Listening to music during exercise improves performance and reduces discomfort. Scientists researched whether listening to music while studying can help students learn better and the results were inconclusive. Students who needed external stimulation for studying fared worse while students who did not need such external stimulation benefited from music.
Which one of the following statements is the CORRECT inference of the above passage?
A. Listening to music has no effect on learning and a positive effect on physical exercise.
B. Listening to music has a clear positive effect both on physical exercise and on learning.
C. Listening to music has a clear positive effect on physical exercise. Music has a positive effect on learning only in some students.
D. Listening to music has a positive effect on all learning in all students. Music has a positive effect only in some students who exercise.
GATE 2021 · General Aptitude · Verbal Reasoning · medium
Answer: Option C is correct. The passage establishes a clear, universal positive effect of music on exercise and a conditional positive effect on learning that applies only to students who do not need external stimulation — i.e., only some students.
Check the exercise claim in each option: The passage clearly states music during exercise improves performance and reduces discomfort. Options A, C, and D all partially address exercise. Option D says 'positive only in some students who exercise', which contradicts the passage (exercise benefit is universal, not for some). Option A says 'no effect on learning' which is too strong.
Check the learning/studying claim: Option A says music has 'no effect on learning' — but the passage says some students (those not needing external stimulation) did benefit. So 'no effect' is wrong. Option B says a 'clear positive effect on learning' — but results were inconclusive, not uniformly positive. Option C says 'positive effect on learning only in some students' — this exactly matches the finding that students not needing external stimulation benefited.
Confirm option C: Option C states: (1) clear positive effect on physical exercise — matches the passage's first finding. (2) Positive effect on learning only in some students — matches the passage's second finding (inconclusive overall; only students not needing external stimulation benefited). Both parts of C are accurately supported.