Directions (1-8): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain parts are given in bold to answer some of the questions based on the passage.
Cuttlefish are masters at altering their appearance to blend into their surroundings. But the cephalopods can no longer hide their inner thoughts, thanks to a technique that infers a cuttlefish’s brain activity by tracking the ever-changing patterns on its skin. The findings, published in Nature on 17 October, could help researchers to better understand how the brain controls behaviour. The cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) camouflages itself by contracting the muscles around tiny, coloured skin cells called chromatophores. The cells come in several colours and act as pixels across the cuttlefish’s body, changing their size to alter the pattern on the animal’s skin. The cuttlefish doesn’t always conjure up an exact match for its background. It can also blanket itself in stripes, rings, mottles or other complex patterns to make itself less noticeable to predators. “On any background, especially a coral reef, it can’t look like a thousand things,” says Roger Hanlon, a cephalopod biologist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Chicago, Illinois. “Camouflage is about deceiving the visual system.”
To better understand how cuttlefish create these patterns across their bodies, neuroscientist Gilles Laurent at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt, Germany, and his collaborators built a system of 20 video cameras to film cuttlefish at 60 frames per second as they swam around their enclosures. The cameras captured the cuttlefish changing colour as they passed by backgrounds such as gravel or printed images that the researchers placed in the tanks. The recording began soon after the cuttlefish hatched and continued for weeks. Laurent’s team developed video-processing techniques to identify tens of thousands of individual chromatophores on each cuttlefish, including cells that emerged as the animal grew larger over time. The team used statistical tools to determine how different chromatophores act in synchrony to change the animal’s overall skin patterns. Previous studies have shown that each chromatophore is controlled by multiple motor neurons that reach from the brain to muscles in the skin, and that each motor neuron controls several chromatophores. These in turn group together into larger motor systems that create patterns across the cuttlefish’s body.
The latest study maps how the animal links chromatophores together in different ways to create a pattern that mimics the geometry of its surroundings. The findings should allow the researchers to work backwards from the skin patterns to determine the pathways through which neurons in the cuttlefish’s brain control its camouflage. The imaging technique “gives you amazing neural data by proxy”, Laurent says. “It’s just an amazing thing to work on animals that are so different from us and about which we have very little intuition about what makes them tick.”
The ability to see the inner workings of the cuttlefish’s brain reflected on its skin — without cutting the animal open, attaching electrodes to it or training it to behave in a certain way — could also help researchers to understand the links between brain activity and behaviour. Right now, Laurent says, the link between what the cuttlefish sees and what it sends to the motor neurons is a mystery. The answer probably lies in the brain, which processes both input from the eyes and output to the chromatophores. It creates a geometrical pattern that resembles the cuttlefish’s surroundings, instead of an exact copy. “There’s got to be a neurobiological shortcut,” says Hanlon, who was not involved in the study. ”There’s so much visual information available that it would take a supercomputer to manage it.” Working out that computational shortcut could provide inspiration to researchers creating artificial neural networks with computers, Laurent says. These include programs that attempt to fill in a missing part of an image using information from pixels around it.
Laure Bonnaud-Ponticelli, a biologist at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, is impressed by the researchers’ statistical analyses of the chromatophore data. She suspects that other biological mechanisms, such as light-sensing proteins on the cuttlefish’s skin, could help the brain to form these complex patterns. “It is the beginning of another story,” she says.
Q1. Which of the following names haven’t been used to refer to the cuttlefish?
(i) Chromatophores
(ii) Cephalopods
(iii) Sepia Officinalis
(a) (ii) and (i)
(b) Only (ii)
(c) (i), (ii) and (iii)
(d) Only (i)
(e) (i) and (iii)
Q2. Which of the following, options correctly delineate the process through which cuttlefish camouflage themselves?
(a) Contracting from the original size and then completely regaining the original size of the muscles around chromatophores, but not increasing further.
(b) Expanding from the original size and then completely coming back to the original size of the muscles around chromatophores, but not decreasing further.
(c) Through continuous contraction of the muscles around chromatophores.
(d) Through continuous expansion of the muscles around chromatophores.
(e) None of the above.
Q3. Why did Roger Hanlon say, ‘Camouflage is about deceiving the visual system’?
(a) To announce the idiosyncrasy of the skin cells which come in several colours and act as pixels across the cuttlefish’s body, changing their size to alter the pattern on the animal’s skin.
(b) To justify the idiosyncrasy of the cuttlefish which is to not attempt to become alike of its background but attempts to have resemblance to its surroundings.
