In the following question, one statement is given, followed by certain inferences. Consider the statement to be true even if it seems to contradict commonly known facts. Read the inferences carefully and decide which of them logically follow(s) from the given statement. Statement: Humans cannot match the data processing speed of supercomputers, which perform billions of calculations per second. Inferences: I. Humans are less efficient than supercomputers in data processing. II. Humans and supercomputers differ in their capabilities.

Correct — D.
Rule: an inference follows when the statement, taken as true, guarantees it without outside knowledge.

Inference I rests on the statement's one comparison. If humans cannot match the speed, they process less data in the same time. The key reads that as less efficient in data processing, so I follows.

Inference II is the weaker claim. The statement names one capability, data-processing speed, on which the two differ, so they differ in their capabilities.

Both follow → option (d).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Only I follows — Only I drops II, the safer of the two. A difference in data-processing speed is already a difference in capabilities, so II follows directly.
• (b)
  Neither I nor II follows — Neither would mean the statement shows no gap between humans and supercomputers. It states one outright: humans cannot match the machines' data-processing speed.
• (c)
  Only II follows — Only II rejects I on the gap between speed and efficiency. The key reads 'less efficient in data processing' as slower at it, the one comparison the statement makes.

In a statement-and-inference item you accept the statement as true and ask what it guarantees. An inference follows when it restates the statement or is a direct consequence of it. It fails when it needs a fact the statement does not supply.

Watch the size of each claim. II says only that humans and supercomputers differ, and the statement proves that much.

Key facts

• The statement compares one thing: data-processing speed.
• II follows because a difference in one capability is a difference in capabilities.
• The key also accepts I, reading lower processing speed as lower efficiency in data processing.

Common traps

• Rejecting I because the statement says speed, not efficiency, when this item's key reads slower data processing as less efficient
• Bringing in outside knowledge about supercomputers, when only the statement counts

No directly related past PYQ was found.