'I read somewhere that in ancient times the prestige of a kingdom depended upon the number of taxes that it was able to levy on its people. It was very much like the prestige of a head-hunter in his own community.' Based on the paragraph above, the prestige of a head-hunter depended upon A. the prestige of the kingdom B. the prestige of the heads C. the number of heads he could collect D. the number of heads he could gather

GATE 2019 · General Aptitude · Passage Reading · medium

Answer: D. the number of heads he could gather

1. Extract the analogy from the passage: The passage states: 'the prestige of a kingdom depended upon the number of taxes that it was able to levy on its people. It was very much like the prestige of a head-hunter.' The word 'It' refers to this dependency on quantity.
2. Eliminate options that misapply the analogy: A — 'prestige of the kingdom': the question asks about the head-hunter, not the kingdom; this is circular. B — 'prestige of the heads': heads do not have prestige; this misreads the analogy. C and D both say 'number of heads', which correctly maps to 'number of taxes'.
3. Distinguish C (collect) from D (gather): The answer key confirms D. 'Gather' conveys the active accumulation of heads over time, which aligns more naturally with the verb 'levy' (active imposition/collection). 'Collect' can imply a passive or one-time activity. The answer is D.