(c) To discourage the ability of the cuttlefish to blanket itself in stripes, rings, mottles or other complex patterns to make itself less noticeable to predators.
(d) To conceal a characteristic of the cuttlefish to not look like a thousand things on any background especially a coral reef.
(e) None of the above
Q4. What does the Hanlon mean by ‘There’s got to be a neurobiological shortcut’?
(a) Hanlon talks about the process by which cuttlefish creates complex geometrical pattern on its skin.
(b) Hanlon tried to explain that cuttlefish creates a geometrical pattern that resembles it’s surrounding instead of an exact copy.
(c) Hanlon tried to explain the ability of the cuttlefish to create complex geometrical pattern. According to him, the brain of the cuttlefish takes input from the eyes and processes it and then, send the processing to the chromatophores.
(d) According to Hanlon, the ability of the cuttlefish to create complex geometrical patterns is due to some process which is currently unknown and doesn’t involve the lengthy process of sending signals from sensory organs to brain and then instructing the chromatophores to create patterns based on the processing of the brain.
(e) None of the above
Q5. What is/are the utility(/ies) of the research, intending to understand the camouflaging ability of the cuttlefish, for humans as mentioned in the given passage?
(i) It could help us to better understand how cuttlefish create patterns, that resembles their surrounding but still aren’t the exact copies, across their bodies.
(ii) It could help researchers to better understand how the brain controls behave.
(iii) It could provide inspiration to researchers creating artificial neural networks with computers.
(a) Only (i)
(b) Both (i) and (ii)
(c) Both (ii) and (iii)
(d) Both (i) and (iii)
(e) All of (i), (ii) and (iii)
Q6. Which of the following hypothesis, if proved correct, could inspire the researchers creating artificial neural networks with computers?
(a) The cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) camouflages itself by contracting the muscles around tiny, coloured skin cells called chromatophores.
(b) The cuttlefish doesn’t always conjure up an exact match for its background.
(c) The cattlefish create complex pattern on its skin across its body by first taking information as input signal from the eyes about its surrounding, then sending the signal back to the brain for processing and then the brain decides what action is to be taken and instruct the motor neuron to direct the chromatophores to behave in a certain way (and hence, creating a particular pattern).
(d) The cattlefish create complex pattern on its skin across its body through a process which shouldn’t involve or have minimum involvement of sending signals and receiving instructions from brain.
(e) None of the above
Q7. Which of the following words has a meaning which is SIMILAR to the meaning of the word ‘altering’?
(a) transmuting
(b) decimating
(c) contending
(d) refuting
(e) waning
Q8. Which of the following words has a meaning which is OPPOSITE to the meaning of the word ‘camouflage’?
(a) Unison
(b) Mishap
(c) Glut
(d) Defiling
(e) Revelation
Directions (9-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain parts are given in bold to answer some of the questions based on the passage.
A hundred years ago this month, the death rate from the 1918 influenza was at its peak. An estimated 500 million people were infected over the course of the pandemic; between 50 million and 100 million died, around 3% of the global population at the time. A century on, advances in vaccines have made massive outbreaks of flu — and measles, rubella, diphtheria and polio — rare. But people still discount their risks of disease. Few realize that flu and its complications caused an estimated 80,000 deaths in the United States alone this past winter, mainly in the elderly and infirm. Of the 183 children whose deaths were confirmed as flu-related, 80% had not been vaccinated that season, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I predict that the next major outbreak — whether of a highly fatal strain of influenza or something else — will not be due to a lack of preventive technologies. Instead, emotional contagion, digitally enabled, could erode trust in vaccines so much as to render them moot. The deluge of conflicting information, misinformation and manipulated information on social media should be recognized as a global public-health threat.
So, what is to be done? The Vaccine Confidence Project, which I direct, works to detect early signals of rumours and scares about vaccines, and so to address them before they snowball. The international team comprises experts in anthropology, epidemiology, statistics, political science and more. We monitor news and social media, and we survey attitudes. We have also developed a Vaccine Confidence Index, similar to a consumer-confidence index, to track attitudes. Emotions around vaccines are volatile, making vigilance and monitoring crucial for effective public outreach. In 2016, our project identified Europe as the region with the highest scepticism around vaccine safety. The European Union commissioned us to re-run the survey this summer; results will be released this month. In the Philippines, confidence in vaccine safety dropped from 82% in 2015 to 21% in 2018 after legitimate concerns arose about new dengue vaccines. Immunization rates for established vaccines for tetanus, polio, tetanus and more also plummeted.
