PrepTest 123, Section 2, Question 16
Taylor: Researchers at a local university claim that(68 more words not shown)
The statements above provide the(17 more words not shown)
- AResearch might reveal(16 more words not shown)
- BIt is possible(18 more words not shown)
- CThe study of(17 more words not shown)
- DSome sciences can(9 more words not shown)
- EIf inherently suspect(16 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Sixty-one percent? I'd want to know how the researchers measured that. Words, facial expressions, gestures, eye contact—how did they decide exactly how much information each contributed? The number is precise enough to make me curious about the method.
But Taylor takes that suspicion much further: all such mathematically precise scientific claims are suspect. Why all of them? Even if communication is difficult to quantify, that doesn't mean a scientist can't obtain a precise measurement of something else. Think about measuring the weight of a pen or the temperature of an object. Doubting this particular number doesn't establish that precision itself is a defect.
Sandra makes that distinction. She allows that precision is unavailable in many areas, but says other scientific disciplines get very precise results that shouldn't be doubted just for being precise. She doesn't have to defend the communication study to reject Taylor's broader claim.
What we’re looking for
For the disagreement question, I'd predict: can science sometimes give us precise results without that precision making them inherently suspect? Sandra says yes. Taylor's blanket claim says no. Keep that general disagreement separate from whether this particular 61-percent finding is believable.
Working the answers
- A
Sandra might agree with the communication finding, or she might doubt it. She doesn't tell us. Her claim that some scientific disciplines obtain reliable, precise results doesn't identify communication research as one of them. We need both speakers to take sides on the statement.
- B
Could researchers determine this particular percentage? Again, Sandra gives us no position on that. She could believe precise measurements are possible in physics while agreeing that this aspect of communication is too difficult to measure precisely. Her broader point leaves B open.
- C
Sandra may agree that communication research is an area where great precision is unavailable. Her statement explicitly allows such areas to exist. She doesn't say whether this is one of them, so we can't establish a disagreement about C.
- DCorrect
Sandra says some scientific disciplines obtain extremely precise results that should not be doubted merely because of their precision. So she accepts D. Taylor says all such mathematically precise claims are suspect and cannot be established by science, so Taylor rejects it.
That's our predicted disagreement. It doesn't require Sandra to endorse the 61-percent claim. It requires only that she reject Taylor's attempt to make precision a reason for doubt across science.
- E
Neither speaker tells us that most scientific claims are mathematically precise, much less that most scientific claims are false. Even if we add the condition that inherently suspect claims are usually false, we still haven't connected that group to a majority of all scientific claims. This introduces a numerical conclusion neither speaker addresses.
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