#3 - Passage Relationship, Parallel Reasoning

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (C)

To parallel the relationship between the authors of Passage A and Passage B, we should look for the answer choice which presents on one side a pessimistic attitude, and on the other side an optimistic focus on solutions. Correct answer choice (C) provides this parallel: the first passage is rather pessimistic about housing prospects, while the second is focused on prospective solutions. Incorrect answer choices (A), (B), (D), and (E) all lack an optimistic solutions-focused passage.

[MBG13]

Can you explain in more detail as to why A is wrong. How is "New Alternatives to Incarceration" not optimistic?

[David Boyle]

Can you explain in more detail as to why A is wrong. How is "New Alternatives to Incarceration" not optimistic?

Hello MBG13,

It is not too pessimistic-sounding, maybe--but you never know! What if one of the "alternatives to incarceration" is execution or something? (!) So the alternative could be something really pessimistic.
Also, the match between "crime wave" and "incarceration" in answer A is not as close as the match between "shortage of homes" and "prospects for housing" in answer C.

Hope this helps,
David

[MBG13]

Execution as an alternative! Definitely didn't see that coming.
If execution is used as an "alternative to carceration," then I could see how that would not be good.

But when you think of alternatives, isn't it usually a positive thing... as in "alternative medicine?

I understand when matching between the two, C sounds better....so at least I agree with that.

Thanks for response...

[David Boyle]

Execution as an alternative! Definitely didn't see that coming.
If execution is used as an "alternative to carceration," then I could see how that would not be good.

But when you think of alternatives, isn't it usually a positive thing... as in "alternative medicine?

I understand when matching between the two, C sounds better....so at least I agree with that.

Thanks for response...

Hello MBG13,

Then again, a lot of "alternative medicine" has its critics.

Hope this helps,
David

[MBG13]

Touche!

[Adam Tyson]

Just adding my two cents here. For me, the issue here is not whether "alternative" means good. It's about whether the first presents a problem and the second presents a solution to that problem. In our passages, A presents a problem with a fairly gloomy outlook and B presents a more upbeat scenario with a potential solution to that problem. No reason to worry about antibiotic resistance, because we can attack bacteria another way!

Answer A presents a problem - crime is getting worse - but B does not present a solution to that problem. Alternatives to incarceration do nothing to reduce crime or solve anything related to the problem, but just give us new ways to punish the increasing number of offenders if they are caught. That, to me, is the fundamental flaw with this answer - there's no element of "don't worry about the problem, we have a solution here", just "oh well, too bad about the increasing problem, but here are some alternatives to deal with the offenders after the fact." It's like saying "it's okay that more people will die from bacterial infections, because we have found some great new ways to dispose of the bodies".

Interesting discussion here about alternatives, though. I had always read that as a positive thing. Even executions could be viewed as a positive, depending on your viewpoint. If the problem is prison overcrowding, executions would indeed be a solution, albeit a drastic one.

[MBG13]

Adam,

Thanks for the reply! Actually, that did help ...not just with this problem, but now I understand why I usually get these types of questions wrong. Love the reverse parallel from A ...back to the passage!

[emilyjmyer]

Hi!

For this question I thought answer choice C looked appealing but I quickly removed it when I saw the word "new." This is because the alternatives offered in passage B were not new. Phage therapy had been offered since the 1940s, therefore I thought that something describing passage B would just have to describe alternatives but not new alternatives. I see that A also has" new" so I would think that the word new makes that answer choice wrong. What does make that answer choice wrong? Why is it okay to say new? What makes C better than A?

Thanks!

[Stephanie Oswalt]

Hi!

For this question I thought answer choice C looked appealing but I quickly removed it when I saw the word "new." This is because the alternatives offered in passage B were not new. Phage therapy had been offered since the 1940s, therefore I thought that something describing passage B would just have to describe alternatives but not new alternatives. I see that A also has" new" so I would think that the word new makes that answer choice wrong. What does make that answer choice wrong? Why is it okay to say new? What makes C better than A?

Thanks!

Hi Emily,

Thanks for the post! I have moved your post to the thread discussing this question. Please review the above posts, and let us know if this helps, or if you still have further questions. Thanks!