SBI PO Prelims 2017 - Misc Reasoning Quiz - 1 | Statement & Assumptions

Directions for questions 1 to 8: Read each of the eight short passages given below and answer the question that follow it.

1. Three airlines — IA, JA and SA — operate on the Delhi- Mumbai route. To increase the number of seats sold, SA reduced its fares and this was emulated by IA and JA immediately. The general belief was that the volume of air travel between Delhi and Mumbai would increase as a result.

a. Increase in profitability of the three airlines.

b. Extension of the discount scheme to other routes.

c. A study that shows that air travellers in India are price-conscious.

d. A study that shows that as much as 80 per cent of air travel in India is company-sponsored.

2. According to McNeill, a Brahmin priest was expected to be able to recite at least one of the Vedas. The practice was essential for several centuries when the Vedas had not yet been written down. It must have had a selective effect, since priests would have been recruited from those able or willing to memorize long passages. It must have helped in the dissemination of the work, since a memorized passage can be duplicated many times.

a. Reciting the Vedas was a Brahmin’s obligation.

b. The Vedic priest was like a recorded audio cassette.

c. McNeill studied the behaviour of Brahmin priests.

d. Vedic hymns had not been scripted.

3. Developed countries have made adequate provisions for social security for senior citizens. State insurers (as well as private ones) offer medicare and pension benefits to people who can no longer earn. In India, with the collapse of the joint family system, the traditional shelter of the elderly has disappeared. And the state faced with a financial crunch is not in a position to provide social security. So, it is advisable that the working population give serious thought to building a financial base for itself.

a. The investible income of the working population, as a proportion of its total income, will grow in the future.

b. The insurance sector is underdeveloped and trends indicate that it will be extensively privatized in the future.

c. India is on a path of development that will take it to a developed country status, with all its positive and negative implications.

d. If the working population builds a stronger financial base, there will be a revival of the joint family system.

4. Various studies have shown that our forested and hilly regions and, in general, areas where biodiversity — as reflected in the variety of flora — is high, are the places where poverty appears to be high. And these same areas are also the ones where educational performance seems to be poor. Therefore, it may be surmised that, even disregarding poverty status, richness in biodiversity goes hand in hand with educational backwardness.

a. In regions where there is little variety in flora, educational performance is seen to be as good as in regions with high variety in flora, where poverty levels are high.

b. Regions which show high biodiversity also exhibit poor education performance, at low levels of poverty.

c. Regions which show high biodiversity reveal high levels of poverty and poor educational performance.

d. In regions where there is low biodiversity, at all levels of poverty, educational performance is seen to be good.

5. Cigarettes constitute a mere 20 per cent of tobacco consumption in India, and fewer than 15 per cent of the 200 million tobacco users consume cigarettes. Yet these 15 per cent contribute nearly 90 per cent of the tax revenues to the exchequer from the tobacco sector. The punitive cigarette taxation regime has kept the tax base narrow, and reducing taxes will expand this base.

a. The cigarette manufacturers’ association has decided to indulge in aggressive promotion.

b. There is a likelihood that tobacco consumers will shift to cigarette smoking if cigarette prices were to reduce.

c. The cigarette manufacturers are lobbying for a reduction on duties.

d. An increase in duties on non-cigarette tobacco may lead to a shift in favour of cigarette smoking.

6. Thomas Malthus, the British clergyman-turned economist, predicted that the planet would not be able to support the human population for long. His explanation was that human population grows at a geometric rate, while the food supply grows only at an arithmetic rate.

a. Population growth can be slowed down by the voluntary choices of individuals and not just by natural disasters.

b. The capacity of the planet to feed a growing human population can be enhanced through biotechnological means.

c. Human systems, and natural systems like food supply, follow natural laws of growth which have remained constant, and will remain unchanged.

d. Human beings can colonize other planetary systems on a regular and ongoing basis to accommodate a growing population.

7. The company’s coffee crop for 1998-99 totalled 8,079 tonnes, an all-time record. The increase over the previous year’s production of 5,830 tonnes was 38.58 per cent. The previous highest crop was 6,089 tonnes in 1970-71. The company had fixed a target of 8,000 tonnes to be realized by the year 2000-01, and this has been achieved two years earlier, thanks to the emphasis laid on the key areas of irrigation, replacement of unproductive coffee bushes, intensive refilling and improved agricultural practices. It is now our endeavour to reach the target of 10,000 tonnes in 2001-02.

a. The potential of the productivity enhancing measures implemented up to now has been exhausted.

b. The total company land under coffee has remained constant since 1969 when an estate in the Nilgiri Hills was acquired.

c. The sensitivity of the crop to climatic factors makes predictions about production uncertain.

d. The target-setting procedures in the company had been proved to be sound by the achievement of the 8,000 tonnes target.

