Practice mode Reading Comprehension

What can be inferred from the passage about why medical trials include a placebo group?

Read the passage: When new medicines are tested, researchers usually divide volunteers into two groups. One group receives the real drug, while the other receives a placebo, a dummy pill that looks identical but contains no active ingredient. In the best-designed trials, neither the volunteers nor the doctors giving the pills know who is receiving which. This matters because people who believe they are being treated often report feeling better, even when they have taken only a sugar pill. This improvement, known as the placebo effect, can be surprisingly strong for symptoms such as pain. A new medicine is considered effective only if it produces clearly better results than the placebo.

Correct answer B. Without one, improvement caused by patients' expectations could be mistaken for the drug's effect.

Explanation

Since believing in a treatment can make people feel better, comparing the drug with a placebo shows whether improvement comes from the drug itself rather than from expectations.

Report a problem

Answer checked 11 October 2026 How we write and check questions

Tip: press A, B, C or D to answer, and N for the next question.

More Reading Comprehension questions

See all

Question 01 Reading Comprehension

What does the passage about Farhan’s restaurant in Hyderabad suggest?

Read the passage: When Farhan opened his restaurant in Hyderabad, the menu listed more than eighty dishes, from biryani to pasta. Customers took a long time to order, the kitchen struggled to keep so many ingredients fresh, and a good deal of food was thrown away each week. After a year of disappointing profits, he cut the menu to twenty dishes, mostly local favourites that his chef cooked particularly well. Orders now arrive faster, waste has fallen sharply, and online reviews frequently praise the consistency of the food. Farhan admits he was nervous that customers would miss the choice. Instead, he says, the restaurant has never been busier, and he has hired two more waiters.

Correct answer C. Offering fewer dishes can improve both quality and profits.

Open question

Question 02 Reading Comprehension

According to the passage about thunder and lightning, what causes the sound of thunder?

Read the passage: Thunder is the sound made by lightning. A lightning bolt heats the air along its path to temperatures several times hotter than the surface of the Sun in a tiny fraction of a second. The heated air expands so violently that it creates a shock wave, which we hear as a crack or a long rumble. Because light travels far faster than sound, we see the flash almost instantly but hear the thunder later. Sound covers roughly one kilometre in three seconds, so counting the seconds between flash and thunder and dividing by three gives a rough idea of how many kilometres away the storm is. If the gap is very short, it is wise to move indoors at once.

Correct answer C. Air expanding violently after being heated by lightning

Open question

Question 03 Reading Comprehension

Based on the passage about bamboo, why might designers see it as a good alternative to timber?

Read the passage: Bamboo may look like a tree, but it is actually a giant member of the grass family. Some species are among the fastest-growing plants on Earth and can shoot up by tens of centimetres in a single day during the growing season. Unlike most trees, many bamboo plants send up new stems from the same underground root system after the old stems are cut, so harvesting does not require replanting. The hollow stems are light yet remarkably strong, which is why bamboo has been used for centuries across Asia for scaffolding, furniture, bridges and houses. Today, designers looking for alternatives to slow-growing timber are showing growing interest in bamboo floors, panels and even bicycle frames.

Correct answer D. It can be harvested repeatedly and regrows quickly without replanting.

Open question

Question 04 Reading Comprehension

In the passage about the electronics shop in Rawalpindi, what does the word ‘lure’ most nearly mean?

Read the passage: During the festival season, an electronics shop in Rawalpindi placed a large banner outside offering televisions at 'half price'. The offer drew crowds, but many shoppers discovered that only three televisions were available at that price, and they had been sold within the first hour. Sales staff then guided disappointed customers towards more expensive models, pointing out their larger screens and longer guarantees. Kamran, a college student who had queued since early morning, left empty-handed and annoyed. His economics teacher later explained that some shops use a heavily discounted item as a lure to bring people through the door, hoping they will spend money on other goods once inside.

Correct answer C. Something used to attract people

Open question

What can be inferred from the passage about why medical trials include a placebo group?

Discussion

Have a question about this answer? Cancel reply