PrepTest 148, Section 1, Question 10
Creating a database of all the plant species(54 more words not shown)
Of the following claims, which(13 more words not shown)
- AMost of the(16 more words not shown)
- BAn accurate database(19 more words not shown)
- CDuplicates and omissions(11 more words not shown)
- DBotanists have no(12 more words not shown)
- EA person who(19 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
One plant can end up with multiple names, while plants with different identities can get grouped as one species. Imagine two collectors finding the same plant and independently naming it. A database would need to recognize that those names refer to the same thing. In the other direction, DNA analysis has revealed that plants long treated as one species actually belong to different species.
What we’re looking for
So the existing labels don't always line up with the species. The question asks which claim we can reject, rather than which claim we can support. My initial expectation would be a claim treating the existing classification as reliably accurate. Let's see what specifically conflicts with the facts.
Working the answers
- A
We aren't told what proportion of naming problems has been corrected. Perhaps most remain, or perhaps researchers have resolved most of them. The existence of problems doesn't tell us the fraction still outstanding, so we can't reject A on the evidence given.
- B
A properly organized database could help botanists work through the confusing record. Nothing in the passage rules out that benefit. Difficulty creating a useful tool doesn't mean the tool would be useless once created.
- C
The passage discusses botany without telling us whether other fields have similar naming problems. That makes C unestablished, not disproved. Since we're looking for a claim the evidence lets us reject, silence about other fields isn't enough.
- DCorrect
'No techniques' conflicts with the described use of DNA analysis. Botanists have already used it to show that plants classified together actually belong to different species. That gives them a way to compare biological differences with the existing naming and classification record. They may still have a difficult job building the database, but they aren't without techniques for investigating whether distinct species have been given distinct names.
- E
If a plant has been recorded under multiple names, a search using only one name could miss information filed under another. The naming problem described in the passage supports that possibility. It certainly doesn't give us a reason to reject it.
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