According to the Passage Questions

📑 On this page

⚡ The 20-second answer

These questions test reading, not imagining: the answer is written in the passage, usually paraphrased. Method: locate the line, line it up against the option, hunt the one swapped word. ‘NOT true’ stems flip the goal: mark every option T or F. The #1 trap: the passage's own words with one changed.

🎬 The 30-second story

The forwarded fee circular

“HOSTEL FEES TRIPLED. It's in the circular!!”

📲

Rohan

Rohan forwards first, reads later.

“That's it. Protest reel tonight. Who's in?”

📢

Aarav

Aarav is already filming.

“Line 4: ‘revised upward by three per cent’. ₹60,000 becomes ₹61,800.”

🧾

Zoya

Zoya actually opened the PDF.

“So the protest is about ₹1,800?”

☕

Meher

Meher, unbothered.

Tara's verdict: Every word in Rohan's forward came from the circular, with one swap: per cent became times. CLAT builds wrong options the same way.

How does CLAT word ‘according to the passage’ questions?

Stem (real papers)	What it really asks
“According to the given passage, which… is correct?” (2021 Q130)	One option matches a line; three swap something
“According to the given passage, which… is not true?” (2021 Q134; 2022 Q128)	Three match; one is contradicted or never said
“As per the passage, which… is a challenge for India?” (2021 Q111)	A named detail: find its paragraph
“Which cannot be referred as a characteristic of a ‘free school’?” (2021 Q120)	A list; one option isn't on it
“Which… is not a myth about people experiencing homelessness?” (2025 Q90)	Double negative: find what the passage supports

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This is CLAT LR's biggest family since 2020, about 30 questions, and its cheapest marks: you never reason past the text. You only read it exactly.

What counts as ‘according to the passage’?

⚔️ Side by side

Stated fact vs inference

📌According to the passage

It's written. Find it.

•A line says it, maybe paraphrased
•Distance from text: zero

➡️Can be inferred

It isn't written. It follows.

•Lines force it
•Distance from text: one step

Test	According to the passage	Can be inferred
Typical trap	One word swapped	Too big a step

💡 Rephrase negative stems first

Rewrite the stem first. ‘Not a myth’ = true per the passage. ‘Not true’ = contradicted or never said. ‘Cannot be referred as’ = not on the passage's list.

How do you solve it in 45 seconds?

1
Flip check
Positive or negative stem (NOT, except, cannot)? Write T or F at the top: that is what you're hunting.
2
Locate
Take the option's most specific word (a number, a name, a cause) and find it in the passage.
3
Line up
Read the sentence and the option side by side: subject, direction, number, qualifier, cause, speaker.
4
Swap check
No swap = T. One swap = F. No line anywhere = not supported, so treat it as F.

🕒 Timeline

Your 45-second clock

1
0–5 s

Read the stem

Mark T or F.
2
5–15 s

Anchor word

Pick the rarest word in the option.
3
15–35 s

Line up

Option vs sentence, word by word.
4
35–45 s

Decide

Spot the swap, bubble, move on.

Which word swaps does CLAT plant?

🧩 At a glance

The six swaps

🔢Number swap

Three times ↔ three per cent; a 2019 figure given for 2020.

🔄Direction swap

Unemployment ↔ employment; rose ↔ fell.

↩️Cause swap

Fell despite ↔ fell because of.

📢Qualifier swap

Some ↔ all; may ↔ will; most ↔ every.

🗣️Speaker swap

What critics or police claim ↔ what the author holds.

🎯Subject swap

Urban ↔ all areas; 15–29-year-olds ↔ 15–24.

⚠️ Familiar words are the bait

The wrong option feels right because you just read most of its words. Recognising words isn't matching them: line them up one by one.

How do you handle ‘which is NOT true’?

🧭 Decision flow

Grading one option in a NOT-true question

❓ Can you find the line this option talks about?

No →

Never said: a strong candidate

Re-scan once; it may be a paraphrase you missed.

Yes ↓

❓ Does it match subject, number, direction, cause, qualifier and speaker?

Yes →

T: eliminate it

No →

F: contradicted. That's your answer

Worked examples: stated facts under pressure

✍️ Worked example Warm-up ⏱ 25 sec

The canteen's new menu

The canteen cut its thali from ₹80 to ₹70 and added a ₹40 millet bowl. In the first month, thali sales rose by a quarter, and the millet bowl sold out on 18 of 26 working days. According to the passage, which is correct?
(A) The thali's price fell by a quarter. (B) Thali sales rose by 25 per cent in the first month. (C) The millet bowl sold out every working day. (D) The millet bowl's price was raised.

1
A: number swap. ₹10 off ₹80 is 12.5%; ‘a quarter’ belongs to sales.
2
C: 18 of 26 isn't ‘every’. D: never said. B: ‘a quarter’ = 25 per cent.

Answer: (B)

⚡ The exam-hall shortcut

Two numbers in one sentence? Check which noun each belongs to.

