UPSC Prelims 2012·CSAT·Reading Comprehension·Passage Comprehension

Read the following passages and answer the items that follow each passage. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only. We started pitching the highest camp that has ever been made. Everything took five times as long as it would have taken in a place where there was enough air to breathe; but at last we got the tent up, and when we crawled in, it was not too bad. There was only a light wind, and inside it was not too cold for us to take off our gloves. At night most climbers take off their boots; but I prefer to keep them on. Hillary, on the other hand, took his off and laid them next to his sleeping bag. When they crawled into the tent

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  1. Athey took off their gloves because it was not very coldCorrect
  2. Bthey could not take off their gloves because it was very cold
  3. Cthey took off their gloves though it was very cold
  4. Dthey did not take off their gloves though it was not cold.

Explanation

The passage states, "inside it was not too cold for us to take off our gloves." This directly implies two things:

  1. It was not very cold.
  2. They were able to take off their gloves (or did take them off, as the condition allowed it).

Option A: "they took off their gloves because it was not very cold." This aligns perfectly with the passage. The condition "not too cold" enabled them to take off their gloves.

Option B: "they could not take off their gloves because it was very cold." This contradicts the passage, which says it was "not too cold for us to take off our gloves."

Option C: "they took off their gloves though it was very cold." This contradicts the passage's description of the temperature ("not too cold").

Option D: "they did not take off their gloves though it was not cold." This contradicts the implication that they could take them off because it was "not too cold."

Therefore, Option A is the correct inference based solely on the passage.

Reading Comprehension: Read the following passages and answer the items that follow each passage. Your answers to these items should be based o
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