PrepTest 134, Section 4, Question 18
Passage A  Evolutionary psychology has taught us to(499 more words not shown)
Passage A(246 more words not shown)
Passage B(261 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(28 more words not shown)
- AEvolutionary psychologists seek(14 more words not shown)
- BAltruism presents a(5 more words not shown)
- CAn altruistic individual(10 more words not shown)
- DGenes may promote(7 more words not shown)
- EEarly humans lived(4 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Don't rely only on the everyday meaning of conspiracy theory. B immediately explains its use: the theory attributes a gene-spreading interest that the person may not acknowledge or even recognize. We need an assertion in A that actually illustrates that hidden-interest explanation.
Working the answers
- A
This names the evolutionary viewpoint generally. It doesn't yet illustrate the particular move B criticizes: explaining seemingly ordinary concern for someone else through the genes' hidden interest in reproducing.
- B
Calling altruism a difficult problem identifies the puzzle. B's label targets the proposed explanation of the behavior, not the fact that there is a puzzle.
- C
This defines altruism by what the individual does for another person. It doesn't attribute an unrecognized genetic interest to that action.
- DCorrect
A describes genes promoting themselves through actions that look unselfish, such as a mother helping her injured child. That is exactly what B objects to in its opening: apparent concern for the child gets explained as the genes promoting their own propagation, whether or not the parent recognizes that interest.
- E
Small kin-based groups provide background for A's account. Their existence alone isn't a claim that genes operate through a motive the person doesn't recognize.
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