Read the passage carefully and answer the question that follows. A certain…
2020
Read the passage carefully and answer the question that follows.
A certain king was travelling from one place to another in disguise because he wanted to check on his officers.
One day he was resting under a tree near a house which belonged to a goldsmith. He overheard a conversation between the father and the son in that house. The son was saying, "Father, don't worry, I shall cheat my customers fully." The king wanted to test him.
The next day the King sent for the son and said, "Make a gold crown for the temple goddess. Come to the palace every day and work on the crown."
The son agreed. He went every day and worked on the gold crown. In the evening when he returned home, he closed his room and used to work on something. He would go to bed late at night.
After some days he finished the work. On the last day before he went to the palace, he went to the river early in the morning to do puja. Then he went to the palace. After finishing the work he took the gold crown to the river to wash it. The soldiers went with him. He came back with the crown. The king was pleased at the work and also that the young man could not cheat him. He said, "You promised your father that you would cheat people fully. But now you know that you cannot." After some silence the young man replied, "I did cheat you fully, my lord."
Which of the following CANNOT be inferred from the passage?
Answer: B. The king wanted to observe how his people lived their lives. — Concept: In a “cannot be inferred” question, an inference must be supported by an explicit statement or by a necessary connection between statements. A…
- A.
The king decided to test the goldsmith's son after overhearing his promise.
- B.
The king wanted to observe how his people lived their lives.
- C.
The goldsmith's son told the king that he had cheated him.
- D.
Soldiers accompanied the goldsmith's son when he took the crown to the river.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept: In a “cannot be inferred” question, an inference must be supported by an explicit statement or by a necessary connection between statements. A plausible idea is not enough when the passage gives no evidence for it or states a different fact.
Application: The opening sentence says that the king travelled in disguise because he wanted to check on his officers. It does not say that he wanted to observe how the general population lived, so that broader motive cannot be drawn from the passage.
The king decides to test the goldsmith's son immediately after overhearing his promise, so the passage directly connects those events.
The young man explicitly tells the king, “I did cheat you fully, my lord,” so the statement that he claimed to have cheated the king follows from the closing dialogue.
The passage explicitly says that the soldiers went with the young man when he took the crown to the river, so their presence is stated rather than assumed.
Cross-check and result: Replacing “check on his officers” with “observe how his people lived” changes both the group being observed and the purpose of the journey. Therefore, the claim that the king wanted to observe how his people lived is the statement that cannot be inferred.