PrepTest 109, Section 1, Question 9
The same task triggers different levels of awareness(77 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AThere are some(16 more words not shown)
- BPeople who visually(16 more words not shown)
- CPeople tend to(15 more words not shown)
- DMathematical problem solvers(15 more words not shown)
- EMathematical problem solving(16 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
I'd expect a difficult puzzle to pull someone's attention away from the room. Think of getting absorbed in a chess game or a movie and barely noticing what's happening around you. So the claim that mathematical puzzles increase most people's awareness of their surroundings surprises me. Still, that's the information we're given.
The passage then describes the sort of response I first imagined. Some people picture the numbers in their minds and try to hold that image still. Their awareness of the outside environment decreases. Other people may become more aware during breaks between stages of solving the problem. The same activity can therefore produce different changes in different people.
What we’re looking for
We're asked what is most strongly supported. I don't have a more specific prediction to add; I'd test the choices against those descriptions. Keep track of the groups and the difference between becoming more or less aware. A decrease in awareness isn't the same as losing all awareness, and an increase doesn't mean someone was completely unaware before.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
The visual problem solvers are the example we need. They experience a decrease in environmental awareness while solving the puzzle, so there are some people for whom mathematical puzzles do not produce an increase. A states a modest consequence of the information explicitly given.
- B
This treats being aware of one's surroundings as what distinguishes the visual solvers. The passage doesn't divide people into an aware group and an unaware group. It describes changes in degree, and the visual solvers are the ones whose awareness decreases. B doesn't accurately capture that contrast.
- C
We don't have a comparison between mathematical and nonmathematical problems. We have a comparison among people's responses to mathematical puzzles. The same people might become even more aware during another kind of problem, or less aware; the passage doesn't say.
- D
The rest explanation is offered for other people, not as a rule about the visual solvers. D transfers it to that group and then adds “only,” excluding awareness at all other times. Neither move is supported. Becoming less aware while holding an image doesn't establish complete unawareness until a rest period.
- E
A description of what happens for some people isn't a requirement for doing mathematics. The passage doesn't say everyone must take frequent rests, or that problem solving is impossible without those increases in awareness. E turns one possible response into a condition all solvers must meet.
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