Logical reasoning PrepTest 158 · Section 4 · Question 19

This is irrelevant to the paradox. It doesn't matter if it's difficult to recruit or train members of these rescue squads. Apparently, we still manage to recruit and train members, and they do a pretty good job saving climbers' lives. This answer choice doesn't explain why experienced climbers think we need to get rid of these squads to reduce the number of deaths and injuries on mountains.

This doesn't resolve the paradox. It doesn't explain why experienced climbers think we need to get rid of these squads to reduce the number of deaths and injuries on mountains. It may suggest that the statistics on deaths and injuries in areas without rescue squads are less reliable. But that doesn't show why rescue squads may cause an increase in the number of climber deaths and injuries.

Some test-takers are still tempted by this answer choice. It's possible to argue that this answer choice resolves the paradox, but that requires at least a few assumptions. Suppose the statistics on deaths and injuries in areas without rescue squads dramatically undercount the number of deaths and injuries. And suppose that experienced mountain climbers are using these statistics to argue that removing rescue squads is required to reduce climber deaths and injuries. If both of these suppositions are true, then the paradox is resolved. The experienced climbers look at the statistics and see far fewer injuries and deaths in the areas without rescue squads. The experienced climbers then argue that we'd see fewer injuries and deaths elsewhere if the rescue squads stopped servicing those areas.

Still, neither the passage nor the answer choices support these assumptions. The statistics on deaths and injuries in areas without rescue squads could actually overestimate the number of deaths and injuries in these areas. Experienced climbers don't have to base their opinions on these statistics. And the experienced climbers may not be this susceptible to flawed logic. Because this answer choice requires unsupported assumptions to resolve the paradox, it does not truly resolve the paradox.

This might explain why the experienced climbers don't would be OK climbing without rescue squads. The experienced climbers know they're taking a risk, and they don't expect rescue squad members to take a risk rescuing them.

But that's not the issue we're trying to explain. We're trying to explain why experienced climbers think removing the rescue squads is required to reduce the number of climber deaths and injuries. This answer choice doesn't give us any reason to believe that the number of climber deaths and injuries would go down without rescue squads, so it is incorrect.

If most of the people who are killed or injured while mountain climbing weren't adequately prepared, it seems like they could use a rescue squad to help them out! This answer choice would resolve the paradox if it told us that climbers would prepare themselves more if they knew rescue squads wouldn't be there to support them. But, as written, this answer choice makes the paradox worse.

Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Paradox

Passage Summary:
Rescue squads save many mountain climbers' lives. But, experienced climbers argue that reducing climber deaths and injuries requires abolishing rescue squads.

Strategy Overview:

1. Argument or facts? Always a set of facts
2. Identify what is strange, discrepant, surprising, or paradoxical in the passage
3. Anticipate additional facts that could be added that could make the passage make more sense
4. Use anticipation to find the answer choice that, if added to the set of facts in the passage, would make the discrepancy/paradox make more sense

Answer Anticipation:
We want to find the answer choice on Paradox questions that would make the discrepant, surprising, or paradoxical situation make more sense. To that end, it helps to clarify why the situation is discrepant, surprising, or paradoxical in the first place. For this passage, it's surprising that experienced climbers argue that reducing climber deaths and injuries requires abolishing rescue squads. After all, we know that these rescue squads save climbers' lives every year.

Once we've clarified why the situation is surprising, we can examine the answer choices. We're looking for an answer choice that explains why reducing climber deaths and injuries requires abolishing rescue squads, even though the rescue squads are good at rescuing climbers. If we can think of a few things that might resolve this paradox, that's great. Maybe climbers would exercise more caution or rely on better equipment if they knew these rescue squads weren't around to save their skin. But on Paradox questions, we want our anticipation to be super loose. We'll keep our minds open as we examine these answer choices, but at least we know the shape of what we're looking for.

Answer Choice Explanation:
Finally, this answer choice resolves the paradox. If climbers know that rescue squads can save them if they get into a difficult situation on a mountain, they'll perceive the risk of that mountain as lower. This answer choice tells us that when mountain climbers perceive the risk as lower, more incompetent climbers will attempt to climb a mountain.

This explains why experienced climbers think that reducing climber deaths and injuries requires abolishing rescue squads. If there are no more rescue squads, climbers will think that climbing a mountain poses a higher risk. If climbers perceive the risk as high, fewer incompetent climbers will attempt to climb a mountain. And if there are fewer incompetent climbers, we can reasonably expect fewer injuries and deaths on the mountains. Therefore, this answer choice is correct.

Key Takeaway:
It's hard to form a precise anticipation on a Paradox question. But it's critical that we take the time to explicate why the situation described is paradoxical. On this question, if we didn't pause to articulate that we're resolving a paradox about why removing rescue squads would reduce climber deaths and injuries, we might select a popular wrong answer choice that has nothing to with this paradox, like (C).