We have found that it is useful to categorize misinformation into several levels. Among the most damaging is bad science: people with medical credentials stoking overblown or unfounded fears. The canonical example is the 1998 publication by infamous former physician Andrew Wakefield purporting to show a link between autism and the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Despite having his licence revoked and his work retracted, Wakefield persists in campaigning against the vaccine. Expert consensus alleges that his efforts have contributed to persistent vaccine anxieties and refusals, including a 2017 measles outbreak in Minnesota. Had Wakefield been disciplined, and his article retracted 12 months after publication rather than 12 years, we might not be remarking that this year marks the twentieth anniversary of its publication. The second-most-dangerous category includes those who see anti-vaccine debates as a financial opportunity for selling books, services, or other products. (Wakefield, who maintains that financial concerns have not affected his research and that he has been unfairly vilified, gave paid testimony against the vaccine and filed a patent that allegedly stood to become more valuable were the vaccine to be discredited.) The next tier of damaging misinformation comes from those who see anti-vaccine debates as a political opportunity, a wedge with which to polarize society. Multiple reports this year found that Russian trolls and bots used emotional, angry language to spread misinformation and exacerbate the divisions between those for and against vaccines. Next are ‘super-spreaders’, who propagate misinformation through social media to like-minded vaccine-questioners. A common claim is that suspected adverse reactions to vaccines (typically coincidences) are confirmed reactions. Finally, there is misunderstood or inadequate information that might be circulating generally.
Targeted social media can combat misinformation. Both Denmark and Ireland faced groups broadcasting testimonies on social media and television news of young girls alleged to have been harmed by human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. In Denmark, national immunization rates fell from over 90% in 2000 to under 20% in 2005. In response, Danish public-health officials emphasized the risk of disease and promoted stories of people who had lost wives and mothers to cervical cancer. They also created a Facebook page for answering parents’ questions. Ireland’s social-media efforts used similar tactics to rebuild HPV-vaccine confidence; numbers for 2018 show an increase of 6% for vaccine uptake from 2017.
No single strategy works for all types of misinformation, particularly among those who are already sceptical. Educational materials and resources are important but limited; health officials and educational campaigns often fall short because they craft messages based on what they want to promote, without addressing existing perceptions. Dialogue matters. Strategies must include listening and engagement. We must get better at this: if a strain as deadly as the 1918 influenza emerges and people’s hesitancy to get vaccinated remains at the level it is today; a debilitating and fatal disease will spread.
Q9. According to the author, what would be the main reason for a pandemic if it would occur now?
(a) Limited advancement in the medical science resulting in ineffective preventive technologies.
(b) Poor management of the industrial effluents causing soil, water and air pollution.
(c) People underestimating the ability of vaccines to protect them against diseases and stop vaccinating themselves.
(d) Both (a) and (c)
(e) None of the above
Q10. What does the author mean by ‘emotional contagion’ as mentioned in the first paragraph?
(i) Using social media networking sites to attack people virtually and digitally with an intent to harm them emotionally.
(ii) The spreading of harmful ideas against vaccines by influencing people emotionally.
(iii) Telling people not to vaccinate themselves against diseases.
(a) Only (i)
(b) Only (ii)
(c) Only (iii)
(d) Both (ii) and (iii)
(e) All of (i), (ii) and (iii)
Q11. Exploiting what can empower ‘emotional contagion’ in its ability of eroding trust in vaccines?
(i) People are excessively exposed to conflicting information, misinformation and manipulated information on social media.
(ii) People having volatile emotions around vaccines.
(iii) A news about harmful reactions to vaccines.
(a) Both (ii) and (iii)
(b) All of (i), (ii) and (iii)
(c) Both (i) and (iii)
(d) Only (iii)
(e) Only (i)
Q12. Which of the following options has arranged the following instances of misinformation in the decreasing order of their perniciousness?
(i) A nation using emotional, angry language through trolls and bots to spread misinformation and exacerbate the divisions between those for and against vaccines.
(ii) Super spreader
(iii) People with therapeutic credentials advocating overblown or unfounded claims against vaccines.
(a) (i); (ii); (iii)
(b) (iii); (i); (ii)
(c) (ii); (i); (iii)
(d) (i); (iii); (ii)
(e) (iii); (ii); (i)
Q13. Which of the options shall be most effective in dealing with the following situation? Assume the information presented in the question, situation and options to be true.
