This page shows a recording of a live class. We're working hard to create our standard, concise explanation videos for the questions in this PrepTest. Thank you for your patience!
This page shows a recording of a live class. We're working hard to create our standard, concise explanation videos for the questions in this PrepTest. Thank you for your patience!
Ms. Yerky: The blood contains no such substance. Laboratory experiments involving a number of animals, including the arctic squirrel, have shown that a vial of blood from any of the animals freezes at just the same temperature as does a vial of water.
Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
Xu concludes that the arctic squirrel’s blood has a substance that prevents it from freezing at the freezing temperature of water. This is based on the claim that the squirrel’s blood temperature falls below the freezing temperature of water when the squirrel is hibernating, but the blood never freezes during hibernation.
Yerky concludes that the squirrel’s blood doesn’t have a substance that keeps it from freezing at water temperature. This is based on the claim that lab experiments show the squirrel’s blood freezes at the same temperature that water freezes.
Yerky concludes that the squirrel’s blood doesn’t have a substance that keeps it from freezing at water temperature. This is based on the claim that lab experiments show the squirrel’s blood freezes at the same temperature that water freezes.
Describe Method of Reasoning
Yerky presents evidence that suggests Xu’s conclusion is wrong.
A
presenting evidence that supports a conclusion inconsistent with Mr. Xu’s conclusion
Yerky presents evidence (the lab experiment results) that supports a conclusion that contradicts Xu’s conclusion. Yerky concludes squirrel blood doesn’t have a substance that keeps it from freezing at water temperature. This contradicts Xu’s conclusion.
B
showing that the evidence offered by Mr. Xu was collected by means of unreliable methods
Yerky doesn’t comment on the way in which Yerky’s evidence was gathered. We don’t know why Xu thinks that a squirrel’s blood doesn’t freeze during hibernation, or that a squirrel’s blood gets colder than the freezing temperature of water during hibernation.
C
offering an alternative explanation for why the squirrel’s blood fails to freeze at the temperature at which water freezes
Yerky probably doesn’t agree that a squirrel’s blood fails to freeze at the freezing temperature of water. The lab tests show that it does freeze at that temperature. So there’s no way that Yerky provides an explanation for a phenomenon that she doesn’t even think happens.
D
showing that a key term used by Mr. Xu is ambiguous
None of the terms in Xu’s argument is used ambiguously. “Hibernation” means the same thing throughout Xu’s argument. Same with “blood” and “freezing” and “temperature” and every other word.
E
showing that the evidence provided by Mr. Xu has no bearing on the point at issue
Yerky brings up lab results that suggest Yerk’s conclusion is wrong. But this doesn’t mean Xu’s evidence has no bearing (i.e. is irrelevant.) Evidence can be relevant, even if its ultimately not persuasive.
Summary
The stimulus can be diagrammed as follows:
Notable Valid Inferences
Temporal art forms must be experienced in a fixed order and over a fixed amount of time.
Temporal art forms are not truly visual.
Truly visual art forms are not temporal.
Truly visual art forms do not require performance
Most art forms are not truly visual.
A
Truly visual art forms do not essentially involve performance.
Must be true. As shown below, if we take the contrapositive of the conditional chain, we see that a truly visual art form does not require performance.
B
Poetry is less like music than it is like painting.
Could be false. We don’t have enough information to compare how similar these art forms are.
C
Spatiality and temporality are mutually exclusive components of art forms.
Could be false. The stimulus does not indicate that spatiality and temporality can never coexist in art.
D
Art forms that must be examined for an extended period of time in order to be understood are essentially temporal.
Could be false. (D) introduces topics that are not included in the stimulus, like understanding (rather than experiencing) art and extended (rather than fixed) periods of time.
E
Anything capable of being performed is either musical or poetic, or both musical and poetic.
Could be false. We know that all performances must be experienced in a fixed order and over a roughly fixed amount of time, but we don’t know that all performances are either musical or poetic––music and poetry are just referenced as two possible examples of performance.
This page shows a recording of a live class. We're working hard to create our standard, concise explanation videos for the questions in this PrepTest. Thank you for your patience!
This page shows a recording of a live class. We're working hard to create our standard, concise explanation videos for the questions in this PrepTest. Thank you for your patience!
This page shows a recording of a live class. We're working hard to create our standard, concise explanation videos for the questions in this PrepTest. Thank you for your patience!
This page shows a recording of a live class. We're working hard to create our standard, concise explanation videos for the questions in this PrepTest. Thank you for your patience!