2021 CSAT — Q13

Locate. This asks for the best-supported inference — the conclusion the passage forces, not merely one that’s plausible. Find the line the inference must rest on. The passage builds to two load-bearing sentences: these embedded gadgets show “little evidence… [of being] any more trustworthy than their desktop counterparts,” and “hackers have already proved that they can take remote control of internet connected cars and pacemakers.”

Test (find-the-line-then-match). Those lines force one thing: the computers woven into our cars, bodies and infrastructure are insecure — not completely safe. (a) states exactly that. The passage’s whole movement (computers now in “vulnerable human bodies,” yet hackable) entails it directly.

Eliminate by anatomy. (b) is a claim the passage never makes — “software companies don’t take cyber security seriously” names a culprit the passage never mentions; the text describes vulnerability, not corporate negligence. (c) is a claim the passage never makes — “stringent data security laws are needed” is a prescription the passage never offers; the text diagnoses, it does not recommend. (d) is too strong and vague — “present trend… will affect our lives in future” is a truism that fits almost any technology passage and misses the specific point about insecurity. Key: (a).

“There is little evidence that these gadgets will be any more trustworthy than their desktop counterparts. Hackers have already proved that they can take remote control of internet connected cars and pacemakers.” — as computers embed into cars, MRI scanners, prosthetics and pacemakers, they remain vulnerable (no more trustworthy; already hacked). The forced inference is that computers are not completely safe → (a). (b) blames software companies the passage never mentions; (c) prescribes laws the passage never proposes; (d) is a vague truism that any technology affects the future, missing the passage’s specific point about (in)security.

The passage shows computers moving from abstract data into the physical world and human bodies (cars, planes, MRI scanners, prosthetics, insulin pumps), then states they are no more trustworthy than desktops and have already been remotely hijacked (cars, pacemakers).

• (a) captures the forced point: computers are not completely safe. Correct.
• (b) invents corporate negligence the passage does not assert.
• (c) prescribes laws the passage does not propose.
• (d) is a vague generality that any tech affects the future — not the passage’s specific message.

Answer: (a).

The bait here is (d). “Communication technologies will affect our lives in future” sounds safe, balanced and important — and it is the kind of bland sentence that feels like a “critical inference.” But the passage’s specific, hard-won claim is narrower and sharper: these computers are not safe (no more trustworthy, already hacked). On a best-supported-inference question, prefer the option that the lines force over the one that merely sounds weighty; a truism that could cap any passage is not this passage’s inference.