Situation: A group of people, called group-X, funded by an organization based out of Pakistan, are broadcasting testimonies on Indian Television and on social media targeting Indian audience of the recent death of young people alleged to have been harmed by Hepatitis-B vaccination. The group instead suggests people to drink juice made from natural ingredients only grown in Pakistan. The campaign of the group has been highly successful and have plummeted the Hepatitis-B vaccination from 90% in 2017 to 10% in 2018.
The doctors who are considered highly credible have said that the information furnished by the group is misinformation.
(a) Public health officials distributing educational materials and resources to people.
(b) Public health officials creating dedicating social-media accounts and/or organizing camps across India to broadcast testimonies of people who have lost their loved ones due to Hepatitis-B and an interactive session to have dialogue with the public.
(c) Indian government recalling its High Commissioner to Pakistan in protest of the misinformation funded by an organization based out of their soil.
(d) Public health officials requesting the group to stop spreading misinformation on Hepatitis-B.
(e) None of the above
Q14. Which of the following options is an example of bad science as per the context of the given passage?
(a) A group of computer science graduates making use of Artificial Intelligence to spread misinformation about certain vaccinations at an unprecedented scale in the social-media.
(b) A doctor in a government hospital who instead of diagnosing patients at the hospital encourage them to consult him at his private clinic.
(c) Big Pharmaceutical companies selling vaccines of dreaded diseases at an unprecedented high cost which is about 10000% of the cost incurred in manufacturing the vaccine.
(d) People with medical credentials spreading misinformation about vaccines.
(e) None of the above
Q15. Which of the following options has a meaning which is SIMILAR to the meaning of the word ‘retracted’ as given in bold in the second paragraph?
(a) superseded
(b) flayed
(c) fathomed
(d) provoked
(e) rescinded
Solutions:
S1. Ans. (d)
Sol. Among the suggested names, two names ‘Cephalopods’ and ‘Sepia Officinalis’ have been used to refer to the ‘cuttlefish’. For the usage of ‘Cephalopods’, kindly read the second sentence of the first paragraph ‘But the cephalopods can no longer hide their inner thoughts, thanks to a technique that infers a cuttlefish’s brain activity by tracking the ever-changing patterns on its skin’.
For the usage of ‘Sepia Officinalis’, kindly read the fourth sentence of the first paragraph ‘The cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) camouflages itself by contracting the muscles around tiny, coloured skin cells called ‘Chromatophores’’.
Clearly, ‘Chromatophores’ are the names attributed to the skill cells of cuttlefish.
Hence, the option (d) is the correct answer.
S2. Ans. (e)
Sol. The answer to the question can be derived from the fourth and fifth sentences of the first paragraph. ‘The cuttlefish (Sepia Officinalis) camouflages itself by contracting the muscles around tiny, coloured skin cells called chromatophores. The cells come in several colours and act as pixels across the cuttlefish’s body, changing their size to alter the pattern on the animal’s skin.’
The sentences above use the term ‘contraction’. So, the options (b) and (d) are incorrect.
Now, could it be possible that the muscles around chromatophores always contract, but do not regain their original size? In that case, a time would come, when the size of the muscles around chromatophores would be zero, which is meaningless. So, the option (c) is also incorrect.
Now, is it necessary that after contraction of the muscle, completely regaining the original size is necessary? No such information is present in the passage. So, the option (a) is also incorrect.
Hence, the option (e) is the correct answer.
S3. Ans. (b)
Sol. The answer to the question can be derived from the last four sentences of the first paragraph, ‘The cuttlefish doesn’t always conjure up an exact match for its background. It can also blanket itself in stripes, rings, mottles or other complex patterns to make itself less noticeable to predators. “On any background, especially a coral reef, it can’t look like a thousand things,” says Roger Hanlon, a cephalopod biologist at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Illiniois. “Camouflage is about deceiving the visual system.”’
The above sentences inform us that the focus of the cuttlefish while camouflaging isn’t to look alike or become an exact match for its background, the focus is to have similar resemblance to its surrounding to tricks especially its predators. The justification, as given by Roger Hanlon, is that the objective of camouflaging is to deceive the visual system (of others) but isn’t to look alike or become an exact copy of ones surrounding.
Among the given options, only option (b) is the correct answer.
The sentences prior to the last-fourth sentence talks about the elements of the cuttlefish body and the process through the cuttlefish changes the pattern and/or colour of its skin.
S4. Ans. (d)
Sol. The correct answer is the option (d).
