IPMAT Indore 2025 · Verbal Ability · Question 30

IPMAT Indore 2025 previous year question on RC Inference Questions, with the answer and a step-by-step solution.

RC Inference QuestionsReading Comprehension - Question TypesMultiple choiceMedium

RC passage 1: Passage — this question belongs to a set. Read the full set with all 6 questions →

Meta is recalibrating content on its social media platforms as the political tide has turned in Washington, with Mark Zuckerberg announcing last week that his company plans to fire its US fact-checkers. Fact-checking evolved in response to allegations of misinformation and is being watered down in response to accusations of censorship. Social media does not have solutions to either. Community review — introduced by Elon Musk at X and planned by Zuckerberg for Facebook and Instagram — is not a significant improvement over fact-checking. Having Washington lean on foreign governments over content moderation does not benefit free speech. Yet, that is the nature of the social media beast, designed to amplify bias.

Information and misinformation continue to jostle on social media at the mercy of user discretion. Social media now has enough control over all other forms of media to broaden its reach. It is the connective tissue for mass consumption of entertainment, and alternative platforms are reworking their engagement with social media. Technologies are shaping up to drive this advantage further through synthetic content targeted precisely at its intended audience. Meta's algorithm will now play up politics because it is the flavour of the season.

The Achilles' Heel of social media is informed choice which could turn against misinformation. Its move away from content moderation is driven by the need to be more inclusive, yet unfiltered content can push users away from social media towards legacy forms that have better moderation systems in place. Lawmakers across the world are unlikely to give social media a free run, even if Donald Trump is working on their case. Protections have already been put in place across jurisdictions over misinformation. These may be difficult to dismantle, even if the Republicans pull US-owned social media companies further to the right. Media consumption is, in essence, evidence-based judgement that mediums must adapt to. Content moderation, not free speech, is the adaptation mechanism. Musk and Zuckerberg are not exempt.

Technologies are enabling social media to
  1. A
    accept the current trends as emphasised by algorithms.
  2. B
    readjust its interaction with competitors.
  3. C
    understand that algorithms cannot control its content.
  4. D
    enlarge its sphere of influence and persuasion.
Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option D

Line in the passage

Para 2 — technologies are shaping up to drive 'this advantage' further through synthetic content targeted precisely at its intended audience.

How to reach it, step by step

Step 1. Find the sentence that actually contains the word 'Technologies'. It is the second-last sentence of paragraph 2.

Step 2. Notice the pronoun phrase 'this advantage'. A pronoun question is really a backward-reading question — you must go up one sentence to see what the advantage is.

Step 3. The preceding lines say social media controls other media and uses that control to broaden its reach. So 'this advantage' = reach.

Step 4. Now add what technology contributes: synthetic content precisely targeted at its audience. Reach + precise targeting = a wider sphere of influence and greater power to persuade. That is option (d).

Why the other three fall

(a) Algorithms playing up politics is a separate point about Meta, and it describes what the platform does, not what technology enables it to achieve.

(b) It is the alternative platforms that are reworking their engagement with social media, not social media reworking its interaction with competitors. The direction is reversed.

(c) Nothing suggests algorithms cannot control content — the passage says algorithms will amplify politics, i.e. they do shape content.

Teaching point: Train students to treat 'this', 'that', 'such' as a red flag to read the previous sentence. Roughly one RC question per passage is built on a pronoun reference.

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