Logical reasoning PrepTest 103 · Section 3 · Question 6

Question prompt

First legislator: Medical research Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: E

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

Argument or Facts

Argument/Argument

Valid or Flawed

Flawed/Flawed

Question Type

Weaken Questions

Stimulus Summary

FL: Medical research is mostly done on men, so government-sponsored research should be required to include women
SL: Such considerations have no role in science

Answer Anticipation

The question stem asks us to come up with a rejoinder to counter the second legislator’s objection - so we’re looking to weaken his argument.
What is his argument? That such considerations of male/female balance are inappropriate in research/science. There’s...not really any justification given, or reasoning, so we should anticipate an answer that attacks the general principle here.
So what should we look for in the answers? Anything that suggests a benefit of ensuring that women are included in medical research. Since we already know that these studies include men, it’s likely that the answer will highlight how this isn’t sufficient.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Government–sponsored research is supported Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    The argument doesn’t discuss funding sources, nor does it tie funding sources into who should be in a study. This answer doesn’t inherently tie into the debate, so it’s out of scope.

  2. B
    Serving as a subject Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    This answer doesn’t speak to the outcome/results of the research being inadequate with predominantly male subjects, so it doesn’t undercut the Second Legislator’s argument.

  3. C
    Government–sponsored medical research is Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Why the subjects are predominantly male doesn’t speak to whether that creates a problem, so this answer is out of scope.

  4. D
    The training of male Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    This answer is about the scientists, not the patients in the study. Since the Second Legislator’s argument is about the patients in the study, this answer is out of scope.

  5. E
    Restriction to males of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E matches the stem
    If studies based on males are “inadequate” to reach conclusions, that argues for expanding the patient base of these medical studies, undercutting the Second Legislator’s argument. This answer is therefore correct.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 12%
  2. B 3%
  3. C 2%
  4. D 1%
  5. E Credited 82%

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