Logical reasoning PrepTest 113 · Section 3 · Question 20

Question prompt

One of the most 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

Facts

Valid or Flawed

NA

Question Type

Must Be True Questions

Stimulus Summary

Problem - Dating an event when sources conflict
Solution Step 1 - Try to minimize the number of conflicts (often leaving several sources)
Solution Step 2 - May try (sometimes failing) to independently figure out the most likely correct date

Answer Anticipation

This is a stimulus where it’s generally describing a problem with an approach to solving it, but there aren’t a lot of clear statements that we’d normally associate with Must be True answers - there’s some light comparisons, but not a lot of causality, conditional statements, or strong statements.
In fact, the one thing that should jump out at you is how weak and uncertain all these premises are! Just to rattle off a list we have: one of; attempt to minimize; perhaps by; as often happens; may try; occasion; more likely. That’s a whole lot of wishy-washy language that doesn’t provide a lot of strength to support answers. As such, we’re gearing up to find an answer that aligns with our understanding of this approach, but we’re going to focus on eliminating answers that are stronger than the stimulus.

Answer choices

  1. A
    We have no plausible Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Way too strong. We have “no plausible chronology” for “most” historical events? Our dating of events over the past 150-200 years is pretty solid, and even earlier dates have “plausible” chronologies - even if more than once conflicts, they could both be plausible.
  2. B
    Some of the events Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    This answer is nice and weak. It essentially says, “Historians don’t have a reliable date for some events in the past.” The stimulus is all about how attempts to date certain events have been “occasional[ly] unsuccessful[],” so this answer is supported.
  3. C
    Attaching a reliable date Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    This answer is too strong in talking about “any event.” The problems in the stimulus relate to when there are conflicting chronologies of events. There isn’t really a conflict for, say, the date of Clinton’s inauguration.
  4. D
    Determining independently of the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    While the stimulus does note that this is “on occasion unsuccessful[]”, that’s not the same as saying it’s ineffective. In fact, in promoting it, the author suggests that it’s at least somewhat effective.
  5. E
    The soundest approach to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Arguably (though not certainly), the author stating what historians “should attempt” to do is enough to support that that approach is the “soundest,” but the stimulus doesn’t say that the historians should undermine as many sources as possible - just to assess the credibility of them.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 3%
  2. B Credited 57%
  3. C 16%
  4. D 4%
  5. E 19%

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