Summarize Argument
The author concludes that we should raise taxes. This is because the only way for homelessness to disappear is for the government to provide the homeless with housing. In order for the government to provide the homeless with housing, this requires increased taxation.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that if something is necessary for making homelesness disapperar, it’s something we should do.
A
Only if a measure is required to solve a problem should it be adopted.
This tells us that a thing’s being required to solve a problem is necessary in order for it to be something we should adopt. But (A) doesn’t establish that we actually should do the thing. (A) would be correct if it had started with “If” rather than “Only if.”
B
Only if a measure is sufficient to solve a problem should it be adopted.
We are not told about a measure that’s sufficient to solve a problem. We know what’s required to solve homelessness — government building housing and taxation. But we don’t know these are sufficient. (B) also doesn’t help reach the conclusion that something should be adopted.
C
If a measure is required to solve a problem, then it should be adopted.
This helps connect the premises to the conclusion. We know increased taxation is necessary to solve homelessness. Based on (C), we can then conclude that we should increase taxation.
D
If a measure is sufficient to solve a problem, then it should be adopted.
We are not told about any measure that’s sufficient to solve the problem of homelessness. We know what’s required to solve it — government building housing and taxation. But we don’t know these are sufficient to solve homelessness.
E
If a measure is sufficient to solve a problem, any steps necessitated by that measure should be adopted.
We are not told about any measure that’s sufficient to solve the problem of homelessness. We know what’s required to solve it — government building housing and taxation. But we don’t know these are sufficient to solve homelessness.
Summary
We are discussing ALL mammalian species and how play is related to their brain development. At the time a young mammal is most playful, it is also growing brain connections related to movement, posture, and social response at the fastest speed. These brain connections created by play become essential for success as an adult.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
Play is good for mammals’ brain development and their success as adults.
Young mammals’ play is somewhat related to the movement, posture, and social response necessary for survival and well-being as an adult.
Any given mammal species (such as a bear or a human) has a relationship between play, neural development, and adult success and well being.
(Note: these are possible wrong answers - we’re looking for the answer choice that is LEAST supported - so it won’t be on the strong side of the support spectrum.
Young mammals’ play is somewhat related to the movement, posture, and social response necessary for survival and well-being as an adult.
Any given mammal species (such as a bear or a human) has a relationship between play, neural development, and adult success and well being.
(Note: these are possible wrong answers - we’re looking for the answer choice that is LEAST supported - so it won’t be on the strong side of the support spectrum.
A
Young mammals of species that are preyed on by other animals are likely to engage in forms of sudden mock flight, bolting away from locations where no predators are to be found.
Strongly supported: We know play creates neural connections important for survival as an adult. Running from predators would be an important survival skill for these species. This play would strengthen their survival skills, and therefore, it fits the description in the stimulus.
B
The young of nonmammalian species such as fish, reptiles, and birds do not normally engage in playful behavior that serves the function served by play in the development of young mammals.
Unsupported: The information in the stimulus does not allow conclusions about nonmammalian species. There is no information about this group to conclude about what they do.
C
Adult mammals are more likely to engage in interactive play with their young if they engaged in similar forms of play when they themselves were young.
Strongly supported: The idea in the stimulus is that play strengthens skills by building neural connections. Mammals who played early in life would develop neural connections that would strengthen their ability to play with their young - a skill related to well-being.
D
Mammals that cannot engage in certain common forms of play when young are likely to show certain deficits that limit their subsequent success as adults.
Strongly supported: We know the neural connections are indispensable / necessary for success. If mammals don’t develop them through play, then they are likely to be limited as adults.
E
Young mammals of predatory species tend to practice in their play inoffensive versions of motions and actions that are useful in finding and catching prey when these mammals become adults.
Strongly supported: Like answer choice A, this shows a group building skills through play that will be necessary as adults. They would build the neural connections involved in hunting, which would be important as adults to find and catch food.
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why do cigarette smokers who do not chew tobacco have a higher incidence of heart attacks and high blood pressure than nonsmokers who chew tobacco (and who are exposed to the same amount of nicotine)?
