PrepTest 124, Section 2, Question 10
Those who have the ability to fully concentrate(21 more words not shown)
If the statements above are(10 more words not shown)
- ASome people can(12 more words not shown)
- BAll people who(6 more words not shown)
- CMany people of(7 more words not shown)
- DSome people with(11 more words not shown)
- EAll people who(9 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Improving concentration isn't the same as reaching full concentration.
The first statement gives us a firm rule: anyone who can fully concentrate has above-average intelligence. It doesn't say every person with above-average intelligence can fully concentrate. A person could be very intelligent and still struggle to focus.
The speed-reading statement is different. Successful training usually improves concentration. To picture the gap, imagine someone's concentration improving from 50 percent to 75 percent. That's improvement, but it isn't the full 100 percent needed to trigger the first rule. Those numbers are just an illustration, not measurements supplied by the passage.
What we’re looking for
We're asked which choice cannot be true. I'm watching for an answer that makes an unjustified connection between speed-reading, improved concentration, and intelligence. But we should test what each answer actually says: the credited choice must conflict with the facts, rather than merely go beyond what we know.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Full concentration and below-average intelligence cannot go together under the first rule. The speed-reading detail doesn't change that contradiction. We thought we might need to connect the two statements, but the first one alone rules this choice out.
- B
This could be true. The passage doesn't establish that all speed-readers have above-average intelligence, but it doesn't rule out that possibility either. For this question, an unsupported claim is not enough; we need an impossible claim. Nothing here conflicts with either fact.
- C
Above-average intelligence doesn't require full concentration. The rule runs from full concentration to above-average intelligence, not from intelligence to concentration. So there could be many intelligent people who cannot fully concentrate. C leaves the stated rule intact.
- D
A person with little concentration could still speed-read. Even an increase in concentration could leave someone with relatively little of it, and the passage says training usually brings an increase, not that every speed-reader reaches full concentration. Without full concentration, the first rule doesn't rule out below-average intelligence.
- E
Some concentration is compatible with both statements. We aren't told that every speed-reader has it, but nothing forbids that from being true. Notice the difference from A: E adds a possible fact, while A directly contradicts the rule about full concentration.
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