Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions. In a study published i...

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.

        In a study published in 2012, the author Noah Wasserman - then a professor at Harvard Business School - studied 10,000 startups, of which 40% were founded by those who are friends. [I] And his research showed that companies with friend - founders were less likely to work.

        [II] Wasserman says that when people are establishing a company, having a familiar face along for the ride can be very comforting. [III] But he says starting up with friends is just like playing with fire: “It can either forge a stronger team and relationship or blow up the team and relationship.” His research showed that the most stable structure for starting a company is, in fact, a group of strangers, rather than co - workers, family or friends. [IV] This is because strangers have fewer expectations of each other, and there’s no concern about affecting a friendship or close personal relationship when bringing up mistakes or issues.

        Companies created by friends, Wasserman says, are more likely to fail for reasons linked to people being overconfident and underprepared. “When we found with friends, we are confident that our team will be of the stronger variety,” says Wasserman. Yet friends often have no experience of each other professionally, and don’t test the waters before founding. “We assume that we know each other, but have you ever seen your best friend in a work context and know how he or she acts there?”, he comments.

        Even when friend - founders know each other both professionally and personally discussing tough topics can be hard. Wasserman explains that a common experience among friends is a tendency to avoid necessary but tension – filled conversations for fear of souring their relationship. But this can have severe consequences: “Because we avoid discussing that bad scenario and how we could avoid it, we increase the chances that it will occur.” Hamish Grierson, CEO of a London - based health - tech firm, agrees that awkward conversations need to take place. A lifestyle brand he set up with a friend didn’t work, and the relationship was partly to blame. “We spent way too much time focused on improving our launch product than we did on identifying whether anyone wanted the thing we were creating.”

        Despite these challenges, Gabrielle Adams, a social psychologist at the University of Virginia, believes that going into business with someone you already know well has advantages. “Good friends know how to work out conflict,” she explains. In fact, friendship may be what keeps you going in difficult times. Researchers from London’s Cass Business School and the University of Pennsylvania examined how friendship between founding members impacts on behavior when a startup’s finances start to suffer and found that startups established by people with a strong friendship were more likely to persist if a venture looked like it was failing.

[Adapted from bbc.com]

Question 31: Where in the passage does the following sentence best fit?

“This sense of familiarity can help ease the stress and uncertainties of starting a new venture.”

        A. [I]                        B. [II]                                C. [III]                                D. [IV]

Question 32: The word “it” in paragraph 2 refers to ____________.

        A. starting up with friends                                B. having a familiar face

        C. establishing a company                                D. playing with fire

Question 33: According to the passage, which of the following is NOT mentioned as a reason why companies created by friends may fail?

A. Friends tend to be overconfident about their team's strength.

B. Friends typically struggle to agree on financial decisions.

C. Friends often lack professional experience working together.

D. Friends don’t test each other’s compatibility in a work environment before founding.

Question 34: Which of the following best paraphrases the underlined sentence in paragraph 3?

A. Friends usually know each other well but don’t lack professional background, do evaluate their working relationships before launching a company.

B. Friends often have professional backgrounds but do not consider their compatibility before beginning a partnership.

C. Friends commonly experience challenges in professional environments, so they should thoroughly examine their relationships before starting a business together.

D. Friends frequently lack professional familiarity with one another and fail to assess compatibility before starting a business.

Question 35: The word “souring” in paragraph 4 is OPPOSITE in meaning to ____________.

        A. provoking                B. damaging                        C. elevating                        D. strengthening

Question 36: Which of the following best summarizes paragraph 4?

A. Friend -founders often prioritize product development over market research, ruining their business.

B. Addressing difficult conversations is essential for maintaining relationships in business.

C. Friends may hesitate to discuss challenging issues, which can lead to business failure.

D. Friend – founders may experience tension – filled discussions, affecting their company’s success.

Question 37: The phrase “work out” in paragraph 5 could be best replaced by ____________.

        A. decode                B. resolve                        C. clarify                        D. unfold

Question 38: Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?

A. When people are ready to talk openly about bad business scenarios, they will never occur in real life.

B. According to Wasserman’s research, company founders who are strangers are the most likely to succeed.

C. Discussing difficult topics can still be challenging for company founders who know each other well.

D. Start - ups have a higher chance of overcoming financial difficulties if their founders are very close.

Question 39: Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A. A group of co - workers is a more stable structure for starting a company than family or friends.

B. Most business conversations between founders who are friends are filled with a lot of tension.

C. Grierson’s lifestyle brand failed because he and his friends never discussed what they want to do.

D. More problems will arise when friend - founders do not know much about each other professionally.

Question 40: Which of the following best summarizes the passage?

A. Friend - founded companies often fail due to overconfidence and lack of preparation, but friendship can also help navigate challenges.

B. While starting a company with friends may offer a sense of comfort, it can also lead to challenges that may threaten the business’s success.

C. Starting a business with friends can lead to success because friends are more likely to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

D. Research shows that companies with friend - founders are generally more successful, as they can resolve conflicts better than strangers.