Reading comp PrepTest 156 · Section 3 · Question 7

Passage

Passage A is adapted from a book review by physicist Freeman Dyson. Passage B is adapted from a response to Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Science


Passage A

Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Reductionist (science can explain everything) and traditional (science is only one source of knowledge) extremes and Dyson's position (near traditional)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author’s attitude
    • List of two extremes concerning the role of science in human understanding, according to Dyson:
      • Reductionist: all knowledge can be explained by science (second sentence)
      • Traditional: science is only one source of knowledge (third sentence)
    • Comparison, according to the Dyson:
      • While skeptics of paranormal phenomena are near the reductionist extreme, Dyson is near the traditional extreme (last sentence)
    • Dyson's attitude: "extreme" (first sentence); "reductionist" (second sentence); "I am near the traditional extreme" (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Dyson on the connection between science's limits and paranormal phenomena's existence (science hasn't proven existence, but it can plausibly exist beyond scientific investigation)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author’s attitude
    • Dyson's view:
      • Even though science hasn't been able to study extrasensory perception and telepathy — and reductionists have concluded that they do not exist — these paranormal phenomena may exist beyond the scope of scientific investigation (first through last sentences)
    • Dyson's attitude: "closely connected" (first sentence); "failed" (second sentence); "I do not accept this conclusion" (fourth sentence); "may exist" (fifth sentence); "just a hypothesis, but one that I find tenable and plausible" (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Dyson on evidence of paranormal phenomena (abundant, anecdotal, show phenomena may be observable only under stress)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author’s attitude
    • Dyson's view:
      • There is abundant anecdotal but carefully documented evidence of people who possess paranormal abilities that suggests that paranormal phenomena are only observable under stress and strong emotion (first through fourth sentence)
    • Comparison, according to Dyson:
      • The evidence that people possess paranormal abilities is anecdotal, unlike scientific evidence that can be repeated under controlled environments — the possibility that phenomena are only observable under stress/emotion make evidence impossible to reproduce in a scientific setting (second, fifth, and last sentences)
    • Dyson's attitude: "abundant evidence" (first sentence); "carefully documented" (third sentence); "make it clear" (fourth sentence); "occur only when people are under stress and experiencing strong emotion" (fourth sentence); "This would explain" (fifth sentence); "incompatible" (last sentence)

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Dyson on possibly "complementary" nature of science and paranormal phenomena (both valid but can't be observed simultaneously, like light's waves/particles)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author’s attitude
    • Definition of "complementary":
      • Two descriptions of nature that are both true but cannot be observed at the same time (second sentence)
    • Example of "complementary" phenomena, according to Dyson:
      • Light, which behaves as a wave in some experiments and particles in others, but never both at the same time (last sentence)
    • Dyson's view:
      • Paranormal phenomena and scientific method may be complementary (first sentence)
    • Dyson's attitude: "may be complementary" (first sentence); "cannot see both" (last sentence)

Passage B

Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Author's criticism of Dyson (anecdotal evidence doesn't rebut repeated scientific results that paranormal phenomena do not exist; "complementarity" principle doesn't apply)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author’s attitude
    • Author's view:
      • Dyson's view is ridiculous, and he should know better than to trust anecdotal evidence over clear, repeated scientific results that show that paranormal phenomena do not exist (first through fourth sentences)
      • The principle of the "complementarity" doesn't apply to paranormal phenomena since they either exist or don't exist (and science has only shown they don't exist) (fifth through last sentences)
    • Points of intersection with passage A:
      • References all aspects of Dyson's argument, including his reductionist/traditional dichotomy, his anecdotal evidence, his hypothesis that stress is required to observe the paranormal, and the hypothesis that the paranormal and science are "complementary"
    • Author's attitude: "ridiculous plea" (first sentence); "mysteriously disappear" (first sentence); "A scientist of Dyson’s caliber should know that anecdotes do not make a science" (second sentence); "The only way" (third sentence); "rigorous scientific experiments" (fourth sentence); "results are unequivocal" (fourth sentence); "chimera" (fourth sentence); "does not apply" (sixth sentence); "demonstrated that they cannot" (seventh sentence); "does not change this scientific fact" (last sentence)

Main Points?

Passage A: Because he identifies closer to the "traditional" view concerning science's relationship to human understanding, Dyson does not believe the lack of scientific proof of paranormal phenomena is dispositive, as paranormal phenomena may exist beyond scientific investigation or be complementary with scientific inquiry.

Passage B: Dyson's argument is ridiculous, and he should know better than to rely on anecdotal evidence over clear, repeated scientific results that show that paranormal phenomena do not exist.

Meta-Structure? Overall Relationship?

