PrepTest 116, Section 2, Question 2
Essayist: Earth is a living organism, composed of(71 more words not shown)
The assertion that insects do(14 more words not shown)
- Aa reason for(14 more words not shown)
- Ba reason for(11 more words not shown)
- Can illustration of(14 more words not shown)
- Dan example of(10 more words not shown)
- Ean illustration of(10 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Does having some features of an organism make Earth an organism? I'd want to know what counts as an organism before accepting that conclusion.
The essayist points to Earth's component organisms, compares them with the cells in an animal, and adds metabolism and regulation of temperature and humidity. But we could also describe a city as a collection of parts with systems that keep it running. That description wouldn't, by itself, settle whether the city is alive. We need to know whether the similarities the essayist lists are the ones that matter.
What we’re looking for
That is my concern about the overall argument. The question, though, asks what the statement about insects is doing. Keep the author's position separate from our reaction: the author is trying to establish that Earth is a living organism. The insect statement belongs to the support for that conclusion. I don't need to agree with the conclusion to see which side the statement supports. Let's find an answer that explains its particular job.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
The author anticipates a reason someone might reject the conclusion: Earth doesn't literally breathe. The reply is that insects don't literally breathe either, yet they are organisms. Taking the passage's distinction between breathing and respiration as given, lack of breathing cannot by itself rule something out as an organism.
That doesn't prove Earth is alive. It removes this particular objection to calling Earth alive. A captures that limited defensive role.
- B
This puts the statement on the wrong side. The essayist argues that Earth is a living organism. The insect comparison helps defend that view against a possible objection; it isn't offered as a reason to reject it. Our own doubts about the essayist's conclusion don't change the role the statement plays.
- C
The passage mentions metabolism, but that isn't the point of the insect statement. The author brings up insects in response to Earth's lack of literal breathing. C ties the example to a different part of the argument and never explains why the author mentions breathing.
- D
The author treats insects' status as organisms as settled. That's why they can serve as the comparison: here are organisms that don't literally breathe. The author also asserts Earth's status rather than presenting it as unresolved. D confuses our possible uncertainty about the argument with uncertainty expressed by the author.
- E
Insects could be among the organisms living on Earth, but that isn't why this statement appears here. The author specifically points to their lack of literal breathing to answer a possible objection. E picks a relationship an insect could have to Earth while missing the work this comparison does in the argument.
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