A smart city integrates all modes of transport, uses clean energy and promotes sustainable use of resources. It also uses technology to ensure safety and security of the city, something which critics argue, will lead to a surveillance state. Which of the following can be logically inferred from the above paragraph? i. All smart cities encourage the use of renewable energy. ii. Smart cities will have a surveillance system. iii. Sustainability and surveillance go hand in hand in a smart city. iv. There is a perception that smart cities promote surveillance. A. (i) only B. (ii) and (iii) only C. (iv) only D. (i) only
GATE 2016 · General Aptitude · Verbal Reasoning · medium
Answer: Statement (iv) only — there is a perception that smart cities promote surveillance — is the valid logical inference. Answer: C.
- Evaluate statement (i): All smart cities encourage renewable energy: The paragraph says 'clean energy', not 'renewable energy'. Clean energy can include nuclear, which is not renewable. Statement (i) introduces a term not in the text — it is NOT a valid inference.
- Evaluate statement (ii): Smart cities will have a surveillance system: The paragraph says critics argue this will lead to surveillance — it is not stated as a certainty. The phrase 'will lead to' is the critics' speculation, not an established fact. Statement (ii) presents it as certain — NOT a valid inference.
- Evaluate statement (iii): Sustainability and surveillance go hand in hand: The paragraph mentions both sustainability and surveillance separately. There is no statement that they are necessarily linked or go together. Statement (iii) draws an unsupported causal link — NOT a valid inference.
- Evaluate statement (iv): There is a perception that smart cities promote surveillance: The paragraph explicitly states 'critics argue' that smart city technology will lead to a surveillance state. Critics arguing is exactly a perception. Statement (iv) correctly captures this as a perception held by critics — this IS a valid inference.