Reading comp PrepTest 149 · Section 2 · Question 10

Passage

Questions 6-12  .       In a typical Hollywood action movie, the hero  . skirts death to complete a mission. Bad guys Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage SummaryTopic: Science

Paragraph 1
  • Paragraph note
    • What must be an analogy is introduced
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • While not 100% apparent before reading the start of paragraph 2, this is an analogy, comparing the heroes of action movies to universes that can sustain life
Paragraph 2
  • Paragraph note
    • The analogy is brought around to the universe
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Any small change to the laws of physics would have made life impossible
    • Example - Strong nuclear force
Paragraph 3
  • Paragraph note
    • Some cosmologists make an argument
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Question - If this universe is so improbable, how can it exist?
    • Cosmologist Solution - It's just one of many multiverses, so it's likely one would have life
Paragraph 4
  • Paragraph note
    • The Author poses a question about that view and brings up what it's based on
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Question - How unique are the laws allowing life in our universe?
    • Cosmologists - We can't find another set of laws that lead to life
Paragraph 5
  • Paragraph note
    • The Author points out a flaw in the opposing point and research that calls it into question
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Flaw - The Cosmologists tweak one variable at a time
    • New research by Author - Changing several variables at a time lets you find sets that allow for life
Paragraph 6
  • Paragraph note
    • The Author brings her view back to the question of the multiverse
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • The Author's view doesn't call into question the multiverse because:
      • Models of the universe's creation support a multiverse
      • Other cosmological puzzles are potentially solved by a multiverse
    • This seems more like an add-on since the Author and Cosmologists are on the same side - the main debate is between the Cosmologists and Author over the uniqueness of the physical laws allowing for life
Main Point:
Some cosmologists argue that the laws of physics allowing for life are relatively rare, but recent research shows that there are numerous potential universes with significantly different laws that would allow for life.

Key Lines:
Lines 7-10 - A general view of the universe is established to set up background for the debate
Lines 18-22 - The view of the Cosmologists is introduced
Lines 28-29 - The Author introduces a new question to be answered
Lines 33-35 - The process of the Cosmologists is discussed
Lines 38-39 - A problem with that process is introduced
Lines 40-45 - The Author's research rebutting their view/process is established
Lines 49-50 - A point of agreement between the Author and Cosmologists is noted

Meta-Structure:
There are several Question/Answer substructures here, but the overall passage falls into the Old Belief (Cosmologists)/New Belief (Author) structure. There's a point of agreement noted at the end, however!

Last Thoughts:
There's a lot of information here, and a lot of back and forth. Usually when dealing with Science passages, we're concerned with Causality. Here, there's not a lot of that. Instead, the passage focuses on comparing and contrasting the methods and conclusions drawn by two sides of a debate about laws of physics, life, and the universe/multiverse. We should keep those differences in mind, and also be sure to note the similarity explored at the end.

Also, this passage has a rare feature—the Author speaking in the first person. That allows for stronger answers than we might otherwise expect, as the Author is presenting directly from her experience.

Question prompt

The final paragraph of Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: C

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

Question Type

Science

Answer choices

  1. A
    demonstrate the inadequacy of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 47-49) The Author says that she doesn't believe their research calls the multiverse hypothesis into question, so this answer is wrong. If anything, this answer describes the role of Paragraph 5.
  2. B
    indicate the kinds of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. (Line 52) The Author does talk about something serving as the source of solutions to other puzzles in cosmology, but that something is the multiverse theory. That hypothesis is separate from her research.
  3. C
    discuss the implications of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem
    Correct. Question Type:
    Argument Structure

    Strategy Overview:
    Check our role notation for the final paragraph and find an answer matching it

    Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
    One of the things you should be doing as you read through a passage is defining the role of each paragraph within the context of the passage. While you don't need to write something down, you could jot a few words down defining the role, as it will be useful in either answering a question such as this one, or finding information related to that role for a detail question.

    Checking our notation on Paragraph 6, we can see that the Author brought her new approach back to the question of the multiverse. Since they did something differently than those who posed the multiverse hypothesis, does that call that hypothesis into question? No, according to the Author, that's not ""necessarily the case.""

    So the final paragraph discusses the implications of the Author's work for the multiverse theory, and she believes that her work aligns with that theory. Let's find an answer reflecting that.

    Answer Explanation:
    (Lines 46-49) The Author, in this last paragraph, discusses whether her research calls prior hypotheses into question, deciding that it doesn't necessarily. That's an implication of her research, so this is the correct answer.

    Key Takeaway:
    Knowing the role of each paragraph does three things:

    (1) It helps you answer a question such as this one
    (2) It helps you think about the main point, as the main point largely builds from the overall structure of the passage
    (3) It helps you find details, as those details are included in paragraphs that are meant to address those topics and fit them to the overall argument
  4. D
    consider two potential counterarguments Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 50, 52) This answer is trying to get you to focus too much on structure, since the paragraph says ""First,"" and, ""Secondly."" However, those were two reasons that her research didn't call a certain hypothesis into question, not two potential counterarguments to her research. It'd be really weird for an Author to conclude her argument by raising two counterarguments that wouldn't have room to be addressed!
  5. E
    suggest a course of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. (Line 52) Similar to (B), the future experiments suggested were meant to see if the multiverse theory could solve some cosmological puzzles. Those puzzles are out of the scope of the Author's conclusions, so these experiments wouldn't test them.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 7%
  2. B 15%
  3. C Credited 58%
  4. D 15%
  5. E 5%

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