Reading Comprehension on Kin Selection and Identity

XAT 2025 · VALR · Hard · Reading Comprehension

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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?

  1. A.

    Both rodents and humans carry a genetically determined pheromonal signature.

  2. B.

    Both rodents and humans can reign their instincts.

  3. C.

    Both rodents and humans make their groups exclusive of brothers and cousins.

  4. D.

    Both rodents and humans divide the world between "us" and "them."

  5. E.

    Both rodents and humans are hostile towards outsiders.

Question 2 of 3

What does the author BEST mean when they say, 'This fluidity and situational dependence is uniquely human?'

  1. A.

    Humans' kin selection is not based on instinctual familial bonds while relating to strangers.

  2. B.

    Humans use cognitive architecture to detect any potential cues about social coalitions and alliances.

  3. C.

    Humans are uniquely progressive and ever evolving.

  4. D.

    The implicit traits that humans associate with can change over time

  5. E.

    Humans' in-group/out-group thinking is influenced by their space and time.

Question 3 of 3

What does the author BEST mean when they refer to the Battle of Stalingrad and Pearl Harbour?

  1. A.

    Our identities and emotional attachments are subject to erratic interpretation of history.

  2. B.

    Humans' relationship with any specific place depends upon their lineage and ancestry

  3. C.

    Humans do not follow any specific logic when they develop association with a particular cultural community

  4. D.

    Humans' interpretation of specific events depends on their emotional association with them.

  5. E.

    Humans are capable of selective violence towards each other.

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