"cynical" vs "ridiculous"

[ilovepsycho]

The past few years have seen a steady increase in the number of people playing music in the streets. The past few years have also seen a steady increase in the number of malignant diseases. Are the two facts related? One wonders. But even if they are not--and, as I have pointed out, one cannot be sure -- music in the streets has definitely taken its toll. For it is at the very least disorienting. When one is walking down Fifth Avenue, one does not expect to hear a string quartet playing a Strauss waltz. What one expects to hear while walking down Fifth Avenue is traffic. When one does indeed hear a string quartet playing a Strauss waltz while one is walking down Fifth Avenue, one is apt to become confused and imagine that one is not walking down Fifth Avenue at all but rather that one has somehow wound up in Old Vienna. Should one imagine that one is in Old Vienna one is likely to become quite upset when one realizes that in Old Vienna there is no sale at Charles Jourdan (a New York store). And that is why when I walk down Fifth Avenue I want to hear traffic.

Q. The tone of the above passage is _________.
a. cynical
b. detached
c. ridiculous
d. serious

I went with 'c. ridiculous,' but OA says 'a. cynical' is right. However, I didn't accept that answer. What is your opinion? I want to hear you.