Logical reasoning PrepTest 103 · Section 3 · Question 2

Question prompt

From the tenth century Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: B

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Argument or Facts

Argument

Valid or Flawed

Valid

Question Type

Methods of Reasoning Questions

Stimulus Summary

Norse settlers - Lived in Greenland from 900-1500
Inuit settlers - Lived in Greenland from at least 900-after 1500
900-1500 - Average temperatures dropped
Opposing point - The temperature drop caused the Norse to die out because Greenland was too cold for humans
Argument - The Inuit survived, so the temperature can’t explain the end of the Norse settlements

Answer Anticipation

The argument here is meant to rebut the opposing point - the claims of some people that the Norse settlements in Greenland died out because it became too cold for human habitation.
How does it rebut this claim? By showing an example of humans who inhabited Greenland at the same time, thus showing it wasn’t too cold for human habitation.
That’s a common method of reasoning - using a counterexample to disprove a point. Let’s find an answer describing that method.

Answer choices

  1. A
    denying the relevance of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    The stimulus does compare the Norse and Inuit, but that’s not an analogy. Since there’s no analogy present in the stimulus, its relevance can’t be denied, and so this answer is incorrect.

  2. B
    producing evidence that is Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    This answer is a fancy way of describing a counterexample. The claim being opposed is that the Norse settlements died out because Greenland was too cold for human habitation. The argument produces the evidence of the Inuit, who lived in Greenland at the time and thus prove that it wasn’t too cold for human habitation. Since this answer correctly describes the method of reasoning, it’s the correct answer.

  3. C
    presenting an alternative explanation Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    There’s no alternative explanation provided for why the Norse settlements disappeared.

  4. D
    citing a general rule Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    The argument brings up a specific example (the Inuit settlers), not a general rule.

  5. E
    redefining a term in Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    There’s no key term that is redefined, so this answer is wrong.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 8%
  2. B Credited 83%
  3. C 7%
  4. D 2%
  5. E 0%

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