Reading comp PrepTest 157 · Section 4 · Question 11
Passage
Passage A Markets, such as stock exchanges, distill the collective wisdom of millions of individuals into a single number, and
Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary Topic:
Social Science
Passage A
Paragraph 1
Passage B
Paragraph 1
Main Points?
Passage A: Markets, including prediction markets, reflect the collective knowledge of many investors with remarkable efficiency.
Passage B: Markets, including prediction markets, are not inherently reliable; instead, they merely reflect the majority opinion at any given time.
Key Lines?
Passage A: Paragraph 1, Sentence 2 (P1, S1) - Author's attitude toward markets
P1, S2 - Contrast to committees and polls
P2, S2 - Example of a reliable forecast market
P2, S5 - Illustration of efficiency
P2, S2 - Reason
P3, S1 - Another reason
Passage B: P1, S1 - Author's attitude toward markets
P2, S1 - Example of unreliable forecast market
P3, S1 - Comparison
P4, S2 - Author's explanation of markets' function
Meta-Structure? Relationship Between Passages?
Relationship - Opposing Viewpoints: The authors of these two passages have opposing viewpoints. The author of passage A places a lot of ... ahem ... stock into markets, particularly in their efficiency and accurate forecasting. In contrast, the author of passage B does not believe markets are inherently trustworthy or accurate predictors, instead claiming that they merely reflect the majority opinion at a given time. Even so, there are a few moments in which these authors find common ground. Both think forecast/prediction markets reflect what the market as a whole believes (PA, P2, S6; PB, P2, S2), and both think the requirement that you invest money into a market makes markets at least slightly more reliable than polls (PA, P1, S2; PB, P4, S4).
Example (Both): Both passages bring up an example — the same example, in fact — to prove a minor point. In passage A, the author cites the accuracy of the Iowa Electronic Markets to illustrate the reliability of markets, as opposed to polls (PA, P2, S2). In passage B, the author cites a recent election in which the Iowa Electronic Markets' forecast was inaccurate for nearly a year to illustrate how markets are not infallible (PB, P2). Since the same example is used in both passages — and both are used to support each passage's main point — we should expect at least one question about them.
Comparison (Both): Both passages compare markets to polls. And both claim that markets are at least somewhat more reliable than polls, as markets require people to back up their opinions with money (PA, P1, S2; PB, P4, S4). This is a point on which the authors agree, in passages in which they mostly disagree, so we should expect a question on this as well.
Last Thoughts?
This is a quintessential Opposing Viewpoint passage, so expect several questions about the authors’ disagreement, and at least one question about a point of agreement.
Social Science
Passage A
Paragraph 1
- Paragraph note
- Author: Efficiency of markets
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Comparison: Efficiency of markets (requires "hard dollars," rewards people who are "right") vs. committees/polls (doesn't require dollars, rewards loudest/most prestigious)
- Author's attitude: "amazing efficiency" (first sentence)
- Paragraph note
- of "forecast market"
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Example: Iowa Electronic Market (second through last sentence)
- Paragraph note
- Support: Market's efficiency
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Definition: Efficiency: Market learns what informed people know (first sentence)
- Example: Experiment with fictional stock and "insiders" (second through last sentence)
- Author's attitude: "lightning fast and very accurately" (first sentence)
Passage B
Paragraph 1
- Paragraph note
- Author: Markets not perfect
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Author's attitude: "not infallible" (first sentence), "get over it" (last sentence)
- Paragraph note
- Support: Iowa Electronic Market's inaccuracy
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Undermines Passage A, second paragraph
- Paragraph note
- Comparison to horseracing
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Comparison: Lower price of stock = greater odds for horse
- Paragraph note
- Author's correction: Prediction polls simply reflect majority opinion at a given time
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Similarity to passage A: Similar definition of "forecast" market from the second paragraph
- Similarity to passage A: claims that "entrance fees" of markets is an advantage over polls like passage A's author did in the first paragraph
- Author's attitude: "merely reflect" (first sentence), "does not imbue them with any special omniscience" (second sentence), "more serious responses," "just as potentially wrong" (third sentence)
Main Points?
Passage A: Markets, including prediction markets, reflect the collective knowledge of many investors with remarkable efficiency.
Passage B: Markets, including prediction markets, are not inherently reliable; instead, they merely reflect the majority opinion at any given time.
Key Lines?
Passage A: Paragraph 1, Sentence 2 (P1, S1) - Author's attitude toward markets
P1, S2 - Contrast to committees and polls
P2, S2 - Example of a reliable forecast market
P2, S5 - Illustration of efficiency
P2, S2 - Reason
P3, S1 - Another reason
Passage B: P1, S1 - Author's attitude toward markets
P2, S1 - Example of unreliable forecast market
P3, S1 - Comparison
P4, S2 - Author's explanation of markets' function
Meta-Structure? Relationship Between Passages?
