Directions : In each of the following questions, a contextually meaningful…
2021
Directions : In each of the following questions, a contextually meaningful sentence has been given. Three paragraphs have been placed next to each sentence, which may or may not be relevant to the context of the given sentence. You are required to select the most appropriate combination of paragraphs from which the given sentence can be inferred.
Following a supply outage, oxygen levels in numerous hospitals in the city fell to dangerously low levels. After a massive intervention, supplies were restored by late evening.
(i) According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, only a small percentage of those who were vaccinated tested positive. These outbreaks of illness did not, however, call into question the efficacy of immunization as the vaccines clearly protect against disease.
(ii) Hospitals in the city may soon face oxygen shortages as well. The Centre has a control team that will settle disagreements between states over oxygen delivery. To enable the smooth passing of oxygen trucks, green corridors have been established.
(iii) After a leak in a medical oxygen tank disrupted the availability at a hospital, several patients on life support suffocated. According to the State Health Minister, the leak was caused by a valve malfunction, and a high-level investigation has been ordered.
- A.
Only (iii)
- B.
Only (i) and (iii)
- C.
Only (i) and (ii)
- D.
Only (ii)
- E.
Only (ii) and (iii)
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: E
Concept
This task asks for the most appropriate combination of paragraphs from which the sentence can be inferred. The choice is relative: you compare the offered combinations and pick the one that best matches the sentence's subject and supports its ideas, while excluding any paragraph on an unrelated topic. A combination need not prove every word of the sentence; it must be the closest fit on-topic among the options given.
Application
The given sentence is about a hospital oxygen-supply problem: a supply failure that drives oxygen dangerously low, followed by a response that addresses it. The supporting paragraphs should therefore be about disruption of oxygen supply and about managing or responding to it.
The vaccines and ICMR paragraph is about immunization efficacy and breakthrough infections, an entirely different subject (vaccines, not oxygen). It is off-topic for an oxygen-supply sentence, so any combination containing it is ruled out.
The paragraph about hospitals facing oxygen shortages, a Centre control team settling oxygen-delivery disputes, and green corridors for oxygen trucks is on the response and supply-management side of the topic.
The paragraph about a leak in a medical oxygen tank disrupting availability is on the supply-disruption side of the topic.
So the two oxygen paragraphs together share the sentence's subject and cover both its sides, disruption and response. Among the offered choices this pair is the best fit.
Cross-check
Work through the offered combinations by elimination. The two options that include the vaccine paragraph fail outright, because that paragraph never mentions oxygen or supply. The two single-paragraph options are too thin: the sentence makes a two-sided claim (an oxygen failure and a response), and one paragraph alone speaks to only one side. That leaves the pair of oxygen paragraphs as the only on-topic combination that addresses both sides, which is why it is the most appropriate answer here. The paragraphs supply the disruption-and-response theme rather than spelling out every detail (for instance, the late-evening restoration is part of the sentence's own framing); that is normal for this question type, where you select the best-matching combination, not a strict proof.