PT108.S2.Q9 > Analytics

SECTION 1 · rc

PASSAGE 1

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8

PASSAGE 2

Question 9 Question 10 Question 11 Question 12 Question 13 Question 14 Question 15 Question 16

PASSAGE 3

Question 17 Question 18 Question 19 Question 20 Question 21

PASSAGE 4

Question 22 Question 23 Question 24 Question 25 Question 26

SECTION 2 · lr

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 9 Question 10 Question 11 Question 12 Question 13 Question 14 Question 15 Question 16 Question 17 Question 18 Question 19 Question 20 Question 21 Question 22 Question 23 Question 24

SECTION 3 · lr

SECTION 4 · rc

PASSAGE 1

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7

PASSAGE 2

Question 8 Question 9 Question 10 Question 11 Question 12 Question 13 Question 14 Question 15

PASSAGE 3

Question 16 Question 17 Question 18 Question 19 Question 20

PASSAGE 4

Question 21 Question 22 Question 23 Question 24 Question 25 Question 26 Question 27

The author concludes that if a change in climate in China in 45 B.C. was caused by volcanic ash, then ash from Mount Etna must have spread over vast distances. This is because Mount Etna in Sicily erupted a year prior to the climate irregularities in China, but the two locations are thousands of miles apart.

The author assumes that if any volcano caused the change of climate in China, then that volcano was Mount Etna; in other words, that there were no other powerful eruptions closer to China at that time. The author also assumes that the changes must have come directly from ash spreading to China, rather than the impact being indirect.

Whether or not modern equipment can precisely track volcanic ash, that doesn't tell us anything more about an eruption in 44 B.C. This is simply irrelevant.

We know powerful volcanoes can cause effects that last a year or longer, but that doesn’t mean those effects have to last a year or longer. This wouldn't tell us anything useful.

Knowing the answer to this wouldn’t affect the author’s conclusion, which is if any volcano caused the phenomena in China, it was Mount Etna. The conditions in Sicily are irrelevant.

If the answer is yes, then that's an alternate explanation: other volcanoes, rather than Mount Etna, caused the changes. If the answer is no, then the conclusion is strengthened. Knowing this would certainly be important.

We’re not interested in subsequent eruptions. Knowing the answer wouldn’t tell us whether Etna was the only volcano that could have caused the phenomena in China, so it's not useful.

Question

85% of people who answer get this correct

This is a moderately difficult question.

CURVE

Score of students with a 50% chance of getting this right

25% 129

143

75% 156

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Causal reasoning

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160

163

159

85%

167

121

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PrepTest 108 - Section 2 - Question 9

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