The rewards can be monetary, in the form of pay for performance, say, or reputational, in the form of college rankings, hospital ratings, surgical report cards and so on. But the most dramatic negative effect of metric fixation is its propensity to incentivise gaming: that is, encouraging professionals to maximise the metrics in ways that are at odds with the larger purpose of the organisation. If the rate of major crimes in a district becomes the metric according to which police officers are promoted, then some officers will respond by simply not recording crimes or downgrading them from major offences to misdemeanours. Or take the case of surgeons. When the metrics of success and failure are made public – affecting their reputation and income – some surgeons will improve their metric scores by refusing to operate on patients with more complex problems, whose surgical outcomes are more likely to be negative. Who suffers? The patients who don’t get operated upon.
When reward is tied to measured performance, metric fixation invites just this sort of gaming. But metric fixation also leads to a variety of more subtle unintended negative consequences. These include goal displacement, which comes in many varieties: when performance is judged by a few measures, and the stakes are high (keeping one’s job, getting a pay rise or raising the stock price at the time that stock options are vested), people focus on satisfying those measures – often at the expense of other, more important organisational goals that are not measured. The best-known example is ‘teaching to the test’, a widespread phenomenon that has distorted primary and secondary education in the United States since the adoption of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
Short-termism is another negative. Measured performance encourages what the US sociologist Robert K Merton in 1936 called ‘the imperious immediacy of interests … where the actor’s paramount concern with the foreseen immediate consequences excludes consideration of further or other consequences’. In short, advancing short-term goals at the expense of long-range considerations. This problem is endemic to publicly traded corporations that sacrifice long-term research and development, and the development of their staff, to the perceived imperatives of the quarterly report.
To the debit side of the ledger must also be added the transactional costs of metrics: the expenditure of employee time by those tasked with compiling and processing the metrics in the first place – not to mention the time required to actually read them. . . .
What main point does the author want to convey through the examples of the police officer and the surgeon?
- Some professionals are likely to be significantly influenced by the design of performance measurement systems.
- Metrics-linked rewards may encourage unethical behaviour among some professionals.
- The actions of police officers and surgeons have a significantly impact on society.
- Critical public roles should not be evaluated on metrics-based performance measures.
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
The main point the author conveys through the examples of the police officer and the surgeon is that professionals can be significantly influenced by the design of performance measurement systems. The comprehension discusses how metric fixation, the reliance on numerical indicators instead of professional judgment, can lead professionals to focus on improving their metrics in ways that do not align with the organization's goals. For instance, police officers may not record crimes to manipulate crime rates, and surgeons may avoid complex surgeries to maintain better metrics. These examples illustrate that the design of performance measurement systems can heavily influence professional behavior, potentially leading to unethical actions driven by rewards tied to metrics.
Which of the following is NOT a consequence of the 'metric fixation' phenomenon mentioned in the passage?
- Improving cooperation among employees leading to increased organisational effectiveness in the long run.
- Short-term orientation induced by frequent measurement of performance.
Finding a way to show better results without actually improving performance.
- Deviating from organisationally important objectives to measurable yet less important objectives.
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
- Incentivizing gaming, where professionals manipulate metrics without true performance improvement (such as not recording crimes or refusing complex surgeries).
- Goal displacement, leading individuals to focus on satisfying measurable metrics at the expense of more significant organizational goals, exemplified by "teaching to the test".
- Short-termism, where immediate results are prioritized over long-term planning, affecting areas like research and staff development.
Considering these points, the option that is NOT a consequence of 'metric fixation' would be:
Improving cooperation among employees leading to increased organisational effectiveness in the long run.
This option suggests a positive long-term outcome, which contradicts the passage's focus on negative consequences such as gaming, misplaced priorities, and short-term thinking. As such, improving cooperation and achieving long-term effectiveness are not aligned with the issues described associated with metric fixation. Therefore, this is the correct choice as the exception.
Of the following, which would have added the least depth to the author’s argument?
- An analysis of the reasons why metrics fixation is becoming popular despite its drawbacks.
- More real-life illustrations of the consequences of employees and professionals gaming metrics-based performance measurement systems.
