Question

read the passage.

people often notice that pets and their owners look alike. a person with curly hair might have a poodle, or someone tall might own a large, lean greyhound. sadahiko nakajima, a psychologist and researcher at the kwansei gakuin university of japan, wanted to know if this similarity was real or just imagination.
to test this idea, researchers showed people photos of dogs and their owners separately. the photos were mixed up, and volunteers had to guess which dogs belonged to which owners. people matched the correct pairs much more often than if they had just been guessing randomly.

nakajimas research also offers an explanation for why this happens. when choosing pets, people often pick animals that remind them of things they know well—including their own appearance. this follows a pattern that scientists have seen before: humans tend to like and choose things that seem familiar to them. just as friends often share similar features, people and their pets may look alike because we naturally seek out what feels comfortable and known.
which of the following inferences is best supported by the details in the passage?

given that people matched photos correctly more often than not, the similarities between pets and owners likely follow consistent patterns.

given that friends often share similar features, people likely pick pets based on appearances within their social circle.

given that researchers sought volunteers for their photo - matching tests, they were likely already confident that casual observers could spot the connections.

given that humans tend to like familiar things, people likely choose dogs that remind them of pets they have seen in photos.

Explanation:

• For the first option: The passage states that people matched correct pairs more often than random guessing, implying there's a consistent pattern (since random guessing would have lower accuracy, and the higher accuracy suggests a real, consistent similarity pattern).
• For the second option: The passage says people pick pets that remind them of their own appearance, not based on social circle appearances. So this is incorrect.
• For the third option: The passage doesn't suggest researchers were already confident; they were testing if the similarity was real or imagination. So this is incorrect.
• For the fourth option: The passage says people pick animals that remind them of things they know well (including their own appearance), not pets seen in photos. So this is incorrect.

Answer:

A. Given that people matched photos correctly more often than not, the similarities between pets and owners likely follow consistent patterns.