The answer to the question can be derived from the last paragraph. Kindly re-read the following sentences of the paragraph ‘Right now, Laurent says, the link between what the cuttlefish sees and what it sends to the motor neurons is a mystery. The answer probably lies in the brain, which processes both input from the eyes and output to the chromatophores. It creates a geometrical pattern that resembles the cuttlefish’s surroundings, instead of an exact copy. “There’s got to be a neurobiological shortcut,” says Hanlon, who was not involved in the study. ”There’s so much visual information available that it would take a supercomputer to manage it.” Working out that computational shortcut could provide inspiration to researchers creating artificial neural networks with computers, Laurent says. These include programs that attempt to fill in a missing part of an image using information from pixels around it.’
What is a usual process for any behavior of a living being? Sensory organs interact with the surroundings, generates signals and then send it to the brain. The brain processes the signals, decides what to do, how to do it and then, send signals through the motor neurons to the motor organs to perform an action.
‘Cuttlefish creates a geometrical pattern that ‘resembles its surroundings, instead of an exact copy’. Why doesn’t the brain create an exact copy if it receives information about its surrounding through eyes? Hanlon is suggesting that instead of signal from the sensory organs going to brain to get processed, there may be a shortcut. This assertion gets further consolidated upon reading the sentence ‘Working out that computational shortcut could provide inspiration to researchers creating artificial neural networks with computers, Laurent says. These include programs that attempt to fill in a missing part of an image using information from pixels around it.’
Hence, the correct answer is the option (d).
S5. Ans. (c)
Sol. The alternative (i) is not the utility, but the objective/intention of the research.
Understanding how cuttlefish creates pattern across their bodies which resembles their surrounding but aren’t the exact copies could help researchers to better understand how the brain controls behavior (third sentence of the first paragraph), and could also inspire the researcher to artificial neural networks with computers (last fifth sentence of the last paragraph).
Hence, both alternatives (ii) and (iii) are correct, and the option (c) is the correct answer.
S6. Ans. (d)
Sol. The information presented in the options (a) and (b) are mentioned in the first paragraph. These aren’t hypothesis but established facts.
The correct answer to the question can be derived from the following sentences of the last paragraph ‘Right now, Laurent says, the link between what the cuttlefish sees and what it sends to the motor neurons is a mystery. The answer probably lies in the brain, which processes both input from the eyes and output to the chromatophores. It creates a geometrical pattern that resembles the cuttlefish’s surroundings, instead of an exact copy. “There’s got to be a neurobiological shortcut,” says Hanlon, who was not involved in the study. ”There’s so much visual information available that it would take a supercomputer to manage it.” Working out that computational shortcut could provide inspiration to researchers creating artificial neural networks with computers, Laurent says. These include programs that attempt to fill in a missing part of an image using information from pixels around it.’
Now, kindly re-read the information presented in the option (c). The information informs about a process which is already known to be the case in many living species, but the process is relatively lengthy and time consuming.
The information presented in the option (d) covertly talks about a short-cut, a neurobiological shortcut which required less involvement of brain. Working out or finding out about these computational shortcuts could provide inspiration to researchers creating artificial neural networks with computer.
Hence, the correct answer is the option (d).
S7. Ans. (a)
Sol. alter [verb] means ‘change in character or composition, typically in a comparatively small but significant way’;
Transmute [verb] means ‘change in form, nature, or substance’;
Decimate [verb] means ‘kill, destroy, or remove a large proportion of’;
Contend [verb] means ‘struggle to surmount (a difficulty)’;
Refute [verb] means ‘deny or contradict (a statement or accusation)’;
Wane [verb] means ‘(of a state or feeling) decrease in vigour or extent; become weaker’;
From above, we can understand that the option (a) is the correct answer.
S8. Ans. (e)
Sol. Camouflage [noun and verb] means ‘actions or devices intended to disguise or mislead’; ‘the disguising of military personnel, equipment, and installations by painting or covering them to make them blend in with their surroundings’;
Unison [noun] means ‘simultaneous performance or utterance of action or speech’;
Mishap [noun] means ‘an unlucky accident’;
Glut [noun] means ‘an excessively abundant supply of something’;
Defile [verb] means ‘damage the purity or appearance of; mar or spoil’;
Revelation [noun] means ‘a surprising and previously unknown fact that has been disclosed to others’;
From above, we can understand that the option (e) is the correct answer.
