Tag: inferences from the text

Questions Related to inferences from the text

Neuroscientists: Memory evolved to help animals react appropriately to situations they encounter by drawing on the past experience of similar situations. But this does not require that animals perfectly recall every detail of all their experiences. Instead, to function well, memory should generalize from past experiences that are similar to the current one.


The neuroscientists' statement, if true, most strongly supports which of the following conclusions?

  1. At least some animals perfectly recall every detail of at least some past experiences.

  2. Perfectly recalling every detail of all their past experiences could help at least some animals react more appropriately than they otherwise would to new situations they encounter.

  3. Generalizing from the past experiences requires clear memories of most if not all the details of those experiences.

  4. Recalling every detail of all past experiences would be incompatible with any ability to generalize from those experiences.

  5. Animals can often react more appropriately than they otherwise would to situations they encounter if they draw on generalizations from past experiences of similar situations.


Correct Option: E
Explanation:

Conclusion E is the only option that befits the context. 

A company is considering changing its policy concerning daily working hours. Currently, this company requires all employees to arrive at work at 8 a.m. The proposed policy would permit each employee to decide when to arrive from as early as 6 a.m. to as late as 11 a.m.


The adoption of this policy would be most likely to decrease employees productivity if the employees' job functions required them to _______.

  1. work without interruption from other employees

  2. consult at least once a day with employees from other companies

  3. submit their work for a supervisors eventual approval

  4. interact frequently with each other through out the entire workday

  5. undertake projects that take several days to complete


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

Going through the options, we note that A is incorrect because the time people come in (central to the argument) has no relation whatsoever  with whether people get interrupted or not, option B is out because consulting with other companies is a non-issue as people would still putting in at least 6 hours of work on a normal day, and option C is also incorrect because it implies that the supervisor would 'eventually' sign off on everybody's work, it is not time bound. However, if C had stated that the supervisor would need to sign off that very day, then C could have been the answer. Option E is also incorrect as people would still be at work 5 days a week so this should not be an issue. This leaves us with D - if the workers are required to interact with each other throughout the ENTIRE day, then the adoption of the given policy would most likely decrease the employee's productivity. Thus, D is the correct answer.

Read the passage given below and pick the option that best fits the question that follows:

I was at the shop early. He was standing behind the counter and as soon as I saw him, I knew that there would be some unpleasantness. Mr Higson is never at his best unshaven, in slippers and braces and smoking on the empty stomach. The atmosphere of the little shop was heavy with the bitter odour of fresh newspaper print and ink: stacks of crisp newspapers and magazines lay neatly on the counter, and Higson and the boy were making up the daily mend. 


The overall atmosphere in the shop was:

  1. pleasant, wholesome and welcome.

  2. heavy with a lot of goods placed there.

  3. with the inactivity of the early morning.

  4. congenial and businesslike.


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

Even though the author assumes that there would be some unpleasantness because "Mr. Higson is never at his best unshaven", the overall atmosphere of the shop is congenial and business-like: we see Mr. Higson and "the boy" busy and engaged in some work, the magazines and newspaper were stacked neatly in their place and a general pleasantness hinted by everybody being busy and going about their way. So, option D is the correct answer.

Read the passage given below and pick the option that best fits the question that follows:

Popular illusions about birds extend further than the use of the word 'egg-shape' that would suggest that all eggs are alike. For instance, there is the popular idea that owls hoot. Actually, only very few owls hoot and these include the common brown or tawny wood owl. The white barn owl screeches; the little owl has a wailing cry, the long-. eared owl barks; and the short-eared owl snorts! Another mistaken idea is that all ducks 'quack' because the common farmyard duck is a domesticated form of the common wild duck or mallard that quacks. Actually, most wild ducks call with whistles.


The impression created by repeating the terms, 'popular' and 'common' are:

  1. human beings are closely attached to birds.

  2. our ideas about birds are derived from the most common types.

  3. owls and ducks are our favourite birds.

  4. domesticated birds are our source of information about the bird world.


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Here, the words "popular" and "common" imply general ideas. We derive these "popular" ideas by observing only the common types of birds and make a generalization. This claim is supported by the statement: "For instance, there is the popular idea that owls hoot. Actually, only very few owls hoot and these include the common brown or tawny wood owl." So, the answer to the required question is option B.

Read the passage given below and pick the option that best fits the question that follows

A village must have some trade, and this village has always been full of virility and power. Obscure and happy, its splendid energies had found employment in wresting a livelihood out of the earth, whence had come a certain dignity, and kindliness, and love for other men. Civilization did not relax these energies, but it had diverted them; and all the special qualities, which might have helped to heal the world, had been destroyed. The family affection, the affection for the commune, the sane pastoral virtues - all had perished. No villain had done this thing: it was the work of ladies and gentlemen who were rich and often clever. 

Village life is praised by the author because it ____________. 

  1. helps villagers to achieve material prosperity.

  2. makes men complacent.

  3. breeds humane virtues.

  4. is free from the din and hurry of city life.


