Comprehension: Read the passage carefully and answer the following question.…
2026
Comprehension:
Read the passage carefully and answer the following question.
Some people believe that insect behaviour shows signs of intelligence. However, when we look more closely, we see that most insect actions are ingrained, automatic, and hard to change.
The female Sphex wasp is a good example that challenges the idea of insect intelligence and shows how their behaviour is more like a fixed routine than true thinking. The wasp follows a specific pattern: she paralyses a grasshopper, places it near her burrow, checks the burrow, and then pulls the grasshopper inside by its antennae. This may seem smart and careful, but experiments show that her actions are not flexible. Darwin found that if the grasshopper’s antennae were removed, the wasp could not finish her task — even though she could have used the legs instead. This shows she cannot adjust her behaviour when something small changes.
Another naturalist, Fabre, tried to disrupt the wasp’s routine by moving the grasshopper slightly while she was inside the burrow. Each time, the wasp brought it back and started the inspection all over again. He repeated this forty times, and the wasp reacted the same way every time. This kind of repetitive behaviour suggests that she is not thinking but simply following a set pattern triggered by certain signals. Some might say that the wasp’s behaviour is efficient and helps her survive, so it must be intelligent. But being efficient is not the same as being adaptable.
Which of the following inferences can be drawn from the passage?
Answer: C. The behaviour of the wasp is mechanistic and not adaptive. — ConceptAn inference is a conclusion that the passage’s own statements force, not a claim that merely sounds reasonable about the subject or that the passage…
- A.
Wasps have an excellent ability to catch prey even when a routine is disrupted.
- B.
Wasps are very intelligent and good at problem solving.
- C.
The behaviour of the wasp is mechanistic and not adaptive.
- D.
Wasps have good memory. They remember their prey very well.
Attempted by 1 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept
An inference is a conclusion that the passage’s own statements force, not a claim that merely sounds reasonable about the subject or that the passage mentions only in passing. To test a candidate inference, ask what the writer’s evidence is brought in to establish, and what the writer explicitly separates from it.
Applying this to the passage
The opening rejects the idea that insect behaviour shows intelligence and calls most insect actions ingrained, automatic and hard to change.
Darwin’s trial: with the grasshopper’s antennae removed, the wasp could not finish her task even though the legs were available to grip, so a small change in the situation halts the sequence.
Fabre’s trial: the grasshopper was shifted while the wasp was inside the burrow, and on all forty repetitions she brought it back and started the inspection from the beginning instead of continuing from where she had stopped.
The closing move grants the objection — the routine is efficient and helps her survive — and then separates the two ideas: being efficient is not the same as being adaptable.
All of this evidence points one way: the sequence is a set pattern triggered by certain signals, and it does not adjust when conditions change. Behaviour that runs off fixed triggers and cannot be revised is exactly what the word mechanistic describes, and the inability to revise it is what not adaptive describes.
Where the other readings overreach
Excellent prey capture even when a routine is disrupted: the two disruptions reported in the passage end in an unfinished task and in forty identical restarts, so the passage records no successful adjustment to disruption.
High intelligence and skill at problem solving: the passage is written to challenge the idea of insect intelligence and uses the wasp as an example against it.
Good memory for prey: memory is never tested or discussed, and the repeated burrow check is reported as being started all over again, which is evidence about routine rather than about recall.
The inference the passage as a whole supports is therefore that the behaviour of the wasp is mechanistic and not adaptive.