PrepTest 107, Section 1, Question 12
It is well known that many species adapt(108 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(6 more words not shown)
- AA general principle(20 more words not shown)
- BAn explanation of(24 more words not shown)
- CA generalization about(26 more words not shown)
- DA counterexample to(15 more words not shown)
- EA detailed example(11 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The plankton aren't the whole point. They're the example used to challenge a broad claim.
The initial position says only the most highly evolved species alter their environments in ways that help them survive. The author replies that this ability is common, then explains how plankton do it. Their gas contributes to clouds, the clouds reduce absorbed heat, and the cooler conditions benefit the plankton.
I might have pictured something more deliberate, such as a person building a house or a beaver building a dam. The plankton's effect looks more like a by-product. But the initial position is about beneficial environmental change, not necessarily conscious planning. For purposes of describing the argument, the author presents plankton as a case outside the supposedly exclusive group.
What we’re looking for
So my prediction is: the author rejects a general claim by giving an example that doesn't fit it. As we read the abstract choices, keep translating them back into the passage. What is the claim? What is the example? What is the example supposed to show?
Working the answers
- A
This moves from a general principle to a conclusion about a particular case. Our argument uses the particular case in the other role: plankton provide support for rejecting a general restriction. We aren't first accepting a rule and then applying it to prove something about plankton.
- B
Explaining how something could happen is different from giving a case that challenges a general claim. The author doesn't merely offer a possible mechanism and infer that an otherwise disputed event must have happened. The plankton's effect is presented as an example of a kind of environmental change the initial position wrongly restricts.
- C
This is tempting because the author does make a broad claim and does discuss an example. But we aren't examining cases to develop an account of the conditions under which a process occurs. The crucial move is against the existing 'only the most highly evolved species' restriction. The plankton are offered as an exception to that restriction. D identifies that purpose directly.
- DCorrect
The position being challenged is that only the most highly evolved species make environmental changes that aid their survival. The counterexample is the plankton, presented as organisms that do so despite falling outside that group. A case that violates an 'only' claim shows that the claim is too restrictive.
- E
The author doesn't rank environmental strategies. We aren't told that making clouds is better than building a house or that plankton should choose one technique over another. The example addresses whether the characteristic is limited to a particular group of species, not which way of changing the environment has the greatest advantage.
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