Logical reasoning PrepTest 119 · Section 2 · Question 3

Question prompt

Philosopher: Effective tests have 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

Illustration Questions

Stimulus Summary

Genetic tests can, for the first time, let people know whether they have a disease. But some can’t be treated, and knowing they have a fatal, incurable disease is stressful. So should we test people?

Answer Anticipation

This stimulus doesn’t feature an argument as much as a scenario that leads to a specific question, which the author raises in the last statement.
The scenario brings up a new technology that makes something possible - diagnosing diseases that are fatal and incurable. It’s noted that knowing you have one can be stressful - so knowing you have this disease has a downside. From there, it asks whether this technology should be made available - the key word there being should. Asking that is asking for some type of judgment to be made.
The correct answer should reflect these details.

Answer choices

  1. A
    The advance of medicine Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    The problem here is an incurable disease. However, the Philosopher notes that medicine can’t “yet” prevent such conditions, suggesting that it’s possible they will be cured. Thus, we can’t say that this stimulus shows that advances in medicine can’t solve certain problems.
  2. B
    The advance of medicine Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    This answer reflects the details of the scenario in the stimulus. A medical advancement - genetic testing - has created a new ability/context where a question of what “should” be done is raised. Asking, “Should we?” is an ethical dilemma, so this answer is illustrated by the stimulus.
  3. C
    Medical technologies continue to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    This answer ignores everything after the first two sentences, reflecting mostly the background from the stimulus.
  4. D
    The more we come Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    The question raised is of whether the downsides of a technology outweigh the upsides; there’s no reflection on how little we know.
  5. E
    The advance of technology Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    This answer is a little too broad to be supported by a stimulus about one example of medical technology. Also, the value of the technology itself isn’t in question - it’s whether the information gained from it should be made available.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 9%
  2. B Credited 80%
  3. C 1%
  4. D 2%
  5. E 9%

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Discussion

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