Objective
The right answer will be a hypothesis that does not offer a useful difference between cigarette smokers who do not chew tobacco and nonsmokers who chew tobacco. The incorrect answers will offer useful differences between these two groups, providing reasons for why the cigarette smokers showed a higher incidence of heart attacks and high blood pressure, even though both groups were exposed to the same amount of nicotine.
A
People who smoke but do not chew tobacco tend to exercise less than those who chew tobacco but do not smoke.
This could help resolve the discrepancy. The nonsmokers who chew tobacco exercise more, which presumably lowers their risk of heart attacks and high blood pressure compared to the smokers who do not chew tobacco.
B
Chemicals other than nicotine present in chewing tobacco but not present in cigarette smoke mitigate the effects that nicotine has on the cardiovascular system.
This could help resolve the discrepancy. The nonsmokers who chew tobacco ingest chemicals that mitigate nicotine’s harmful effects, while the smokers do not. This could decrease the risk of heart attacks and high blood pressure in nonsmokers who chew tobacco.
C
People who chew tobacco but do not smoke tend to have healthier diets than those who smoke but do not chew tobacco.
This could help resolve the discrepancy. The healthier diets of the nonsmokers who chew tobacco presumably decrease their risk of heart attacks and high blood pressure compared to the smokers who do not chew tobacco.
D
Chemicals other than nicotine present in chewing tobacco but not present in cigarette smoke can cause cancer.
This would not help resolve the discrepancy, and is therefore the correct answer. (D) discusses cancer, not heart attacks and high blood pressure.
E
Chemicals other than nicotine present in cigarette smoke but not present in chewing tobacco raise blood pressure.
This could help resolve the discrepancy. If cigarette smokers are ingesting chemicals that raise blood pressure, it would help explain why they have a higher incidence of high blood pressure.
Numismatist: In medieval Spain, most gold coins were minted from gold mined in West Africa, in the area that is now Senegal. The gold mined in this region was the purest known. Its gold content of 92 percent allowed coins to be minted without refining the gold, and indeed coins minted from this source of gold can be recognized because they have that gold content. The mints could refine gold and produced other kinds of coins that had much purer gold content, but the Senegalese gold was never refined.
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why did merchants selling goods often specify that payment should be in coins minted from Senegalese gold?
Objective
The right answer will be a hypothesis for why merchants preferred payment in coins minted from Senegalese gold. This hypothesis will explain a key difference between coins minted from Senegalese gold and coins minted from other types of gold. It could reference the fact that, as the stimulus states, Senegalese gold has a high gold content and was never refined.
A
Because refined gold varied considerably in purity, specifying a price as a number of refined-gold coins did not fix the quantity of gold received in payment.
(A) says refined-gold coins are inconsistent or unreliable in their value because the purity of refined gold varies. This explains merchants’ preference for Senegalese gold, which does not need to be refined and therefore lacks these inconsistencies, making it more reliable.
B
During this period most day-to-day trading was conducted using silver coins, though gold coins were used for costly transactions and long-distance commerce.
The prevalence of silver coins in trade transactions does not explain why merchants often specified that payment should be in the coins minted from Senegalese gold.
C
The mints were able to determine the purity, and hence the value, of gold coins by measuring their density.
The mints’ ability to determine the value of gold coins does not explain why merchants, who are unrelated to the mints, would often specify that payment should be in the coins minted from Senegalese gold.
D
Since gold coins’ monetary value rested on the gold they contained, payments were frequently made using coins minted in several different countries.
Payments commonly being made using coins minted in different countries does not explain merchants’ preference for coins minted from Senegalese gold. The question stem does not say the merchants preferred coins minted in Spain; they preferred coins minted from Senegalese gold.
E
Merchants obtaining gold to resell for use in jewelry could not sell the metal unless it was first refined.
This is not helpful for explaining the merchants’ preference. (E) seems to imply that merchants would have a preference against Senegalese gold coins, as Senegalese gold was never refined and could therefore not be resold for use in jewelry.