: choose the word or set of words for each blank that best fits the meaning of the sentence as a wholeIn a..society that worships efficiency, it is difficult for a sensitive and idealistic person to make the kinds of..decisions that alone spell success as it is defined by such a society.A) bureaucratic..edifying B) pragmatic..hardheaded C) rational..well-intentioned D) competitive..even-handed E) modern..dysfunctionalThe answer is E. I don't understand the meaning of the completed sentenceIn a "MODERN" society that worships efficiency, it is difficult for a sensitive and idealistic person to make the kinds of "DYSFUNCTIONAL" decisions that alone spell success as it is defined by such a society.Does "dysfunctional" mean "strange" or "irregular"?but what does the phrase "as it is defined by such a society" mean? in my understanding, it means " a modern society defined these kinds of decisions as "irregular" and therefore it is difficult for them to succeed", is it correct?After all, please explain the meaning of the sentence to me.Please do help, if you all feel interested in these GRE questions I am very glad to go on posting them to ask in the group.Thank youLiu Ju

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]In a "MODERN" society that worships efficiency, it is difficult for a sensitive and idealistic person to make the kinds of "DYSFUNCTIONAL" decisions that alone spell success as it is defined by such a society. Does "dysfunctional" mean "strange" or "irregular"?[/nq]
Yes. The person's thoughts and actions don't fit in with society's expectations.

To paraphrase the sentence:

Modern society expects you to make decisions that the writer thinks are bad (i.e. dysfunctional) if you want to be successful in that society. Sensitive/idealistic people find it personally difficult to make the expected decisions, so are unlikely to be successful.

Usenet · Answer

on 09 Nov 2003:
[nq:2]In a "MODERN" society that worships efficiency, it is difficult ... by such a society. Does "dysfunctional" mean "strange" or "irregular"?[/nq]
[nq:1]Yes. The person's thoughts and actions don't fit in with society's expectations. To paraphrase the sentence: Modern society expects you ... in that society. Sensitive/idealistic people find it personally difficult to make the expected decisions, so are unlikely to be successful.[/nq]
Let's take this analysis one step further. If "dysfunctional" means "socially useless" or "socially non-adaptive", as M-W 3rd Unabridged (definition provided below) says it does, then the sentence is contradictory on its face.

I agree that the writer seems to feel that the decisions required to succeed in the society he negatively depicts in the the first part of the sentence would be personally dysfunctional for a sensitive idealistic person, but they would be socially useful and adaptive, no?

Given the 5 choices the OP provided,

A) bureaucratic.......edifying B) pragmatic.......hardheaded C) rational....well-intentioned D) competitive.......even-handed E) modern.......dysfunctional

I should think that B is the correct answer. An efficient society is a pragmatic society, one that has no time for frills like emotion (sensitivity) and morals (idealism). Therefore, the kinds of decisions necessary to adapt to such a society would be hardheaded (insensitive and pragmatic in the lesser sense of efficient and practical).

These kinds of questions used to drive me bats when I was taking tests lilke this, so my confidence in my answers isn't as great as it might be.

Main Entry:dysfunction Function:noun Etymology:dys- or 1dis- + function

1 : impaired or abnormal functioning (as of an organ of the body) 2 : a nonadaptive trait or condition; especially : one failing to serve a useful or adjustive purpose in society ?dysfunctional \d*s, (*)dis+\ adjective

Usenet · Answer

The sentence, if E was listed as the correct answer, does not make sense. The sentance would indicate that the forementioned society rewarded only those decisions that are dysfunctional, ie. preventing the proper function of the modern society. You could replace " Dysfunction " with Detached, or better yet leave the word out of the sentance.

In a modern society that worships efficiency, it is difficult for a sensitive and idealistic person to make the kinds of decisions that alone spell success as it is defined by such a society.

Sentence completion and meaning of the sentence, please do help!!

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