Reading comp PrepTest 149 · Section 2 · Question 8

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 passage suggests that Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: D

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

Question Type

Science

Answer choices

  1. A
    Our universe is affected Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. (Paragraph 3) There's no indication that the multiverses interact with each other, so this answer is incorrect.
  2. B
    The existence of multiple Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 25-27) The cosmologists don't argue that the large number of universes makes each universe more likely to contain life. Rather, they argue that since there are so many at least one would be likely to contain life. It's like a die roll—while it's unlikely that you'll roll a 1 on a 6-sided die, rolling a few dozen times means that you'll almost certainly roll a 1 at least once. That doesn't mean that rolling so many times makes any individual roll more likely to be a 1!
  3. C
    The laws of physics Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 22-27) The paragraph notes that some universes in the multiverse would have laws of physics that don't allow for life while others would allow for life, so this answer is contradicted.
  4. D
    There are enough universes Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D matches the stem
    Correct. Question Type:
    Must Be True

    Strategy Overview:
    Head back to the third paragraph, see the view of the cosmologists in question, and find an answer that aligns with that view

    Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
    The third paragraph was all about the argument made by the cosmologists, so we can get their view down by skimming through our notes, underlined statements, and the key elements in the paragraph.

    There, the cosmologists had a goal—reconcile that our universe and life exists despite that being improbable. How do they do so? By hypothesizing the ""multiverse""—that our universe is but one of many. Most of them have laws of physics that don't allow life, but with so many out there, some do allow life, such as ours.

    Let's find an answer that lines up with this multiverse hypothesis.

    Answer Explanation:
    (Lines 25-27) This statement more or less rephrases the last sentence of the third paragraph, so it's the correct answer.

    Key Takeaway:
    Viewpoints are important in RC! Always be sure to label the viewpoints and their basic beliefs. Doing so will set you up to quickly tackle a question like this.
  5. E
    There is only one Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. (Line 27) The paragraph ends by stating that there would be a universe allowing for life ""at least once,"" so this answer limiting the life-containing universes to ""only"" one is incorrect.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 2%
  2. B 8%
  3. C 4%
  4. D Credited 83%
  5. E 4%

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