Comprehension
Answer the question based on the passage given below.
Nearly two thousand years have passed since a census decreed by Caesar Augustus became part of the greatest story ever told. Many things have changed in the intervening years. The hotel industry worries more about overbuilding than overcrowding, and if they had to meet an unexpected influx, few inns would have managed to accommodate the weary guests. Now it is the census taker that does the travelling in the fond hope that a highly mobile population will stay put long enough to get a good sampling. Methods of gathering, recording and evaluating information have presumably been improved a great deal. And where then it was the modest purpose of Rome to obtain a simple head count as an adequate basis for levying taxes, now batteries of complicated statistical series furnished by governmental agencies and private organizations are eagerly scanned and interpreted by sages and seers to get a clue for future events.
The Bible does not tell us how the Roman census takers made out, and as regards our more immediate concern, the reliability of present-day economic forecasting, there are considerable differences of opinion. They were aired at the celebration of the 125th anniversary of the American Statistical Association. There was the thought that business forecasting might well be on its way from an art to a science, and some speakers talked about new-fangled computers and high-faulting mathematical systems in terms of excitement and endearment, which we, at least in our younger years when these things mattered, would have associated more readily with the description of a fair maiden.
But others pointed to a deplorable record of highly esteemed forecasts and forecasters with a batting average below that of the Mets and the President-elect of the Association cautioned that “high-powered statistical methods are usually in order where the facts are crude and inadequate, statisticians assume.” We left his birthday party somewhere between hope and despair and with the conviction, not really newly acquired, that proper statistical methods applied to ascertainable facts have their merits in economic forecasting as long as neither forecaster nor public is deluded into mistaking the delineation of probabilities and trends for a prediction of certainties of mathematical exactitude.
Question: 1

According to the passage, taxation in Roman times was based on

Updated On: Aug 20, 2025
  • mobility
  • wealth
  • population
  • census takers
Hide Solution
collegedunia
Verified By Collegedunia

The Correct Option is C

Solution and Explanation

Step 1 — Recall the relevant portion of the passage:
The passage says: “...where then it was the modest purpose of Rome to obtain a simple head count as an adequate basis for levying taxes...”

Step 2 — Interpret the meaning:
In Roman times, the census was not about detailed statistics or complex data. Its main function was simply to count the number of people.
This “head count” was then used as the basis for taxation.

Step 3 — Contrast with modern times:
Today, taxation and economic planning are based on a wide variety of statistical data and economic forecasts. But in Rome, the method was straightforward: taxes were levied according to population numbers.

Step 4 — Conclusion:
Thus, in Roman times, taxation was directly based on the population count determined by the census.

Final Answer:
The correct option is (C): population.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Question: 2

The author refers to the Mets primarily in order to

Updated On: Aug 20, 2025
  • show that sports do not depend on statistics
  • contrast verifiable and unverifiable methods of record keeping
  • indicate the changes in attitudes from Roman days to the present
  • illustrate the failure of statistical predictions.
Hide Solution
collegedunia
Verified By Collegedunia

The Correct Option is D

Solution and Explanation

Step 1 — Recall the relevant passage portion:
The author writes: “...others pointed to a deplorable record of highly esteemed forecasts and forecasters with a batting average below that of the Mets...”

Step 2 — Interpret the analogy:
The “Mets” (a baseball team) are used humorously to highlight poor performance.
A “batting average below that of the Mets” suggests a record so weak that even professional forecasts were less accurate than a famously low sports performance.

Step 3 — Connect to the main idea:
This comparison emphasizes how unreliable many economic forecasts have been in practice. Despite advanced methods, their success rate is embarrassingly low.

Step 4 — Conclusion:
The Mets are referred to not for sports discussion but as a metaphor to illustrate the failure and unreliability of statistical predictions in economics.

Final Answer:
The correct option is (D): illustrate the failure of statistical predictions.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Question: 3

The author’s tone can best be described as

Updated On: Aug 20, 2025
  • jocular
  • scornful
  • pessimistic
  • humanistic
Hide Solution
collegedunia
Verified By Collegedunia

The Correct Option is B

Solution and Explanation

Step 1 — Observe the language used by the author:
The passage employs irony and criticism — for example:
• Referring to “high-faulting mathematical systems” with exaggerated excitement, as if talking about “a fair maiden.”
• Comparing forecasters’ records to the Mets’ low batting average, highlighting their poor performance.

Step 2 — Interpret the tone:
Such expressions reveal a sense of ridicule and mockery toward blind faith in forecasts and overconfidence in statistical methods.
The author clearly disapproves of both the poor track record of predictions and the elitist pride of forecasters.

Step 3 — Why not sympathetic or neutral?:
The passage is not neutral or purely analytical; instead, it is laced with sarcasm and contempt. The purpose is to criticize unreliable forecasting practices, not to praise them.

Step 4 — Conclusion:
The best description of the author’s tone is scornful, as he mocks the exaggerated claims and failures of forecasters.

Final Answer:
The correct option is (B): scornful.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0

Top Questions on Reading Comprehension

View More Questions

Questions Asked in SNAP exam

View More Questions