Reading Comprehension

Source: Egmat

Research has discovered that lucid dreamers, people who are aware that they are asleep when they are dreaming, have better problem-solving abilities in the waking world than those who remain unaware of their dreams until they wake up.
Studies have also shown that since lucid dreamers are aware of dreaming while dreaming, they can even play an active role in their dreams
Neuroscientists hypothesize that the reason behind these special skills of lucid dreamers could be their special brain structure.
On comparing the brain structures of frequent lucid dreamers and participants who never or only occasionally have lucid dreams, neuroscientists have found that the anterior prefrontal cortex, i.e., the brain area controlling conscious cognitive processes and playing an important role in the capability of self-reflection, is larger in lucid dreamers, suggesting a link between lucid dreaming and metacognition, which is defined as cognition about cognition or knowing about knowing.
The theory has found more supporting evidence in the brain images of test subjects, which were taken while these subjects were solving metacognitive tests in their awake state.
The images show that the brain activity in the prefrontal cortex was higher in lucid dreamers than in non-lucid dreamers, indicating that lucid dreamers have a higher level of insight than non-lucid dreamers.
Neuroscientists say that it is this level of cognitive ability in lucid dreamers that enables them to spot incongruities within their dream, signaling their brain that they are in a dream, since the events in the dream would not make much sense otherwise, and making it possible for them to take active part in their dreams.
The same insight also transcends in to the waking world when it comes to finding solution to a problem by spotting hidden connections or inconsistences.


Which of the following is mentioned in the passage?

A. Neuroscientists think that lucid dreamers have better problem solving abilities than non-lucid dreamers since they can take active parts in their dreams.

B. As per the neuroscientists, the metacognitive abilities of those who experience lucid dreaming once and those who never experience it are not comparable.

C. As per the neuroscientists, the higher level of insight possessed by lucid dreamers, as opposed to non-lucid dreamers, enables them to spot odd events both in dreams and reality.

D. Studies have shown that the awareness of the fact that they are asleep while experiencing a dream shows that lucid dreamers have a higher level of metacognition than non-lucid dreamers.

E. The neuroscientists found that the non-lucid dreamers did not have a high level of insight as the brain activity in their prefrontal cortex was limited.

The question asks: which of the following is mentioned? This is therefore a specific detail question and does not require the text to be interpreted: the correct answer should simply reflect what the text really says.

A. Neuroscientists think that lucid dreamers have better problem solving abilities than non-lucid dreamers since they can take active parts in their dreams. Although questions of this kind are the most straightforward in Reading Comprehension, the examiners are quite likely to try to complicate them by putting together things that the text itself does not join. In this option, the problem is the SINCE. The passage does indeed say that lucid dreamers have better problem solving abilities than non-lucid dreamers. It also says that lucid dreamers can take an active part in their dreams. But the second is not presented in the passage as a reason for the first. Rather, the reason given is that lucid dreamers have a special brain structure. Eliminate option A.

B. As per the neuroscientists, the metacognitive abilities of those who experience lucid dreaming once and those who never experience it are not comparable.
The passage does mention those who never experience lucid dreaming, but at no point does it refer to those who experience it only once. Eliminate option B.

C. As per the neuroscientists, the higher level of insight possessed by lucid dreamers, as opposed to non-lucid dreamers, enables them to spot odd events both in dreams and reality.
The passage speaks of INCONGRUITIES, and this option of ODD EVENTS. These two kinds of thing are arguably not the same; nevertheless, what the option says seems to fit with the statements made in the passage. What you should therefore do here is simply to reserve this option and go on to see if the remaining ones have something decidedly objectionable.

D. Studies have shown that the awareness of the fact that they are asleep while experiencing a dream shows that lucid dreamers have a higher level of metacognition than non-lucid dreamers.
The passage does say, on the basis of the studies mentioned, that lucid dreamers have a higher level of insight than non-lucid dreamers. It does NOT say, however, that the awareness of the fact that they are asleep while experiencing a dream SHOWS that this is the case. What the passage claims is that there is a link between metacognition and lucid dreaming, and that both are the result of a special brain structure. The connection, at any rate, is something that researchers HYPOTHESIZE, not something that they assert that the studies HAVE SHOWN. Eliminate option D.

E. The neuroscientists found that the non-lucid dreamers did not have a high level of insight as the brain activity in their prefrontal cortex was limited.
This option simply distorts the passage on two counts. First, it is nowhere stated that the non-lucid dreamers did not have a high level of insight. What the passage does state is that the level of insight in lucid dreamers was HIGHER: this does not mean that the level of insight of non-lucid dreamers was LOW. And second, there is no indication anywhere that the brain activity in their prefrontal cortex was limited. Eliminate option E.

Option C, by elimination, would have to be the correct answer. And if you go back to it and check it against the passage (ignoring the arguable differences between INCONGRUITIES and ODD EVENTS) you will see that it is right. The passage says that this level of cognitive ability in lucid dreamers ... enables them to spot incongruities within their dream ... since the events in the dream would not make much sense otherwise. .. The same insight also transcends into the waking world when it comes to finding solution to a problem by spotting hidden connections or inconsistencies.

This passage would have been a bit more assimilable if it had been well written. To mention just three problems (there are many), how can a REASON be a BRAIN STRUCTURE? What sort of sentence is it that compares BRAIN STRUCTURES with PARTICIPANTS? And is there no redundancy in the clause The SAME insight ALSO transcends?

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