PrepTest 114

Incorrect. This answer explains how the plants dying could have also killed the carnivorous dinosaurs, but that's not the paradox we need to explain. This answer doesn't explain how the plants could have died off (and taken the herbivores) when the debris wasn't in the sky long enough to kill them.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Paradox

Stimulus Summary:
Dino Extinction Belief - An asteroid struck Earth, hurling debris into the air.
Asteroid Established Facts - It could have kicked up enough debris to block out the sun and cool the atmosphere, which would kill plants and dinosaurs
"Contradictory" Established Facts - The debris would have settled well before it could have killed the plants or frozen the dinosaurs

Answer Anticipation:
This question is a bit tricky, but that trickiness is telegraphed in the question stem. There, it asks us to reconcile the scientists' beliefs with their results, and so we need to be clear about what in the stimulus reflects a belief and what is a result.

The opening line explicitly states what the belief is—that an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. Full stop.

From there, it goes on to what the scientists have "established"—in other words, what they've proved. If the scientists proved something, we're now dealing with their results. So it would be easy to loop this part of the stimulus in with the belief, but it's not a part of that. We're into the details now that are paradoxical.

So this first thing scientists have established is that the asteroid and its debris could have frozen the dinosaurs while killing off plants, a key food source. The second (in the next line, which is also about something they've "established") is that the debris would have settled much more quickly than it could have taken out the dinosaurs.

As with all Paradox questions, clearly stating the paradox is key to getting the question right. And here, in setting the paradox between the beliefs and results of the scientists, the paradox is that they believe the asteroid killed the dinosaurs, but that it didn't do so by freezing them out and killing off the plants. As such, we should look for an answer that establishes a different way the asteroid could have killed off the dinosaurs.

Answer Explanation:
This answer brings up another potential way that the asteroid could have caused the dinosaurs' extinction—not by killing the plants and freezing them, but by causing fatal respiratory problems from the debris. While the debris wouldn't be in the air long enough to kill the plants and freeze the dinosaurs, it would be in the air long enough for them to breathe it in and develop these problems, so this answer is correct.

Key Takeaway:
Clearly defining the paradox is key to Paradox questions, but it's not always straightforward! This question relied on us carefully reading the question stem and the stimulus in a way that allowed us to see what pieces the stem was setting up to be seemingly contradictory. This is especially important when there is another paradox hinted at by the stimulus.

Incorrect. If anything, this answer suggests that the asteroid might not be the cause of the dinosaur extinction, which calls the belief into question, it doesn't explain how it's compatible with the other belief.

Incorrect. There's no discussion of the level of sunlight in the debris cloud from the atmosphere, so this answer doesn't tie directly into the stimulus.

Incorrect. "[M]any" dinosaurs dying doesn't result in extinction.