Relationship - Opposing Viewpoints: The authors of these two passages have opposing viewpoints. The author of passage A places a lot of ... ahem ... stock into markets, particularly in their efficiency and accurate forecasting. In contrast, the author of passage B does not believe markets are inherently trustworthy or accurate predictors, instead claiming that they merely reflect the majority opinion at a given time. Even so, there are a few moments in which these authors find common ground. Both think forecast/prediction markets reflect what the market as a whole believes (PA, P2, S6; PB, P2, S2), and both think the requirement that you invest money into a market makes markets at least slightly more reliable than polls (PA, P1, S2; PB, P4, S4).
Example (Both): Both passages bring up an example — the same example, in fact — to prove a minor point. In passage A, the author cites the accuracy of the Iowa Electronic Markets to illustrate the reliability of markets, as opposed to polls (PA, P2, S2). In passage B, the author cites a recent election in which the Iowa Electronic Markets' forecast was inaccurate for nearly a year to illustrate how markets are not infallible (PB, P2). Since the same example is used in both passages — and both are used to support each passage's main point — we should expect at least one question about them.
Comparison (Both): Both passages compare markets to polls. And both claim that markets are at least somewhat more reliable than polls, as markets require people to back up their opinions with money (PA, P1, S2; PB, P4, S4). This is a point on which the authors agree, in passages in which they mostly disagree, so we should expect a question on this as well.
Last Thoughts?
This is a quintessential Opposing Viewpoint passage, so expect several questions about the authors’ disagreement, and at least one question about a point of agreement.
Question prompt
The relationship between which
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.
Question Type
Social Science
Answer choices
-
A"The Future of Computing" Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice A is not credited
A time-saving test-taker would likely eliminate this one solely on the first title. Passage A's main point isn't analogous to "The Future of Computing." Passage A is all about the present reliability of the markets — it's not about what the markets might look like in the future. So while "Futurists' Sorry Track Record" may match the skepticism in passage B, we can eliminate this answer choice based on the first title alone. -
B"Computer Models for Predicting Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice B is not credited
"Computer Models for Predicting Elections" matches the second paragraph of passage A — arguably, it's too close a match since analogous titles rarely match the subject matter this closely. However, this doesn't quite reflect passage A's main point, which was all about the author's trust in the reliability of markets. Nothing in this title suggests the author trusts computer models to predict elections. Moreover, "Margins of Errors in Prediction of Election Results" doesn't match passage B's distrust of or skepticism toward markets. In other words, this doesn't reflect the oppositional relationship of the two passages, and it is incorrect. -
C"The Pace of Computer Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice C is not credited
This is another answer choice that doesn't quite match the oppositional relationship of passages A and B. "The Pace of Computer Innovation" doesn't exhibit passage A's advocacy for markets' reliability, while "Will Computing Hit a Speed Bump?" doesn't quite evince passage B's skepticism toward markets. With a slight tweak we could make this more analogous to the passages ("The Remarkable Pace of Computer Innovation" and "The Lack of Innovation in Computing"), but it is incorrect as written. -
D"Computer Simulations of Stock Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice D is not credited
A time-conscious test-taker might quickly eliminate this for at least one of two reasons. First, its subject matter — stock markets — is far too close to the passages'. Analogous titles rarely match the subject matter this closely. Second, and more importantly, "Computer Simulations of Stock Prices" and "Program Outperforms Fund Managers" do not embody the oppositional relationship of the two passages. "Computer Simulations of Stock Prices" suggests a far more descriptive (and less opinionated) passage than the author of passage A wrote. And "Program Outperforms Fund Managers" takes a far more positive stance towards its subject than the author of passage B. -
E"Computers as Thinking Machines" Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice E matches the stem
Question Type:
Application/Analogous Titles
Strategy Overview:
Review the main points and the Meta-Structure that describes the relationship of each passage, and select the answer choice that reflects that relationship
Answer Anticipation:
The "analogous title" question is unique to the comparative passage. This question requires us to find the pair of titles that will be about a completely different topic but will reflect both the main points of each passage and the relationship between the two passages.
In this case, passage A argued that markets were reliable predictors, while passage B argued that markets are not. So we'll look for an answer choice that mirrors this oppositional relationship. The first title should depict a positive opinion about something, while the second should convey a more doubtful opinion about that same thing.
Answer Choice Explanation:
This is the only answer choice in which the titles mirror the oppositional relationship of the two passages. "Computers As Thinking Machines" describes a belief in the reliability of its subject matter, while "Computers Don't Think: They Execute Programs" expresses skepticism toward that same topic. This is what we were looking for and is correct.
Key Takeaway:
Three of the first four questions asked about these passages' main points. This isn't uncommon in Comparative passages. Many inexperienced test-takers get hung up on finding minor similarities between the two passages, but it's far more important to understand the passages' main points and how they relate to each other generally.
What this tests
Question analytics
Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.
Answer choice distribution
Accounts
Save your place across PrepTests
Bookmark questions, build weak-spot lists, and pick up exactly where you left off—built for serious repeat practice.
No payment yet. We will only email when accounts open.
Already have an account? Log in
Deeper help
Ask follow-ups on any step
Optional AI tutor mode will let you interrogate assumptions, compare answers, and drill weak patterns without leaving the page.
Human-written explanations stay primary; AI is an add-on when you want it.
Discussion
-
Question 11 2 replies
Started by Cpilgrim