Relationship - Opposing Viewpoints: This is as unambiguous an example of an Opposing Viewpoint set of passages as you'll ever see. The author of passage B explicitly addresses Dyson's argument from passage A and disagrees with pretty much every point that Dyson makes. Dyson argues that the anecdotal evidence of paranormal phenomena is compelling and might be beyond science's ability to observe (PA, P3, S1-S6). The author of passage B argues that this anecdotal evidence should hold no weight against scientific evidence (PB, P1, S2-S4). Dyson argues that science and the paranormal may be "complementary" (PA, P4, S1), but the author of passage B responds that the notion of "complementarity" doesn't apply to the paranormal (PB, P1, S5-S6). Dyson (somewhat diplomatically) attributes his willingness to believe in the paranormal as a product of his ideological association with the "traditional" view of science and knowledge (PA, P1, S3-S5). The author of passage B argues that this ideology doesn't change the scientific fact that there's no scientific proof of the paranormal (PB, P1, S9).

Last Thoughts?

Since these passages are explicitly in conversation with one another, expect many questions that ask us what Dyson might think of a statement in passage B or what the author of passage B might think about one of Dyson's statements.

Question prompt

It can be inferred Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

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

Strategy Overview

Review the main point and notes or highlighted/underlined text in passage A to recall Dyson's argument, and find the answer that misrepresents Dyson's views

Answer Anticipation

This question asks us to select the excerpt from passage B that misrepresents a view expressed by Dyson in passage A. The question stem doesn't provide any insight into the topic of the correct answer or where the supporting information might show up in passage A. This means the correct answer is likely to relate back to Dyson's main point. As such, we'll need to rely on our big-picture understanding of passage A to answer this question. We should start by reminding ourselves of Dyson's main point. We can also review any notes about Dyson's argument or any text we highlighted because it expressed Dyson's opinion. After doing that, we can head to the answer choices. For those answer choices that conform to Dyson's main point or are reflected in a note on Dyson's argument, we can safely assume that the answer choice doesn't represent Dyson's views. We can table that answer without checking the passage. If an answer choice does not conform to Dyson's main point and is not reflected our notes, we'll check the passage to confirm that Dyson doesn't hold that view.

Answer choices

  1. A
    The author of passage Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem

    Is this consistent with Dyson's main point or reflected in our notes on Dyson's argument?

    No. Our main point is that Dyson thinks "paranormal phenomena may exist." Our notes say Dyson argues that paranormal phenomena "can plausibly exist beyond scientific investigation." And a quick glance at the phrases that we highlighted because they indicate how forcefully Dyson makes his points will also reveal that Dyson only thinks that some people might exhibit paranormal powers ("may exist," PA, P2, S4; "just a hypothesis," PA, P2, S5; "tenable and plausible," PA, P2, S5; "may be complementary," PA, P4, S1). So, Dyson would definitely disagree with passage B's claim that he is "convinced" that people exhibit paranormal powers. We can justifiably select (A) and bypass the remaining answer choices, advancing straight to the next question.

  2. B
    The author of passage Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    Is this consistent with Dyson's main point or reflected in our notes on Dyson's argument?

    Yep. Our note for the third paragraph shows that Dyson believes there is "abundant, anecdotal" evidence of paranormal phenomena. So, we can safely assume that Dyson wouldn't consider this answer choice a misrepresentation of his views and cross (B) off.

    If we had to check the passage to confirm that (B) is wrong, we'd find that Dyson says there is abundant anecdotal evidence of people possessing paranormal abilities (PA, P3, S1-2).

  3. C
    The author of passage Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    Is this consistent with Dyson's main point or reflected in our notes on Dyson's argument?

    Yeah. Our main point and note for the first paragraph indicate that Dyson positions himself near the "traditional," not "reductionist," extreme on this spectrum. We can safely assume that Dyson doesn't think this answer choice misrepresents his views and eliminate (C).

    If we had to check the passage to verify that (C) is wrong, we'd find that Dyson says that skeptics of paranormal phenomena are near the reductionist extreme, but he is near the traditional extreme (PA, P1, S5).

  4. D
    The author of passage Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    Is this consistent with Dyson's main point or reflected in our notes on Dyson's argument?

    Yes. Our main point and note for the fourth paragraph shows that Dyson argues that science and paranormal phenomena may be "complementary." So, we can safely assume that Dyson wouldn't consider this answer choice a misrepresentation of his views, allowing us to cross off (D).

    If we had to check the passage to confirm that (D) is wrong, we'd find this view reflected in the fourth paragraph. There, Dyson says, "Paranormal phenomena and the scientific method may be complementary," before defining the principle of "complementarity" (PA, P4, S1-2).

  5. E
    The author of passage Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    Is this consistent with Dyson's main point or reflected in our notes on Dyson's argument?

    Yep. Dyson's main point is that "paranormal phenomena may exist beyond scientific investigation." Our note for the fourth paragraph says that science and paranormal phenomena "can't be observed simultaneously." We can safely assume that Dyson doesn't think this answer choice misrepresents his views and eliminate (E).

    If we had to check the passage to verify that (E) is wrong, we'd find that Dyson says that "paranormal phenomena are not observable in well-controlled scientific experiments" (PA, P3, S5).

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A Credited 37%
  2. B 15%
  3. C 13%
  4. D 19%
  5. E 16%

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