The importance of sleep is often overlooked by students when they are preparing for exams. Research has consistently shown that sleep deprivation greatly reduces the ability to recall the material learnt. Hence, cutting down on sleep to study longer hours can be counterproductive.
Which one of the following statements is the CORRECT inference from the above passage?
A. Sleeping well alone is enough to prepare for an exam. Studying has lesser benefit.
B. Students are not right in thinking that sleep is a waste of time.
C. If a student is extremely well prepared for an exam, he needs little or no sleep.
D. To do well in an exam, adequate sleep must be part of the preparation.
GATE 2021 · General Aptitude · Verbal Reasoning · medium
Answer: D. To do well in an exam, adequate sleep must be part of the preparation.
Evaluate option A: A says 'Sleeping well alone is enough.' The passage never claims sleep alone replaces studying — it only says skipping sleep is counterproductive. Option A overclaims. REJECT.
Evaluate option B: B says students are wrong to think sleep is a waste. This is implied, but it frames the passage's message negatively (students' flawed thinking). It is less direct than option D. Partially true, but not the best inference.
Evaluate option C: C claims a well-prepared student needs little or no sleep. The passage makes no such exception — sleep deprivation reduces recall for everyone regardless of preparation level. REJECT.
Evaluate option D: D says adequate sleep must be part of exam preparation. This is a direct, bounded restatement of the passage: sleep deprivation hurts recall, so adequate sleep is a necessary component of effective preparation. ACCEPT.