✍️ Worked example CLAT level ⏱ 40 sec

The drain-cleaning promise

After the 2023 floods, the corporation promised to desilt all 214 storm drains before the monsoon. By May it had done 160. The commissioner called the rest ‘low-risk’; residents' groups disputed this. Two more contractors have been hired. Which is NOT true according to the passage?
(A) About a quarter of the drains were still undone by May. (B) The commissioner called the unfinished drains low-risk. (C) Residents' groups agreed the unfinished drains were low-risk. (D) More contractors have been hired.

1
Flip check: hunt the F.
2
A: 214 − 160 = 54, and 54 ÷ 214 ≈ 25%. T. B and D: stated. T.
3
C: the commissioner said ‘low-risk’; residents disputed it. Speaker swap, F.

Answer: (C)

⚡ The exam-hall shortcut

‘Agreed’ vs ‘disputed’: when two parties appear, check who said what before anything else.

✍️ Worked example Tricky ⏱ 60 sec

The e-bus report card

When the city added 1,000 electric buses in 2024, officials promised cleaner air and shorter waits. A year on, the record is mixed. Average waits fell from 18 minutes to 11, and daily ridership rose about 12 per cent. But on outer routes, where the buses arrived last, waits have barely moved. Air quality is harder to judge. The pollution board's 2024 readings beat 2023's, but the board notes the monsoon was unusually long and crop-burning was lower. ‘We cannot yet say how much of the improvement is due to the buses,’ its chairperson said. Each e-bus costs about twice a diesel one, though officials say lower fuel and maintenance bills will close the gap within eight years. Critics doubt it, since battery replacement isn't counted.
According to the passage, which is correct?
(A) Waits fell on all routes. (B) The pollution board credits the e-buses for cleaner air. (C) Officials expect lower running costs to offset the higher price within eight years. (D) Ridership rose because waits fell.

1
‘All routes’: outer routes ‘barely moved’. A is a qualifier swap.
2
‘Pollution board’: it ‘cannot yet say’. B is a speaker swap.
3
‘Because’: the passage gives both facts, no causal link. D is a cause swap.
4
C is the officials' claim, correctly attributed.

Answer: (C)

⚡ The exam-hall shortcut

Each wrong option carries one swap word: all, credits, because. Circle them and C is left.

How has CLAT asked ‘according to the passage’?

📝 Asked in CLAT 2021 · Q130 Number and direction swaps

…The PLFS data from earlier rounds have already shown the extent of the rise in unemployment compared to the employment-unemployment surveys of 2011-12. The unemployment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three times between 2011-12 and 2017-18. On an internationally comparable basis, the unemployment rate among the 15-24-year-olds in 2017-18 was 28.5 per cent…

According to the given passage, which of the following statements is correct?

AUnemployment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three times over the preceding decade.

BEmployment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three times over the preceding decade.

CUnemployment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three percent over the preceding decade.

DEmployment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three percent over the preceding decade.

Reveal answer + reasoning

Answer: A

Anchor ‘three’: ‘unemployment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three times’. Only A keeps both unemployment and times. ‘Preceding decade’ is loose (2011-12 to 2017-18 is six years), but it is the same in all four options, so it can't separate them. Answer A.

Why the others fail

B — Direction swap: employment for unemployment.
C — Number swap: per cent for times, the classic.
D — Both swaps at once.

📝 Asked in CLAT 2021 · Q134 NOT true: the speaker swap

…If and when the UK and the US achieve what we have, there will be major celebrations. … However, because we are India, we don't get as much credit. We are considered poor, third-world and untrustworthy, incapable of achieving something like this on our own. Instead of learning from India's experience, the first instinct is to doubt Indian data…

According to the given passage, which of the following statements is not true?

ADeveloped nations are reluctant to learn from India's experience as Indian data is doubtful.

BIndia does not get as much credit for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

CIndia is seen as a poor, third-world country.

DIndia is seen as untrustworthy and incapable of tackling the COVID-19 pandemic independently.

Reveal answer + reasoning

Answer: A

B, C and D are near-copies of lines 2–3. A takes the critics' suspicion (‘the first instinct is to doubt Indian data’) and states it as fact: Indian data is doubtful. The author argues the opposite. Answer A.

🔬 Option autopsy

Option autopsy: 2021 Q134 (NOT true)

Which is NOT true according to the passage? (Here ‘correct’ marks the answer.)

A Developed nations are reluctant to learn… as Indian data is doubtful. Tag it

✅ Correct

Speaker swap: critics doubt the data; the author defends it.

B India does not get as much credit… Tag it

🔁 Just repeats the passage

‘We don't get as much credit.’ True.

C India is seen as a poor, third-world country. Tag it

🔁 Just repeats the passage

‘We are considered poor, third-world.’ True.

D India is seen as untrustworthy and incapable… Tag it

🔁 Just repeats the passage

‘Untrustworthy, incapable… on our own.’ True.

✅ Correct🔁 Just repeats the passage

Guess the trap behind each option, then tap to check. Wrong options fail in a handful of predictable ways.

📝 Asked in CLAT 2022 · Q128 NOT true: whose reading?

