Question:

Passage: 

Many economists argue that economic growth alone cannot guarantee well-being. While GDP may rise, factors like inequality, environmental degradation, and social alienation can worsen simultaneously. Thus, policy focus must move toward holistic indicators that measure quality of life rather than simply economic output. 

Question: 

Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

Show Hint

For inference questions, avoid extreme or speculative conclusions. Choose the option that must be true based on the passage's reasoning, not merely one that sounds related.
Updated On: Jul 4, 2026
Show Solution
collegedunia
Verified By Collegedunia

Approach Solution - 1

Approach: An inference question on a short passage is won by the one claim the author is forced to accept, not the loudest claim on the page. Anchor on the author's pivot and infer only what sits one inch beyond it.

Step 1 — Find the spine. The passage concedes GDP can rise \( (\text{economic output up}) \) yet inequality, environmental damage, and social alienation can worsen at the same time. The author's verdict: focus must shift to "holistic indicators that measure quality of life rather than simply economic output."

Step 2 — What must be true. If growth and well-being can move in opposite directions, then GDP cannot, by itself, certify that a society is better off. So the safe inference is: economic growth alone is an insufficient measure of a nation's progress; social and environmental factors must also be weighed.

Step 3 — Guard the boundary. The passage does NOT say growth is bad, that GDP should be scrapped, or that quality of life always falls. It says GDP is incomplete. Any option that exaggerates into "growth harms well-being" or "GDP is useless" overshoots the text.

Why tempting-but-wrong options fail: "Economic growth should be stopped" — the author wants better measurement, not less growth. "Inequality always rises with GDP" — the passage says it can worsen, not that it must. "Quality-of-life indicators are easy to compute" — never discussed.

\[ \boxed{\text{Inference: GDP alone is an insufficient yardstick; progress must factor in social and environmental quality of life.}} \]
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Show Solution
collegedunia
Verified By Collegedunia

Approach Solution -2

Direct entailment method: Turn the passage into a single logical statement and see what it entails. The passage effectively says: GDP can rise while inequality, environmental harm, and social alienation all get worse. If a measure can go up while the underlying condition it is supposed to reflect gets worse, that measure cannot be a complete gauge of the underlying condition on its own — this is just what "incomplete measure" means.

Applying that logic here: GDP (economic output) is not a complete gauge of a nation's overall well-being or progress; other factors have to be weighed too. That is exactly, and only, what the passage entails — it says nothing about stopping growth, nothing about GDP always coinciding with worse inequality, and nothing about how easy any alternative indicator is to build.

\[ \boxed{\text{GDP alone cannot certify progress; social and environmental factors must be weighed too.}} \]
Was this answer helpful?
0
0

Top CAT Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) Questions

View More Questions

Top CAT Reading Comprehension Questions

View More Questions