- A comparative case study of metrics- and non-metrics-based evaluation, and its impact on the main goals of an organisation.
- Assessment of the pros and cons of a professional judgment-based evaluation system.
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
To determine which option adds the least depth to the author’s argument, we must examine how each choice interacts with the key themes and messages presented in the comprehension passage. The passage discusses the phenomenon of metric fixation and its various drawbacks, such as gaming, goal displacement, short-termism, and transactional costs. Let’s analyze each option:
An analysis of the reasons why metric fixation is becoming popular despite its drawbacks.
This option suggests exploring the popularity of metric fixation. Given that the passage outlines the drawbacks of metric fixation, understanding its popularity could provide valuable context, making this a relevant addition.
More real-life illustrations of the consequences of employees and professionals gaming metrics-based performance measurement systems.
The passage already includes examples of gaming metrics (e.g., police officers and surgeons manipulating outcomes). Adding more illustrations would be redundant and would contribute the least depth, as the point is adequately covered.
A comparative case study of metrics- and non-metrics-based evaluation, and its impact on the main goals of an organisation.
This would provide a grounded comparison, potentially highlighting the pros and cons of metric fixation versus alternative evaluation methods, thus deepening the analysis.
Assessment of the pros and cons of a professional judgment-based evaluation system.
Discussing an alternative evaluation approach directly aligns with the author's critical stance on metric fixation, adding depth by examining options beyond the criticized metrics system.
Therefore, the option that would add the least depth to the author's argument, considering the current content and coverage of the passage, is “More real-life illustrations of the consequences of employees and professionals gaming metrics-based performance measurement systems.”
All of the following can be a possible feature of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, EXCEPT:
- standardised test scores can be critical in determining a student’s educational future.
- the focus is more on test-taking skills than on higher order thinking and problem-solving.
- school funding and sanctions are tied to yearly improvement shown on tests.
- assessment is dependent on the teacher's subjective evaluation of students' class participation.
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
The question asks which of the given options is NOT a feature of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. To solve this, we must identify the incorrect association between the options and the Act's features:
- Standardised test scores can be critical in determining a student’s educational future. This statement aligns with the Act's focus on standardised testing as a means of assessing and improving educational outcomes.
- The focus is more on test-taking skills than on higher order thinking and problem-solving. This reflects criticism of the Act, which resulted in educators focusing on teaching to the test rather than fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
- School funding and sanctions are tied to yearly improvement shown on tests. Under the Act, schools are assessed based on students' performance on standardised tests, affecting funding and sanctions.
- Assessment is dependent on the teacher's subjective evaluation of students' class participation. This statement is not in line with the Act. The No Child Left Behind Act emphasizes objective assessment through standardised tests rather than subjective teacher evaluations.
Therefore, the correct answer is: assessment is dependent on the teacher's subjective evaluation of students' class participation.
What is the main idea that the author is trying to highlight in the passage?
- All kinds of organisations are now relying on metrics to measure performance and to give rewards and punishments.
- Long-term organisational goals should not be ignored for short-term measures of organisational success.
- Performance measurement needs to be precise and cost-effective to be useful for evaluating organisational performance.
- Evaluating performance by using measurable performance metrics may misguide organisational goal achievement.
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
- It leads to gaming of the system, where professionals might manipulate metrics to achieve better results on paper without actually improving performance.
- Goal displacement occurs when individuals focus excessively on specific metrics at the expense of broader organizational objectives.
- Short-termism encourages prioritizing immediate results over long-term value and growth, which can undermine strategic goals.
Top Questions on Reading Comprehension
- Shown below are letters ‘e’ taken from four popular logos, arranged in a sequence. Which of the options is the correct sequence?
- UCEED - 2026
- English Language Comprehension
- Reading Comprehension
- Shown below are four options, each showing consecutive frames representing the movement of a pendulum of an old-style wall clock for an animation movie. Which is the correct option?