8. Animals, in general, are shrewd in proportion as they cultivate society. Elephants and beavers show the greatest signs of this sagacity when they are together in large numbers, but when man invades their communities they lose all their spirit of industry. Among insects, the labours of the bee and the ant have attracted the attention and admiration of naturalists, but all their sagacity seems to be lost upon separation, and a single bee or ant seems destitute of every degree of industry. It becomes the most stupid insect imaginable, and it languishes and soon dies.

a. Humankind is responsible for the destruction of the natural habitat of animals and insects.

b. Animals, in general, are unable to function effectively outside their normal social environment.

c. Naturalists have great admiration for bees and ants, despite their lack of industry upon separation.

d. Elephants and beavers are smarter than bees and ants in the presence of human beings.

1. (c) is the correct answer choice. All three airlines have reduced their fares to make up for this loss in increased volumes. This decision is obviously based on the general belief or assumption that air travellers in India are price-conscious. If there is a market research study that shows exactly that, then it would add credence to the general belief. (a) The general belief relates reduced fares to increased volumes, not to increased profitability. It is possible to increase profitability by cutting costs, even if volumes do not increase. Hence, the cause – and – effect relationship between reduced fares and increased volumes is not directly supported by this statement. (b) and (d) are irrelevant and do not in any way support or weaken the general belief.

2. (b) is the correct answer choice Apparently McNeill is a Westerner who is doing some sort of research on the role of the Brahmin priest in ancient Indian society. From the way his thoughts are evolving in the passage (recite–memorize– dissemination–duplicated), McNeill can only understand the role of a Vedic priest by drawing a direct analogy between the Vedic priest, whom he does not understand except superficially, and a recorded audio casette, which is an essential and ubiquitous item in McNeill’s world. (a) and (d) are more or less stated in the passage, so there is no inference involved. ‘... practice of reciting Vedas was essential ...’ means that it was an obligation and ‘... when the Vedas had not yet been written down ...’ means Vedic hymns had not been scripted. (c) also is less of an inference and more of a surmise.

3. (c) is the correct answer choice. The arrangement emerges somewhat like this:- Premise – I: If developed country, then social security for the elderly. Premise – II: No social security for the elderly in India, as it is not a developed country and also the traditional support system for them is vanishing. Conclusion: Therefore, working people in India must save for their old age. (c) announces the good news for Indian working people: ‘India will become a developed country in the future,’ implying social security for the elderly, thereby weakening the conclusion. (a) and (b) indicate some encouraging future trends, but do not obviate the necessity for Indian working people to save for their old age. (d) Strengthens the conclusion, rather than weakening it.

4. (c) is the correct answer choice. The surmise or hypothesis in the passage implies that: biodiversity is inversely proportional to educational performance, with poverty playing no role in this relationship. (d) merely confirms the inverse relationship, at all levels of poverty. (a) relates good education performance with high levels of poverty, regardless of biodiversity (variety of flora). It is, therefore, irrelevant. (b) and (c) also support the inverse relationship between biodiversity and educational performance, but each reserves a role for poverty in this relationship. (c) summarizes better, hence (c).

5. (b) is the only option that explains how reducing taxes will broaden the tax base. If taxes on cigarettes (which constitute 90% of the revenues) are reduced, the prices of cigarettes will come down, thereby increasing the demand for cigarettes. More the cigarette smokers, the broader the tax base. Options (a) and (c) mention peripheral matters. (d) is talking about increasing duties (taxes) whereas the last sentence of the paragraph has only looked at “reducing taxes”.

6. (c) is the correct answer choice. (a) undermines Mathews’ theory by showing how population need not follow geometric rate of growth and (b) undermines it by showing how food need not follow arithmetic rate of growth. (d) undermines his theory by pointing out that the inability of our planet to support the growing human population need not lead to disastrous consequences for humans. There are ways that these can be averted. (c) is the only option that does not undermine his theory. It also does not support his theory by referring to the different rates of growth in human and natural systems, but merely asserts that these rates of growth remain constant and cannot be changed.

7. (a) is the correct answer choice. If all areas have been properly irrigated, if all unproductive coffee bushes have been replaced, if intensive refilling and improved agricultural practices have been used — how much more can be done? Obviously, the target of 10,000 tonnes (about 70% increase over average of less than 6000 tonnes) is unrealistic, as explained by option (a). Options (b) and (c) also indirectly contribute to making the target of 10,000 tonnes unrealistic. But (a) contributes MOST. (d), on the other hand, supports the target as realistic, by placing faith in the soundness of the target-selling produces.

8. (b) is the correct answer choice. The first sentence of the passage asserts that: Intelligence of animals is proportionate to the extent of their socializing. Then the passage gives examples of how animals are effective when they are in their own social group and ineffective when they are alone. This is exactly what is given in option (b). (a) and (c) are partly stated in the passage, but do not convey the central message. (d) cannot be inferred as the passage does not compare the behaviour of elephants and beavers with the behaviour of bees and ants.