Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: Chocoholics…
2024
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
Chocoholics no longer need to feel guilty about their desire for chocolate. They are simply the victim of the genes, scientists have found. The so called “sweet-tooth gene” has been identified by separate teams of researchers and helps explain why some find it harder to resist chocolate bars and cream cakes. It also raises the possibility of designing a drug which could “switch off” the gene and help people resist sugary foods. Children, in particular, risk their health by eating too many sweets and chocolates.
To identify the gene, research teams conducted almost identical experiments using mice which have differences in their ability to taste sweet foods. One of the team members said “A sweet taste receptor recognises the sweet content of food and initiates a cascade of events which signals to the brain that a sweet food has been eaten.” He further added, “The same gene exists in humans, so it means that if your parents have a sweet tooth then you probably will as well”.
He said, “We have always known that some people have a sweeter tooth than others. But it has also been proved that if you are gradually exposed to less sugar, then the body becomes accustomed to less. They will be satisfied with a lower level of sweetness. Doctors warn against any form of gene therapy which seeks to deactivate the sweet gene.” “We have produced this gene through evolution because sweet foods in nature are not poisonous, they give us energy. We all need to have some sugar in our diet,” claim scientists. US researchers are using this discovery to develop artificial sweeteners without any after-taste.
Read the statements given below :
(a) Doctors have favoured gene therapy to control sweet gene.
(b) A sweet taste receptor recognizes the amount of sweetness in food.
(c) Heredity factors have absolutely no role to play in inheriting the sweet gene.
- A.
(a) and (c) are incorrect, (b) is correct
- B.
(a) and (b) are incorrect, (c) is correct
- C.
(b) and (c) are incorrect, (a) is correct
- D.
(a), (b) and (c) are all incorrect
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept: In a reading-comprehension ‘evaluate the statements’ question, each statement must be checked strictly against what the passage explicitly says, not against outside knowledge or an assumption the reader brings in. A statement is true only if the passage supports it, directly or as a clear paraphrase; it is false if the passage says something different or opposite. Absolute wording such as ‘favoured’, ‘no role’, ‘always’, or ‘never’ is a signal to look for an equally absolute statement in the passage before accepting it; if the passage instead states the opposite or a qualified claim, the absolute statement is false.
Application: Checking each of the three given statements against the passage:
Statement (a), ‘Doctors have favoured gene therapy to control sweet gene’: the passage states that doctors warn against any form of gene therapy that seeks to deactivate the sweet gene, the direct opposite of favouring it. So statement (a) does not hold.
Statement (b), ‘A sweet taste receptor recognizes the amount of sweetness in food’: the passage states that a sweet taste receptor recognises the sweet content of food and signals the brain, which is exactly what statement (b) describes. So statement (b) holds.
Statement (c), ‘Heredity factors have absolutely no role to play in inheriting the sweet gene’: the passage states that the same gene exists in humans, so a parent with a sweet tooth is likely to pass the trait on to their child, a direct hereditary link that contradicts the claim that heredity plays absolutely no role. So statement (c) does not hold.
Cross-check: Putting the three results together, (a) false, (b) true, (c) false, matches only the combination that marks (a) and (c) as incorrect and (b) as correct. Every other combination gets at least one of the three assessments backwards, so it is inconsistent with the passage.
Hence, the combination ‘(a) and (c) are incorrect, (b) is correct’ is the answer.