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The author says that village life breeds virtues like dignity, kindness and love for fellow humans whereas "civilization" destroyed them. Thus, we can conclude that this becomes the main reason why the author praises village life: it breeds humane virtues. So, the answer is option C.

Read the passage and answer the question that follows. 

Once while travelling by the local bus, I got a seat beside a very strange man. He seemed interested in every passenger aboard. He would stare at a person, scribble some odd mathematical notations on his long notebook and then move on to the next. Being quite interested in what he was doing I asked him what all those notations meant and then came the startling reply. He saw a man's face not as a single unit but as thousands of squares put together. He was in fact a statistical expert and a budding artist learning the art of graphics. 


From the passage we gather that _____. 

  1. the author is very inquistive

  2. the author tries to poke his nose in other people's business

  3. the author is interested in mathematical notations

  4. the author wants to talk to fellow passengers in the bus


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Here, the author having seen a man whom he had thought of as being strange, asked the same man what his seemingly strange ways meant. This shows that the author is curious and wanted to know more. So, we can conclude that the author is very inquisitive. So, option A is the answer.

Read the passage given below and pick the option that best fits the question that follows:

While I stood drinking in the beauty of this placid scene I became conscious of an alteration. In a moment the sole porter emerged from his midday nap, operated a signal that clanked noisily into position, and then ambled slowly towards me for my return half-ticket, whilst I remarked that his red amiable face and easy-going gait were in perfect harmony with the tranquil surroundings.
 A wisp of smoke on the horizon with a dark snake crawling beneath it announced the approach of the train. As it drew nearer, the deep silence of the place was gradually displaced by a creaking of brakes and a hissing of steam. Save for myself, no one entered the train and no one alighted. The porter with leisurely expertness, trundled a couple of milk churns on board, the door was slammed, the guard signalled to the driver, and we moved off, leaving the small station once more to its drowsy silence.

What does the author suggest by the word 'placid'?

  1. The scene was filled with noise of the train

  2. The place was filled with lively humanity

  3. The place was quite and lonely

  4. The horizon looked smoke laden


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The word "placid" literally means pleasantly calm or peaceful; unruffled; tranquil; serenely quiet or undisturbed. Here, the author uses "placid" to imply that the scene was quite and peaceful. In this context, option C is the best fit.

Read the passage given below and choose the option that best fits the question that follows:

It happened one day, about noon, going towards my boat, I was exceedingly surprised with the print of a man's naked foot on the shore, which was very plain to be seen in the sand. I stood like one thunder-struck, or as if I had seen an apparition. I listened, I looked around me, I could hear nothing, nor see anything. I went up the shore, and down the shore, but it was all one; I could see no other impression but that one. I went to it again to see if there were any more, and to observe if it might not be my fancy; but there was no room for that, for there was exactly the very print of a foot-toes, heel and every part of a foot. 


The passage is full of short simple sentences. Their purpose is to ______.

  1. facilitate easy understanding

  2. give a plain narration

  3. convey breathless excitement

  4. imply the inability of the author to write in an better way


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The passage focuses on bringing out the surprise and excitement felt by the author when he notices a foot-print. The passage uses short simple sentence in order to convey this surprise and excitement of the author. Option C is the best answer.

Read the passage given below and pick the option that best fits the question that follows:

While I stood drinking in the beauty of this placid scene I became conscious of an alteration. In a moment the sole porter emerged from his midday nap, operated a signal that clanked noisily into position, and then ambled slowly towards me for my return half-ticket, whilst I remarked that his red amiable face and easy-going gait were in perfect harmony with the tranquil surroundings.
 A wisp of smoke on the horizon with a dark snake crawling beneath it announced the approach of the train. As it drew nearer, the deep silence of the place was gradually displaced by a creaking of brakes and a hissing of steam. Save for myself, no one entered the train and no one alighted. The porter with leisurely expertness, trundled a couple of milk churns on board, the door was slammed, the guard signalled to the driver, and we moved off, leaving the small station once more to its drowsy silence.


The meaning of drowsy is 

  1. Untidy

  2. Sleepy

  3. Freezing

  4. Drugged


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

The word "drowsy" means half-asleep or sleepy. So, option B is the answer.


Read the passage given below and choose the option that best fits the question that follows:

It happened one day, about noon, going towards my boat, I was exceedingly surprised with the print of a man's naked foot on the shore, which was very plain to be seen in the sand. I stood like one thunder-struck, or as if I had seen an apparition. I listened, I looked around me, I could hear nothing, nor see anything. I went up the shore, and down the shore, but it was all one; I could see no other impression but that one. I went to it again to see if there were any more, and to observe if it might not be my fancy; but there was no room for that, for there was exactly the very print of a foot-toes, heel and every part of a foot. 

Which one of the following words best describes the emotion evoked by the foot-print in the author? 

  1. Curiosity

  2. Indifference

  3. Fear

  4. Surprise


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

The statement, "I was exceedingly surprised" implies that curiosity was the emotion evoked by the foot-print in the author. So, option A is the answer.