PT121.S1.Q23

PrepTest 121 - Section 1 - Question 23

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Support Statistical analysis is a common tool for explanation in the physical sciences. ██ ███ ████ ██ █████ ████████ ██ ███████ ██████ ████ ███ ██ ██████████ ██ ███ ████ ███████ █████ █████ ██████ ██████ █████ █████████ ██████ ███████████ ████████ ██████ ██ ████████ ██ ███████ █████ ███████ ██████████ ████ ██████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ █████████

Method of Reasoning

The argument starts by discussing a common tool used for explanation in the physical sciences (statistical analysis). It then discusses a phenomenon that statistical analysis can’t be used to explain (human mental events). Finally, it moves to a conclusion about human mental events (they can’t be explained by the physical sciences.

Identify and Describe Flaw

Just because one tool used for explanations in the physical sciences (statistical analysis) can’t explain a phenomenon (human mental events), that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s not possible for the physical sciences to explain the event. It’s entirely possible that a different explanation method used in the physical sciences could explain human mental events.

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23.

Which one of the following █████████ ██ ████ ███████ ██ ███ ██████ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████

a

Computer modeling is ████ ██ ███ ██ ███████ ███ ███ ██ █████ ████ ██████████ ███████ ███ ████████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ █████████ ███ ██████████ █████ ███████ ████ ██ ████████████ ███ ████ ██████████ ██ ███ ████████████ ██████████ ███ ███ ██ █████ ████ ██████████ ███████ ███ ████████ ██ ████████ ██████ ██ █████████ ██ ████████ █████████

No flaw. For computer modeling to explain a phenomenon, the phenomenon must be predictable. But wind resistance isn’t predictable, so computer modeling can’t be used to explain it.

26%
b

The only way ██ ███████ ███ █████ ███████ ███ █████████ █████ ██ █ ██████ ██ ██ ██████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██ ████████ ███ ██████████ ██ ███████ ███ ██ ███████ ████ ██ █████ █████████ █████ ███████ ███ ███ ███ █████ ██ ███████ ██ █████ ███████ ████ █████ ██ ████████ ██████████ ██████████ ███ ███ ██ █████ █████ ███████ ███ █████████ █████ ██ █ ██████ ██████ ██ ██████████

Wrong flaw. (B) says that for music’s effects on emotions to be explained, something must occur (you must appeal to the psychology of emotion). For that thing to occur, it must involve humans. (B) then concludes that because some music doesn’t involve humans, the way music affects emotions can’t be explained. (B) errs because it only states that some music doesn’t involve humans, not all music. Alternatively, the stimulus is flawed because it rules out one potential way for the physical sciences to explain something and then says that thing can’t be explained by the physical sciences.

10%
c

The best way ██ ███████ ███ ██ ██████ ███ █ ██████████ █████ ██ ██ █████ ██ ███ ███████████ ██ █████ ███ ███████ ██ ██ █████████ ██████████ ██ ████ ███ ████ ████ ██ ██████ ███████████ ██ ███████ ██████████ ███ █████ ██ ████ ███████ ███ ███████ ██ ██ ████ ███ ███████████ ██ █████ ███ ███████

Wrong flaw. (C) discusses the best method to explain something (the color of an object). It then says that in some situations that method isn’t usable and, as a result, erroneously concludes that, in those situations, no parts of that best method pertain to the explanation of that thing (the color of an object). Meanwhile, the stimulus rules out one potential way to explain something in the physical sciences and, as a result, concludes that the physical sciences can’t explain that thing.

6%
d

To determine which ███████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ ████████ ██ █████ ████ ██ ████ █████ ███ █████ ███████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ███ █████████ ███ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ████ ███ ██████ █████ ███ ████████ ██████ ██ ██ ██████████ ██ ███ ████ ████████████ ██████████ ████ ██ ███ ████████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ ██████ ██ ██ ████████

Wrong flaw. (D) argues that since we can only explain the origin of the universe if we know how the universe began and it’s not possible to know how the universe began, we’re unlikely to ever correctly theorize how the universe began. However, even though we may not ever be able to verify our theories, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll never come up with a correct theory. Meanwhile, the stimulus rules out one potential way to explain something in the physical sciences and, as a result, concludes that the physical sciences can’t explain that thing.

8%
e

A good way ██ ███████ ██████████ ██████ ██ ██ █████████ █ ████████ █████████ █████ █████ ███████ ██ █████ ██ █████████ ████ █ ██████████ █ █████ ████ ███████ █████ ███ ██████ ████ ██ ██████ █████████ ██ ███████ ███ ██ █████ ██ ███████ ████ ███████ ██████████ ███████ ██████████ ██ ██████████ ███████████ ███ ██ █████ ███ █████ ███████

The argument starts by discussing a common way to explain historical events (by creating a narrative). It then discusses historical events that we can’t construct a narrative for (ancient historical events). Finally, it moves to a conclusion about these events (we can’t make a historical explanation for them). (E) commits the same flaw as the stimulus, which is that since a certain method commonly used in a discipline can’t explain an event, that discipline just can’t explain that event.

50%

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