PrepTest 113, Section 3, Question 13
Studies have shown that, contrary to popular belief,(11 more words not shown)
Each of the following, if(13 more words not shown)
- AThe longer one(14 more words not shown)
- BMiddle-aged people have(12 more words not shown)
- CMany people who(9 more words not shown)
- DThe longer one(6 more words not shown)
- EMiddle-aged people have(16 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Maybe people have more time to come to terms with dying as they grow older. Or maybe people in middle age worry about leaving behind someone who depends on them.
Either possibility could make the reported difference less surprising. The finding isn't that elderly people never fear death; it's that middle-aged people fear it more. We need explanations of that comparison, not simply facts that could make someone anxious.
What we’re looking for
This is an exception question. Four choices contribute to explaining the difference. We want the one that doesn't give us a reason for greater fear in middle age than in old age.
Working the answers
- A
This matches the first possibility. If people are more likely to have made peace with dying as they live longer, elderly people have had more opportunity to reach that acceptance. That gives a reason their fear could be lower than middle-aged people's, so A helps explain the finding.
- B
This matches the second possibility. A person might fear death partly because of what would happen to those relying on them. More dependents in middle age supplies a reason for greater worry about dying then. We don't have to assume everyone has children; the stated difference in dependency does the work.
- CCorrect
This tells us when many people's depression first begins, not how middle-aged and elderly people's fear of death differs. The depression could continue into later life. C doesn't establish that elderly people are less affected.
We also aren't given a rule connecting this onset of depression with greater fear of death. Even if we allowed that possible connection, we would still need to explain why it affects the age groups differently. A starting point in middle age doesn't, by itself, provide that comparison, so C is the exception.
- D
'Imperturbable' means hard to upset or disturb. If people become calmer and harder to unsettle as they live longer, that helps explain why older people might be less frightened by death. It doesn't mean they feel no emotions. The relevant point is their increased ability to remain untroubled.
- E
A more acute sense of mortality is a sharper awareness that one will die. If that awareness is especially strong in middle age, it gives a reason death could be more frightening then. E distinguishes middle-aged people from other age groups in a way directly relevant to the fear we're explaining.
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