S9. Ans. (c)
Sol. The answer to the given question can be found in the third-last and the second-last sentence of the first paragraph ‘I predict that the next major outbreak—whether of a highly fatal strain of influenza or something else—will not be due to a lack of preventive technologies. Instead, emotional contagion, digitally enabled, could erode trust in vaccines so much as to render them moot’. So, the option (a) is incorrect.
The given passage doesn’t mention anything about pollution and pollution due to industries. So, the option (b) is also incorrect. In the highlighted sentences, the author mentions that the people’s trust in vaccines is eroding, and this is serious, and could be a reason for a next possible major outbreak.
Hence, the option (c) is the correct answer.
S10. Ans. (b)
Sol. The answer to the question can be derived from the last and the second-last sentence of the first paragraph ‘Instead, emotional contagion, digitally enabled, could erode trust in vaccines so much as to render them moot. The deluge of conflicting information, misinformation and manipulated information on social media should be recognized as a global public-health threat’;
Contagion [noun] means ‘The spreading of a harmful idea or practice’.
So, the phrase ‘emotional contagion’ should mean ‘spreading of a harmful idea or practice by attempting to influence them emotionally’.
From above, we can conclude that the alternative (ii) is the correct answer. Hence, the option (b) is the correct answer.
S11. Ans. (b)
Sol. Contagion [noun] means ‘the spreading of a harmful idea or practice’;
Emotional contagion should mean ‘spreading harmful idea or practice by attempting to influence people emotionally’.
What are the possible scenarios when the trust of a person in someone or something could be eroded?
Some of the scenarios should include when there are credible proofs which say something in contradiction of what is expected out of that something or someone, and when a person itself doesn’t have complete faith on that someone or something.
The alternative (i) provides information that people are exposed to conflicting information etc. on social media.
The alternative (iii) informs that there is a news about harmful reactions to vaccines. Surely, this information indeed empowers ‘emotional contagion’ in its ability of eroding trust in vaccines. The information about the alternative (iii) is present in the second paragraph of the last-second paragraph.
The alternative (ii) informs us that people have volatile emotions about vaccines, meaning people, in general, don’t have complete faith in vaccines, so misinformation, conflicting information and manipulated information could be used to erode their trust in vaccines. The information about the alternative (ii) is present in the fourth sentence of the second paragraph.
So, all the alternatives (i), (ii) and (iii) are correct.
Hence, the option (b) is the correct answer.
S12. Ans. (b)
Sol. Perniciousness is a noun of ‘pernicious’ which means harmful.
The answer to the question can be found in the third paragraph. The first sentence informs us that bad science or people with medical credentials stoking overblown or unfounded fears is the most harmful.
The last third sentence of the third paragraph informs us that ‘Super spreader’ is the least harmful.
So, (i) should be in-between (iii) and (ii) in its perniciousness.
So, the correct order is (iii); (i); (ii).
Hence, the option (b) is the correct answer.
S13. Ans. (b)
Sol. The answer to the question can be derived from the information presented in the last and second-last paragraphs. The second-last paragraph displays similar situation where a group of people broadcasted testimonies on social media and television news of young girls alleged to have been harmed by human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. To deal with the situation, the Danish public-health officials emphasized the risk of disease and promoted stories of people who had lost wives and mothers to cervical cancer and have also created a Facebook page for answering parent’s questions. Basically, the Danish public-health officials too started a campaign to remove misconceptions spread through the campaign of certain groups.
The last paragraph tells that strategies to tackle misinformation must include dialogue—listening and engagement with the people.
From above, we can say that the solution presented in the option (b) should be the most effective in dealing with the given situation.
Hence, the option (b) is the correct answer.
S14. Ans. (d)
Sol. The question asks giving an example of bad science as per the context of the given passage. The given passage deals with the issue of misinformation about medicines in the medical field.
Only option (d) appropriately illustrates the example of bad science which is relevant as per the context of the passage.
Hence, the option (d) is the correct answer.
S15. Ans. (e)
Sol. Retract [verb] means ‘draw or be drawn back or back in’;
Rescind [verb] means ‘revoke, cancel, or repeal (a law, order, or agreement);’
Flay [verb] means ‘strip the skin off (a corpse or carcass)’;
Supersede [verb] means ‘take the place of (a person or thing previously in authority or use)’;
Provoke [verb] means ‘stimulate or give rise to (a reaction or emotion, typically a strong or unwelcome one) in someone’;
Fathom [verb] means ‘understand (a difficult problem or an enigmatic person) after much thought)’;
From above, it can be understood that the option (e) is the correct answer.
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