Two very famous sportsmen Mark and Steve happened to be brothers, and played for country K. Mark teased James, an opponent from country E, “There is no way you are good enough to play for your country.” James replied, “Maybe not, but at least I am the best player in my own family.” Which one of the following can be inferred from this conversation?
Steve was known to play better than Mark
Understanding the Sportsmen's Conversation
The question presents a conversation between two famous sportsmen, Mark and James, with Mark's brother Steve also mentioned. To correctly infer the conclusion, we need to carefully analyze the exchange between Mark and James.
Analyzing Mark's Tease to James
- Mark, playing for country K, initiates the conversation by teasing James, an opponent from country E.
- Mark's statement is: “There is no way you are good enough to play for your country.”
- This comment indicates Mark's belief that James is not a skilled enough player to represent his country. It's a direct challenge to James's ability.
Deconstructing James's Clever Reply
- James responds to Mark's taunt with a very specific comeback: “Maybe not, but at least I am the best player in my own family.”
- This is the crucial part for inference. James doesn't directly argue about his national team eligibility. Instead, he shifts the focus to family hierarchy.
- We know from the question that Mark and Steve are brothers. This means Mark and Steve are part of the same family.
- When James says he is "the best player in his own family" to Mark, he is implicitly drawing a comparison that affects Mark. If James is the best in *his* family, and he's using this as a retort to Mark, he is suggesting that Mark is *not* the best in *his* family.
- For Mark not to be the best player in his family (which includes his brother Steve), it logically implies that Steve must be a better player than Mark. James's reply serves as a subtle, yet effective, counter-insult aimed at Mark's own standing within his family.
Evaluating the Given Options
Let's examine each option based on our analysis of the sportsmen's conversation:
- Option 1: Mark was known to play better than James
- Mark's initial statement expresses his opinion that James isn't good enough. However, James's reply doesn't confirm or deny Mark's individual skill level compared to James. James's comeback focuses on family dynamics, not on who is better between Mark and James themselves. Therefore, this cannot be definitively inferred.
- Option 2: Steve was known to play better than Mark
- This option aligns perfectly with our inference. James's statement, “at least I am the best player in my own family,” when directed at Mark (who has a brother Steve), implies that Mark is *not* the best player in *his* family. For Mark not to be the best, his brother Steve must be superior in playing ability. This is a direct and strong inference from the conversation.
- Option 3: James and Steve were good friends
- The conversation provides absolutely no information about the relationship between James and Steve. We cannot infer friendship or any other kind of relationship from this exchange.
- Option 4: James played better than Steve
- James states he is the "best player in his own family." This statement is about his relative standing within his own family unit. It does not provide sufficient information to compare James's playing ability directly with Steve's playing ability. The inference focuses on Mark's standing relative to Steve, not James relative to Steve. Therefore, this cannot be inferred.
Conclusion from the Conversation
Based on the logical deduction from James's witty comeback, the most accurate inference is that Steve, being Mark's brother, is considered to be a better player than Mark. James uses this fact to cleverly turn Mark's insult back on him, highlighting Mark's own lesser standing within his family of sportsmen.
Important Questions from Verbal Deduction
Lamenting the gradual sidelining of the arts in school curricula, a goup of prominent artists wrote to the Chief Minister last year, asking him to allocate more funds to support arts education in schools. However, no such increase has been announced in this year`s Budget. The artists expressed their deep anguish at their request not being approved, but many of them remain optimistic about funding in the future.
Which of the statement(s) below is/are logically valid and can be inferred from the above statements?
(i) The artists expected funding for the arts to increase this year.
(ii) The Chief Minister was receptive to the idea of increasing funding for the arts.
(iii) The Chief Minister is a prominent artist.
(iv) Schools are giving less importance to arts education nowadays,Read the following paragraph and choose the correct statement.
Climate change has reduced human security and threatened human wellbeing. An ignored reality of human progress is that human security largely depends upon environmental security. But on the contrary, human progress seems contradictory to environmental security. To keep up both at the required level is a challenge to be addressed by one and all. One of the ways to curb the climate change may be suitable scientific innovations, while the other may be the Gandhian perspective on
Small scale progress with focus on sustainability.Choose the most appropriate phrase from the options given below to complete the following sentence.
The aircraft_______ take off as soon as its flight plan was filed.
Once the team of analysts identifies the problem, we _________ in a better position to comment on the issue.
Which one of the following choices CANNOT fill the given blank?“If you are looking for a history of India, or for an account of the rise and fall of the British Raj, or for the reason of the cleaving the subcontinent into two mutually antagonistic parts and the effects this mutilation will have in the respective sections, and ultimately on Asia, you will to find it in these pages; for though I have spent a lifetime in the country, I lived too near the seat of events, and was too intimately associated with the actors, to get the perspective needed for the impartial recording of these matters.”
Which of the following is closest in meaning to ‘cleaving’?
