PrepTest 109, Section 4, Question 16
The familiar slogan "survival of the fittest" is(69 more words not shown)
The argument above depends on(6 more words not shown)
- AAll claims that(6 more words not shown)
- BOnly claims that(6 more words not shown)
- CPopular slogans are(6 more words not shown)
- DInformative scientific claims(10 more words not shown)
- EThe truth of(14 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Does restating the same idea really tell us anything new? Under the definition supplied here, “the fittest survive” becomes “those most likely to survive are most likely to survive.” The second version makes the repetition easier to see. A tautology, in this discussion, is a statement that is true just because of what its terms mean.
Still, I would question the author's next step. Does calling the slogan a tautology settle whether it has scientific interest? We could investigate which traits help particular animals survive. Imagine giraffes trying to reach food high in trees: we might want to know how height affects their chances. That investigation involves more than simply repeating the slogan, but it shows why I'd want the author to explain the dismissal.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for an assumption the argument needs. My initial concern is about the move from repetition to a lack of interest. As we test the answers, though, we should also keep the author's exact position in view: this claim is true, yet it is not scientifically interesting. An answer the argument requires must be compatible with both parts of that position.
Working the answers
- A
The author doesn't need a rule covering every scientifically interesting claim. The argument can hold that this particular tautology is neither informative nor interesting without insisting that all interesting claims must be informative. A offers a broader connection than the argument requires.
- B
This would make truth a requirement for scientific interest. But the author's example is already true. Whether false claims can be interesting doesn't settle whether this true claim is interesting. B doesn't state the assumption we need.
- C
How popular slogans usually turn out doesn't determine the status of this slogan. The author bases the judgment on the repetition in its meaning, not on a survey of slogans. The argument could stand even if many other slogans were informative and interesting.
- D
The argument doesn't ban scientific claims from using ordinary meanings. It compares the meanings of a particular expression. Scientists could use plenty of words just as everyone else does without changing the author's point about this slogan.
- ECorrect
Truth alone cannot guarantee scientific interest if the author is right that this statement is true but uninteresting. Imagine insisting that every true scientific claim must be scientifically interesting. That would directly conflict with the author's description of this one.
E doesn't resolve every concern we had about dismissing the slogan. It identifies something the argument must accept: being true isn't enough, by itself, to make a claim scientifically interesting.
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