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.

Which of the following, if true, would add credence to the general
belief?

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.

Which of the following can be inferred from the above passage?

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.

Which one of the following, if it were to happen, weakens the
conclusions drawn in the above passage the most?

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.

Which one of the following statements, if true, can be said to best
provide supporting evidence for the surmise mentioned in the passage?

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.

Which of the following best bolsters the conclusion that reducing
duties will expand the tax 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.

Which one of the following, if true, would not undermine the thesis
offered by Malthus?

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.

Which one of the following would contribute most to making the target
of 10,000 tonnes in 2001-02 unrealistic?

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.

Which of the following can be inferred from the above passage?

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.