#22 - On the basis of relatively minor morphological

[al_godnessmary]

So, I got the correct answer, B, but I'd love for someone to walk me through the logic because I never felt really confident about the answer choice.

A - could be true, since the stimulus seems to conclude that this is the case
B - if the daily challenges met by both N and C were unique and different (since they lived in different environments), then they would not have developed similar tools? Is that it?
C - I didn't see how this was relevant, plus it wasn't really mentioned, so I was confused as to whether or not this could be true...I suppose it could be because it's not mentioned? That doesn't seem like a very sound way to decide between answer choices!
D - could be true based on stimulus, like A
E - could be true based on stimulus again, either way I'm happy to accept that

Between B and C I opted for B given I could find slightly more reason to believe C could be true, but it felt like I just got lucky. Can someone help affirm or elaborate upon this logic?

Thanks!

[Robert Carroll]

al,

You seem fine with answer choices (A), (D), and (E).

Your judgment about answer choice (C) is correct - it's not mentioned by the stimulus, nor can you infer what it says from the stimulus. This applies to its opposite as well. In other words, we can't judge answer choice (C) as true or untrue based on the stimulus. But the question type is Cannot Be True - the correct answer is saying something definitely false, and we can tell it's definitely false just based on the information in the stimulus. Because the stimulus doesn't give us enough information to make that "definitely false" judgment about answer choice (C), it's an incorrect answer.

Refer to the stimulus - it says that the two groups of hominids were in different environments, but used similar tools. It also says that two groups would use similar tools only if they faced the same daily challenges. Thus, the two groups must have faced the same daily challenges. But answer choice (B) says that the daily challenges of an environment are unique to that environment - in other words, a different environment has different challenges. This contradicts the claim in the stimulus that the different environments presented the same challenges. Thus, you can conclude that answer choice (B) is correct because the stimulus proves it's definitely false.

Robert Carroll

[Juanq42]

Hey!

I was able to correctly identify the right answer, but it was a painfully slow and tedious task. (I retook the practice test with a focus on accuracy and somewhat disregarding time)

This seems like a question I would immediately skip if it were test day.. but is there any advice to condense or retain the information from the stimulus?

I'll try to mirror the notes I made on my scratch paper for reference -

Claim: Neanderthals different from CroMagnons

different environment, same tools >> behavioral similarities (not a conditional statement... just didn't know how else to notate it)

similar tools used faced same daily challenges AND met same way

contrapositive: NOT face same daily challenges... OR NOT met same way... similar tools NOT used

causal relationship(?): different environments causes morphological differences.

In finding this must be false answer, I got to answer B and after looking at my notes, I didn't see any explicit connection between challenges faced and environments, there was only the conditional statement related to tools... A quick skim of the other answer choices made me react with an ounce of doubt that they could be true... which led me to stick to answer B.

[James Finch]

Hi Juan,

There is no shortcut or quick fix to getting to the correct answer choice on a question like this. Near the end of a section, the test makers love to throw in difficult, time-consuming questions (especially parallels and parallel flaws) to try an bog down unsuspecting test takers and kill their timing. So it's perfectly reasonable to skip this question and go back to it later if you have time.

That all said, the only way to answer this question quickly is to either remember or diagram all the statements in the stimulus and use that to cross check against the answer choices. So long as you can remember the conditional statement about the tools and challenges faced in different environments, (B) is clearly impossible.

Hope this helps!

[Juanq42]

Okay!

For being a LR question, it definitely felt like a RC mini passage! Was there anything in my notes that didn't fully capture the logic of the stimulus that I should be aware of? Thanks in advance!!

[Jeremy Press]

Hi Juan,

There are just a couple things I would supplement in your notes, which are generally right on track.

You should at least mentally note that the first claim is not a fact statement, but rather the view of "some scientists." It's important to note in any Must Be True or Cannot Be True question which claims are presented as opinions and which are presented as facts.

Also note that the last sentence is a conclusion (the conclusion indicator is "this suggests that"), and it has two parts: the causal claim about morphological differences that you correctly noted, plus the statement that Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons were "members of the same species."

I hope this helps!

Jeremy

[nivernova]

I eliminated answer choice B, because I thought, in other environmental settings which are different from those of Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons, it could be possible that the daily challenges are unique.

In the Arctic or Antarctic, for example, you can encounter melting of icebergs or etc. And these things are very unique only to extremely cold areas.

Am I going too far?

[Jeremy Press]

Hi nivernova,

I think the problem you're having is that you're reading answer choice B as a "soft" claim, when it's actually making an absolute/universal (very "strong") claim. When answer choice B says "The daily challenges with which an environment confronts its inhabitants...," the "an" is universal. It means the same as saying, "The daily challenges with which any environment confronts its inhabitants..." Given the strength of that language, the counterexample in the stimulus (the different environments the Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals lived in) is enough to contradict it.

If the test makers wanted you to read answer choice B as a "soft" claim, the way I think you're reading it, they would've written, "The daily challenges with which some environments confront their inhabitants are unique to those environments." If the answer were written that way, you're right that it could be true under the stimulus and would be an incorrect answer.

[nivernova]

Thank you so much!! I get it now

[tkkim7]

Can this be applied to other cases as well? Can I take it to mean that when I see a construction of a/an + noun I should interpret it as an absolute claim?

Hi nivernova,

I think the problem you're having is that you're reading answer choice B as a "soft" claim, when it's actually making an absolute/universal (very "strong") claim. When answer choice B says "The daily challenges with which an environment confronts its inhabitants...," the "an" is universal. It means the same as saying, "The daily challenges with which any environment confronts its inhabitants..." Given the strength of that language, the counterexample in the stimulus (the different environments the Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals lived in) is enough to contradict it.

If the test makers wanted you to read answer choice B as a "soft" claim, the way I think you're reading it, they would've written, "The daily challenges with which some environments confront their inhabitants are unique to those environments." If the answer were written that way, you're right that it could be true under the stimulus and would be an incorrect answer.