Logical reasoning PrepTest 135 · Section 4 · Question 6

Question prompt

The calm, shallow waters 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

Facts

Valid or Flawed

NA

Question Type

Must Be True Questions

Stimulus Summary

Nutrient rich sewage can cause overnutrification of an estuary, which can cause algae to proliferate, which can sometimes feed toxic microorganisms, which can cause most of the fish in the estuary to die.

Answer Anticipation

This stimulus features a long, drawn-out causal chain that starts with an estuary becoming overnutrified by waste and ends with most of the fish in that estuary dying. The correct answer will likely connect two elements along that chain in the right direction and, since it’s an earlier question in the section, the entire chain is likely to feature in the answer. Note also that the stimulus says abundant algae only sometimes feed toxic microorganisms, so the correct answer will need to match that strength. We should look for: Overnutrification of an estuary can result in most fish dying.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Fish in an estuary Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Other types of pollution aren’t mentioned in the stimulus, and no superlative language is used to describe the pollution in this stimulus (“most deadly”), so this answer is out of scope.
  2. B
    In estuary waters that Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Other types of microorganisms are out of scope of the stimulus. While it does state that these toxic microorganisms can thrive in this environment, it doesn’t mention or compare them to others.
  3. C
    Nutrients and other components Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    The stimulus never limits the damage done to fish populations to the toxic organisms. Just because a stimulus mentions only one issue doesn’t mean that it’s the only one that exists.
  4. D
    Algae will not proliferate Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    This answer is an illegal negation of the situation described in the stimulus. However, it’s possible that there are other potential causes of algal proliferation.
  5. E
    Overnutrifying estuary waters by Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E matches the stem
    This answer choice connects the initial cause - the overnutrified waters - to the eventual effect - most fish dying. It also states only that this can happen, which matches the strength of the stimulus (“sometimes provide”), so this is our answer.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 7%
  2. B 13%
  3. C 7%
  4. D 9%
  5. E Credited 65%

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