Question: Each of the questions below has a set of sequentially ordered statements. Each statement can be classified as one of the following:
A. Facts, which deal with the pieces of information that one has heard, seen or read, and which are open to discovery or verification (the answer option indicates such a statement with an ‘F’)
B. Inferences, which are conclusions drawn about the unknown, on the basis of the known (the answer option indicates such a statement with an ‘I’)
C. Judgements, which are opinions that imply approval or disapproval of persons, objects, situations and occurrences in the past, the present or the future (the answer option indicates such a statement with a ‘J’)
Select the answer option that best describes the set of statements.
We should not be hopelessly addicted to an erroneous belief that corruption in India is caused by the crookedness of Indians.
The truth is that we have more red tape - we take eighty-nine days to start a small business, Australians take two.
Red tape leads to corruption and distorts a people‘s character.
Every red tape procedure is a point of contact with an official, and such contacts have the potential to become opportunities for money to change hands.
Several things make statement 1 a judgement – 'should not be', 'hopelessly addicted', 'erroneous belief', and ‘crookedness of Indians’; none of them are facts, nor verifiable inferences.
Statement 2 is a combination of inference and facts. ‘we have more red tape’ is an inference, but ‘we take 89 days etc..” is a fact. Since the thrust of the statement is based on the facts it has to be classified as a fact. Therefore, options 3 and 4 are eliminated.
Options 1, 2 and 5 remain. Statement 3 is clearly a judgement or an opinion and is classified in both options 2 and 5 as a judgement. Eliminate option 1.
Statement 4 is to be evaluated as a judgement or an inference. The first part of sentence 4 is a fact. In the second part, ‘potential’ is inferred based on facts/experiences. Hence, it is an inference. This eliminates option 2.
Hence, the correct answer is option 5.