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GATE 2020 EC GA Q.4: solution and answer

GATE 2020 · ECGA Q.4 · 1 mark · MCQ

The Canadian constitution requires that equal importance be given to English and French. Last year, Air Canada lost a lawsuit, and had to pay a six-figure fine to a French-speaking couple after they filed complaints about formal in-flight announcements in English lasting 15 seconds, as opposed to informal 5 second messages in French.

The French-speaking couple were upset at ______.

  1. (A)

    the in-flight announcements being made in English.

  2. (B)

    the English announcements being clearer than the French ones.

  3. (C)

    the English announcements being longer than the French ones.

  4. (D)

    equal importance being given to English and French.

See the question in the paper
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Answer and solution

ANSWER

(C) the English announcements being longer than the French ones.

Official answer: CSource: Official answer key, GATE 2020 EC (IIT Delhi)

  1. Find the complaint in the passage. The couple complained about "formal in-flight announcements in English lasting 15 seconds, as opposed to informal 5 second messages in French". The phrase "as opposed to" contrasts the English announcements with the French ones.

  2. The passage names two differences: length (15 seconds against 5 seconds) and tone (formal against informal). The constitution requires equal importance for both languages, so the French messages received less than their fair share. Of these two differences, only length appears among the options.

  3. (A) is wrong. The constitution gives English equal standing, so an announcement made in English is not a grievance by itself. The objection was to how the English announcements compared with the French ones.

  4. (B) is wrong. The passage says nothing about how clear either announcement was. "Formal" and "informal" describe tone, not clarity, so (B) is an inference the text does not support.

  5. (D) is wrong. Equal importance is what the couple wanted. Their complaint was that it had not been given, so they cannot have been upset at it.

  6. (C) matches the passage. Since 15 seconds is longer than 5 seconds, the English announcements were longer than the French ones, which is exactly the imbalance the couple complained about. The answer is (C).

KEY IDEA

Answer from what the passage actually states. The words "as opposed to" mark the complaint as a contrast between the two languages, and the only contrast offered in the options is length: 15 seconds of English against 5 seconds of French. Under a rule of equal importance, that gap is the grievance.

WATCH OUT FOR

The usual mistake is picking (A) because the complaint was "about" the English announcements. The couple did not object to English being used, since the constitution protects both languages. They objected to English getting more time than French. Some candidates also pick (B) because they read "formal" as "clearer", but the passage never mentions clarity.

From the GATE 2020 EC paper. Every question of this paper · Download the full paper · All 18 Reading questions, with notes

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