Comprehension
Read the following passage and answer the three questions that follow.
Multitasking has been found to increase the production of the stress hormone cortisol as well as the fight-or-flight hormone adrenaline, which can overstimulate your brain and cause mental fog or scrambled thinking. Multitasking creates a dopamine addiction feedback loop, effectively rewarding the brain for losing focus and for constantly searching for external stimulation. To make matters worse, the prefrontal cortex has a novelty bias, meaning that its attention can be easily hijacked by something new—the proverbial shiny objects we use to entice infants, puppies, and kittens. The irony here for those of us who are trying to focus amid competing activities is clear: The very brain region we need to rely on for staying on task is easily distracted. We answer the phone, look up something on the Internet, check our email, send an SMS, and each of these things tweaks the novelty-seeking, reward-seeking centers of the brain, causing a burst of endogenous opioids (no wonder it feels so good!), all to the detriment of our staying on task. It is the ultimate empty-caloried brain candy. Instead of reaping the big rewards that come from sustained, focused effort, we instead reap empty rewards from completing a thousand little sugarcoated tasks.
In the old days, if the phone rang and we were busy, we either didn’t answer or we turned the ringer off. When all phones were wired to a wall, there was no expectation of being able to reach us at all times—one might have gone out for a walk or be between places, and so if someone couldn’t reach you (or you didn’t feel like being reached), that was considered normal. Now more people have cell phones than have toilets. This has created an implicit expectation that you should be able to reach someone when it is convenient for you, regardless of whether it is convenient for them. This expectation is so ingrained that people in meetings routinely answer their cell phones to say, “I’m sorry, I can’t talk now, I’m in a meeting.” Just a decade or two ago, those same people would have let a landline on their desk go unanswered during a meeting, so different were the expectations for reachability.
Multitasking has been found to increase the production of the stress hormone cortisol as well as the fight-or-flight hormone adrenaline, which can overstimulate your brain and cause mental fog or scrambled thinking. Multitasking creates a dopamine addiction feedback loop, effectively rewarding the brain for losing focus and for constantly searching for external stimulation. To make matters worse, the prefrontal cortex has a novelty bias, meaning that its attention can be easily hijacked by something new—the proverbial shiny objects we use to entice infants, puppies, and kittens. The irony here for those of us who are trying to focus amid competing activities is clear: The very brain region we need to rely on for staying on task is easily distracted. We answer the phone, look up something on the Internet, check our email, send an SMS, and each of these things tweaks the novelty-seeking, reward-seeking centers of the brain, causing a burst of endogenous opioids (no wonder it feels so good!), all to the detriment of our staying on task. It is the ultimate empty-caloried brain candy. Instead of reaping the big rewards that come from sustained, focused effort, we instead reap empty rewards from completing a thousand little sugarcoated tasks.
In the old days, if the phone rang and we were busy, we either didn’t answer or we turned the ringer off. When all phones were wired to a wall, there was no expectation of being able to reach us at all times—one might have gone out for a walk or be between places, and so if someone couldn’t reach you (or you didn’t feel like being reached), that was considered normal. Now more people have cell phones than have toilets. This has created an implicit expectation that you should be able to reach someone when it is convenient for you, regardless of whether it is convenient for them. This expectation is so ingrained that people in meetings routinely answer their cell phones to say, “I’m sorry, I can’t talk now, I’m in a meeting.” Just a decade or two ago, those same people would have let a landline on their desk go unanswered during a meeting, so different were the expectations for reachability.
Question: 1
According to the passage, why do people in meetings routinely answer their cell phones to say, “I’m sorry, I can’t talk now, I’m in a meeting.”?
According to the passage, why do people in meetings routinely answer their cell phones to say, “I’m sorry, I can’t talk now, I’m in a meeting.”?
Updated On: Aug 22, 2025
- Because, it is convenient for people to send a message.
- Because, it conveys that the receiver is a busy person.
- Because, people don’t mind if somebody takes a brief phone call.
- Because, in meetings, cell phones allow people to multitask.
- Because, if you carry a cell phone, you have to reply.
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The Correct Option is
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Identify the Core Issue
Biswas resents teachers’ influence and is searching for an opportunity to justify reducing their salaries. However, the justification must not appear personal — it must be supported by strong external factors that would convince the trustees.
Step 2: Analyze the Options
- (A) Teachers’ demands → does not justify salary reduction, only refusal of increment.
- (B) Enrollment fall → partially valid, but trustees will focus on how to improve admissions, not cut teachers’ salaries.
- (C) Competing schools paying less → weak argument; trustees prefer retaining talent.
- (D) Budget deficit → general reason, but not specific enough to justify a 20% reduction in salaries.
- (E) Parent complaints about high fees → strong justification, as trustees would prioritize keeping parents satisfied and ensuring financial sustainability.
Step 3: Logical Justification
The strongest case Biswas can present is that parents are demanding cost-cutting. Trustees are directly accountable to parents (since they pay the fees). Thus, aligning salary reduction with parent concerns provides the most persuasive argument.
Step 4: Conclusion
The BEST enabling factor for Biswas’s proposal is option (E): parent complaints about high fees and the need to cut costs.
Final Answer:
\[ \boxed{\text{Parents have begun complaining about high fees and demand cost-cutting.}} \]
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Question: 2
What does the author BEST intend to convey when he says, “Now more people have cell phones than have toilets?”
What does the author BEST intend to convey when he says, “Now more people have cell phones than have toilets?”
Updated On: Aug 22, 2025
- Everybody wants to stay connected, using cell phones.
- The need to be connected is more pronounced now.
- Cell phones have become a bigger necessity.
- The usage of toilets is limited, while cell phones are used all the time.
- The number of cell phone users has increased over time.
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The Correct Option is
Solution and Explanation
When the author mentions, "Now more people have cell phones than have toilets," he aims to illustrate the rapid increase in the number of cell phone users over time. This statement underscores the significant penetration of mobile technology in people's daily lives, even surpassing the basic necessity of having a toilet. The correct option, "The number of cell phone users has increased over time," best captures the essence of the author's intention by highlighting the transformation in modern connectivity and reachability expectations.
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Question: 3
Which of the following can be BEST inferred from the passage?
Which of the following can be BEST inferred from the passage?
Updated On: Aug 22, 2025
- Multitasking helps you complete thousands of tasks, single-tasking makes you do one.
- Multitasking helps you move towards different goals, single-tasking helps you achieve the one.
- Multitasking gives you happiness, single-tasking gives you satisfaction.
- Multitasking gives you a feeling of achieving many things, single-tasking enables actually achieving something.
- Multitasking takes you all over, single-tasking helps you achieve some goals.
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The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
In the passage, the author discusses the adverse effects of multitasking on mental clarity and focus, describing it as an addiction that provides superficial gratification. Multitasking is portrayed as a source of mental overstimulation, leading to a scattered thought process rather than meaningful progress on tasks. On the other hand, single-tasking, which is not explicitly mentioned but inferred, is implied to offer deeper, more satisfying achievements through sustained, focused efforts.
From this analysis, the best inference is: Multitasking gives you a feeling of achieving many things, single-tasking enables actually achieving something. This option aligns with the passage's portrayal of multitasking as providing false rewards and single-tasking as enabling real accomplishments.
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