PrepTest 156, Section 3, Question 13

What we’re looking for

Working the answers

• A

  This is closer to Dyson's position. He leaves open real phenomena that scientific procedures cannot discover; B rejects that possibility in the case being discussed.

• B

  Both acknowledge the reports. Think of reports of alien abduction: agreeing that people make those reports is different from agreeing that an abduction occurred. Here the dispute concerns what the stories establish, not whether stories exist.

• C

  A explicitly describes light this way. B never discusses it, so we have no reason to say B would be more likely to accept the statement.

• D

  Both accept that the scientific investigations have failed to provide evidence of these powers. Dyson answers that the powers might nevertheless exist. His willingness to consider that possibility doesn't mean he claims science has already demonstrated it.

• E
  Correct

  B presents controlled tests as the way to determine whether the claimed human abilities are real. A instead suggests that scientific procedures may exclude the stress and emotion needed to observe them. B is therefore more likely to accept the broader applicability of the general methods used in physics. This concerns methods of investigation, not whether the specific principle of complementarity applies everywhere; B explicitly rejects its use here.