- UCEED - 2026
- English Language Comprehension
- Reading Comprehension
- Acrucial moderating factor in how people experience comparisons is self-esteem. Individuals with high self-esteem are more likely to interpret upward comparison as informative rather than threatening. They are more resilient in the face of others’ success and more likely to believe they can reach their own goals. In contrast, people with low self-esteem are more prone to interpret comparison as judgment, reinforcing negative self-views and triggering feelings of inadequacy.
This dynamic creates a self-reinforcing loop. People with high self-esteem are less vulnerable to upward comparison, which intensifies those doubts. Those with a secure sense of self are more likely to use comparison as a learning tool. The same external stimulus—a colleague’s achievements, a friend’s popularity—can have radically different effects depending on internal stability.
Self-esteem also influences how people choose their comparison targets. Research has found that individuals often engage in “selective comparison,” seeking out those who confirm their existing beliefs about themselves. This can become a subtle form of self-sabotage. Someone who feels unworthy may subconsciously seek out targets that reinforce that sense, perpetuating a narrative of inferiority. One of the most promising antidotes to social comparison is temporal comparison—evaluating oneself not against others, but against one’s own past. This method has been shown to increase motivation and satisfaction, especially when individuals can see concrete progress. Temporal comparison activates the same reward circuits as social comparison but avoids the threat systems associated with social ranking. It also reinforces agency: individuals focus on what they can control and improve rather than what others control. In therapeutic and coaching settings, temporal comparison is used to help clients build self-efficacy and track growth over time.
Moreover, people who focus on self-improvement rather than social dominance are less likely to fall into cycles of envy or self-pity. They can still use others as inspiration, but they do so without attaching their self-worth to the outcome. This is not to say they never compare—but that they focus on learning, rather than judgment. The most skilful approach to comparison may lie in eliminating it, but in reframing it as feedback. When we interpret comparison as information rather than a verdict, we can ask, “What can I learn from this?” This shift turns comparison into a growth tool. Teachers mentor their students, not as rivals. Psychologists emphasize that the key variable here is mindset.
A fixed mindset sees comparison as a threat. If someone else is better, it means we are worse. A growth mindset sees comparison as a map. If someone else has reached a certain level, it means the path exists. This reframing is not just a cognitive trick. It changes the emotional tone of comparison, making it more likely to inspire than to wound. Reframing also requires emotional regulation—the ability to notice an initial pang of envy or shame without reacting impulsively. With practice, individuals can learn to pause, reflect, and reinterpret their emotional responses. Over time, this builds resilience and self-trust, allowing comparison to become a learning tool rather than a cage.- XAT - 2026
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
When people who are talking don’t share the same culture, knowledge, values, and assumptions, mutual understanding can be especially difficult. Such understanding is possible through the negotiation of meaning. To negotiate meaning with someone, you have to become aware of and respect both the differences in your backgrounds and when these differences are important. You need enough diversity of cultural and personal experience to be aware that divergent world views exist and what they might be like. You also need the flexibility in world view, and a generous tolerance for mistakes, as well as a talent for finding the right metaphor to communicate the relevant parts of unshared experiences or to highlight the shared experiences while demphasizing the others. Metaphorical imagination is a crucial skill in creating rapport and in communicating the nature of unshared experience. This skill consists, in large measure, of the ability to bend your world view and adjust the way you categorize your experiences. Problems of mutual understanding are not exotic; they arise in all extended conversations where understanding is important.
When it really counts, meaning is almost never communicated according to the CONDUIT metaphor, that is, where one person transmits a fixed, clear proposition to another by means of expressions in a common language, where both parties have all the relevant common knowledge, assumptions, values, etc. When the chips are down, meaning is negotiated: you slowly figure out what you have in common, what it is safe to talk about, how you can communicate unshared experience or create a shared vision. With enough flexibility in bending your world view and with luck and charity, you may achieve some mutual understanding.
