Reading Comprehension on Kin Selection and Identity
XAT 2025 · Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning · Hard · Reading Comprehension
Passage / data set
This fluidity and situational dependence is uniquely human. In other species, in-group/outgroup distinctions reflect degrees of biological relatedness, or what evolutionary biologists call 'kin selection.' Rodents distinguish between a sibling, a cousin, and a stranger by smell—fixed, genetically determined pheromonal signatures... Most modern human societies rely instead on cultural kin selection, a process allowing people to feel closely related to total strangers...
Question 1 of 3
Based on the passage, how are rodents and humans similar to each other?
- A.
Both rodents and humans carry a genetically determined pheromonal signature.
- B.
Both rodents and humans can reign their instincts.
- C.
Both rodents and humans make their groups exclusive of brothers and cousins.
- D.
Both rodents and humans divide the world between "us" and "them."
- E.
Both rodents and humans are hostile towards outsiders.
D
Explanation
Both create in-group ('us') vs out-group ('them') distinctions, though rodents use genetic smell signatures while humans use arbitrary cultural markers.
Question 2 of 3
What does the author BEST mean when they say, 'This fluidity and situational dependence is uniquely human?'
- A.
Humans' kin selection is not based on instinctual familial bonds while relating to strangers.
- B.
Humans use cognitive architecture to detect any potential cues about social coalitions and alliances.
- C.
Humans are uniquely progressive and ever evolving.
- D.
The implicit traits that humans associate with can change over time
- E.
Humans' in-group/out-group thinking is influenced by their space and time.
E
Explanation
Human group identities are flexible, arbitrary, and shaped by historical context, space, and time rather than fixed biological genetics.
Question 3 of 3
What does the author BEST mean when they refer to the Battle of Stalingrad and Pearl Harbour?
- A.
Our identities and emotional attachments are subject to erratic interpretation of history.
- B.
Humans' relationship with any specific place depends upon their lineage and ancestry
- C.
Humans do not follow any specific logic when they develop association with a particular cultural community
- D.
Humans' interpretation of specific events depends on their emotional association with them.
- E.
Humans are capable of selective violence towards each other.
D
Explanation
Which historic battle moves an individual to tears depends on the cultural and national identity they happen to adopt through circumstance.
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