The central claim about sleep — Aptitude Question
The central claim about sleep: For most of the twentieth century, sleep was treated as an absence: the hours in… Answer and worked solution on CodeKairo.
- Topic: Reading Comprehension
- Section: Verbal Ability
- Difficulty: Medium
- Time target: 90 seconds
Question
For most of the twentieth century, sleep was treated as an absence: the hours in which nothing happened. That view has been overturned. The sleeping brain consolidates the day's learning, clears metabolic waste and rehearses motor sequences. What looks like inactivity is in fact a second shift. The practical consequence is uncomfortable for a culture that prizes long hours — cutting sleep to gain working time is a trade that reliably loses more than it gains.
What is the central claim of the passage?
Options
- Sleep is an active process, so cutting it to gain working hours is a poor trade.
- People in the twentieth century slept more than people do today.
- The brain does nothing useful during sleep.
- Long working hours are the main cause of poor sleep.
Show the answer and the worked solution
Correct answer: A. Sleep is an active process, so cutting it to gain working hours is a poor trade.
Worked solution
- The passage argues that sleep is a 'second shift' of real activity.
- It concludes that trading sleep for working time 'reliably loses more than it gains'.
- The first option captures both halves. The third states the view the passage rejects.
Answer: Sleep is an active process, so cutting it to gain working hours is a poor trade.
The idea
When a passage overturns a belief, the main idea is usually the new view plus its consequence, not the old view being dismissed.
Shortcut. 'The practical consequence' flags the conclusion; pair it with 'That view has been overturned'. One option joins the two with 'so', and that is the claim.
Common trap. "Long working hours are the main cause of poor sleep." — it uses the passage's own themes, but reverses the logic: the passage says cutting sleep costs more than it gains, not that work causes poor sleep.