Communication theories based on the CONDUIT metaphor turn from the pathetic to the evil when they are applied indiscriminately on a large scale, say, in government surveillance or computerized files. There, what is most crucial for real understanding is almost never included, and it is assumed that the words in the file have meaning in themselves—disembodied, objective, understandable meaning. When a society lives by the CONDUITmetaphor on a large scale, misunderstanding, persecution, and much worse are the likely products.- XAT - 2026
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
Later, I realized that reviewing the history of nuclear physics served another purpose as well: It gave the lie to the naive belief that the physicists could have come together when nuclear fission was discovered (in Nazi Germany!) and agreed to keep the discovery a secret, thereby sparing humanity such a burden. No. Given the development of nuclear physics up to 1938, development that physicists throughout the world pursued in all innocence of any intention of finding the engine of a new weapon of mass destruction—only one of them, the remarkable Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard, took that possibility seriously—the discovery of nuclear fission was inevitable. To stop it, you would have had to stop physics. If German scientists hadn’t made the discovery when they did, French, American, Russian, Italian, or Danish scientists would have done so, almost certainly within days or weeks. They were all working at the same cutting edge, trying to understand the strange results of a simple experiment bombarding uranium with neutrons. Here was no Faustian bargain, as movie directors and other naifs still find it intellectually challenging to imagine. Here was no evil machinery that the noble scientists might hide from the problems and the generals. To the contrary, there was a high insight into how the world works, an energetic reaction, older than the earth, that science had finally devised the instruments and arrangements to coart forth. “Make it seem inevitable,” Louis Pasteur used to advise his students when they prepared to write up their discoveries. But it was. To wish that it might have been ignored or suppressed is barbarous. “Knowledge,” Niels Bohr once noted, “is itself the basis for civilization.” You cannot have the one without the other; the one depends upon the other. Nor can you have only benevolent knowledge; the scientific method doesn’t filter for benevolence. Knowledge has consequences, not always intended, not always comfortable, but always welcome. The earth revolves around the sun, not the sun around the earth. “It is a profound and necessary truth,” Robert Oppenheimer would say, “that the deep things in science are not found because they are useful; they are found because it was possible to find them.”
...Bohr proposed once that the goal of science is not universal truth. Rather, he argued, the modest but relentless goal of science is “the gradual removal of prejudices.” The discovery that the earth revolves around the sun has gradually removed the prejudice that the earth is the center of the universe. The discovery of microbes is gradually removing the prejudice that disease is a punishment from God. The discovery of evolution is gradually removing the prejudice that Homo sapiens is a separate and special creation.- XAT - 2026
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
Questions Asked in CAT exam
- The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
In the dynamic realm of creativity, artists often find themselves at the crossroads between drawing inspiration from diverse cultures and inadvertently crossing into the territory of cultural appropriation. Inspiration is the lifeblood of creativity, driving artists to create works that resonate across borders. In a globalized era of the modern world, artists draw from a vast array of cultural influences. When approached respectfully, inspiration becomes a bridge, fostering understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity. However, the line between inspiration and cultural appropriation can be thin and easily blurred.
Cultural appropriation occurs when elements from a particular culture are borrowed without proper understanding, respect, or acknowledgment. This leads to the commodification of sacred symbols, the reinforcement of stereotypes, and the erasure of the cultural context from which these elements originated. It is essential to recognize that the impact of cultural appropriation extends beyond the realm of artistic expression, influencing societal perceptions and perpetuating power imbalances.- CAT - 2025
- Para Summary
- The number of distinct integers $n$ for which $\log_{\left(\frac14\right)}(n^2 - 7n + 11)>0$ is:
- CAT - 2025
- Linear Inequalities
- In the set of consecutive odd numbers $\{1, 3, 5, \ldots, 57\}$, there is a number $k$ such that the sum of all the elements less than $k$ is equal to the sum of all the elements greater than $k$. Then, $k$ equals?
- CAT - 2025
- Number Systems
- The number of distinct pairs of integers $(x, y)$ satisfying the inequalities $x>y \ge 3$ and $x + y<14$ is:
- CAT - 2025
- Number Systems
For any natural number $k$, let $a_k = 3^k$. The smallest natural number $m$ for which \[ (a_1)^1 \times (a_2)^2 \times \dots \times (a_{20})^{20} \;<\; a_{21} \times a_{22} \times \dots \times a_{20+m} \] is:
- CAT - 2025
- Linear Inequalities