…The petitioner tried tongue-in-cheek wordplay while captioning photographs after a sight-seeing trip with family: ‘Trip to Sirumalai for shooting practice’. For the police, it appeared as a threat to wage war, though the Judicial Magistrate refused remand. ‘Laugh at what?’ is a serious question, the Judge said, using the ‘holy cow’ as a metaphor, which varies from person to person, region to region. … what ought to be a reasonable understanding of a situation is increasingly being influenced by impulses that border on the irrational and amount to an abuse of the legal process.

According to the given passage, which of the following statements is not true?

AEach expression should be understood according to its context.

BThe word ‘shooting’ used in a sentence is indicative of waging war.

CLegal process can be abused if the authorities act on their irrational impulses.

DThe expression ‘holy cow’ bears different meanings for different people.

Reveal answer + reasoning

Answer: B

B is the police's reading, which the magistrate rejected and the passage calls ‘tongue-in-cheek wordplay’. As a statement of the passage's view, it is not true. Answer B.

Why the others fail

A — Matches ‘a reasonable understanding of a situation’. True.
C — Matches ‘impulses that border on the irrational… abuse of the legal process’. True.
D — Matches ‘varies from person to person, region to region’. True.

Myth vs fact: stated-fact questions

💥 Myth vs fact

Myth vs fact

🙅 Myth

If an option uses the passage's exact words, it's right.

Tap to bust it →

✅ Fact

Copied words are the bait. 2021 Q130's option C kept ‘urban’ and ‘three’, then swapped ‘times’ for ‘percent’.

🙅 Myth

‘According to the passage’ lets you use common sense.

Tap to bust it →

✅ Fact

Only the page counts. If it isn't there, it isn't true for this question.

🙅 Myth

In a NOT-true question, pick the option that sounds false.

Tap to bust it →

✅ Fact

Pick the one the passage contradicts. 2022 Q128's answer sounded fine to the police.

🙅 Myth

You must reread the whole passage for each question.

Tap to bust it →

✅ Fact

One anchor word takes you to one sentence.

Quiz: read it exactly

🎯 Quick quiz

Five stated-fact checks

0 / 5

Last year the state began giving free bicycles to girls enrolling in Class 9. Girls' Class 9 enrolment rose 18 per cent in the first year. The rise was sharpest where the nearest secondary school is over 5 km away; where one is within 2 km, enrolment barely changed. A survey will check whether the girls stay in school. Each bicycle costs the state about ₹3,500.

Q1. According to the passage, which is correct?

A student magazine surveyed 2,000 college students: 64 per cent check their phones within five minutes of waking. Two in five had tried a ‘digital detox’, but most of them gave up within a week. The editors admit the sample was mostly from three metro colleges. Responses were collected online over two weeks in March, and a follow-up survey of small-town colleges is planned.

Q2. Which is NOT true according to the passage?

The warden gave three reasons for the 10 p.m. curfew: two thefts in October, noise complaints, and a parents' request after a bike accident near the gate.

Q3. Which is NOT a reason given by the warden?

Since the metro line opened in March, traffic police say peak-hour jams on the ring road have fallen by about a third, though a new flyover opened the same month.

Q4. According to the statement, which is correct?

Many people think sharks kill more humans than any other sea animal. In fact, jellyfish stings kill far more. And some sharks, like the nurse shark, can breathe while resting.

Q5. Which is NOT a misconception according to the passage?

🎯 Stated facts in a nutshell

The answer is written in the passage, often paraphrased.
Wrong options copy the passage's words and swap one.
Six swaps: number, direction, cause, qualifier, speaker, subject.
Rephrase negative stems before reading options.

📎 Cheat sheet

“According to the passage… correct” → stated fact → anchor, line up, pick the option with no swap
“Which is NOT true” → mark T/F on all four; the F wins
“As per the passage, X is…” → go to X's paragraph
“Not a reason / characteristic” → tick the passage's list; the stray wins
“Not a myth” → rephrase as ‘true per the passage’
“Can be inferred” → a different family: one step beyond the line

Frequently asked questions

What are ‘according to the passage’ questions in CLAT?

Questions whose answer is stated in the passage, usually paraphrased. Stems read ‘according to the passage’, ‘as per the passage’ or ‘which is true’. They are the biggest LR family since 2020, and wrong options are usually the passage's own words with one key word swapped.

How do I solve ‘which is NOT true’ questions?

Rewrite the stem as ‘which does the passage contradict or never say?’. Then grade every option T or F against its line instead of hunting for the true-sounding one. Three will be T; the F is your answer. If two look like F, re-read: one is usually a paraphrase you missed.

How is this different from an inference question?

An ‘according to the passage’ answer is written in the text, so its distance from the passage is zero. An inference is not written but follows from what is. That's why the traps differ: here, one swapped word; there, a step that goes too far.

What if an option is true in real life but not in the passage?

Treat it as unsupported. These questions ask what the passage says, not what is true in the world. In a positive stem, strike it. In a NOT-true stem, an option the passage never mentions can be the answer, though a flat contradiction is the stronger pick.