PrepTest 105, Section 3, Question 4
Until recently, many biologists believed that invertebrate "schools"(448 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AArguments for opposing(8 more words not shown)
- BThe disadvantages of(11 more words not shown)
- CTwo different interpretations(13 more words not shown)
- DThe disadvantages of(14 more words not shown)
- EAdvantages and disadvantages(15 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
My first reaction is that this is the disadvantages paragraph. After all those defenses against predators, we finally hear about competition, fewer eggs, and adults eating the young.
What we’re looking for
But check the whole paragraph. It also says schooling helps animals find food and mates. And it ends with a response to overcrowding: some animals join another school. Our answer needs to account for those parts too.
Working the answers
- A
Benefits and costs aren't opposing viewpoints that need reconciling. No dispute between different speakers is presented.
- B
Even if we call schooling a choice, no alternative to that behavior is proposed. The animals that leave join another school; they adjust the group they're in rather than abandon schooling.
- C
We aren't evaluating competing interpretations and choosing one. Helping animals find food and increasing competition for it can both happen.
- D
Disadvantages are listed, but the writer doesn't use them to challenge whether schooling is worthwhile. The conclusion is about adjusting the size of the school, not rejecting the behavior.
- ECorrect
Finding food and mates supplies the advantages; overcrowding brings the disadvantages. The response is the final sentence: when optimal size is exceeded, some animals move to a different school (paragraph 5). That addresses the costs of remaining in an overcrowded group.
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