#3 - Passage Relationship, Parallel Reasoning

[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!

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!

Hi Stephanie!

Thanks for directing me to the correct place.

In reading the thread I understand why A is wrong and C is correct. What I do understand still is why the word "new" does not make the answer choice wrong. I am confused 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.

Thank you!

[Adam Tyson]

While "new" might make answer C appear to be less than perfect, Emily, that's not a good enough reason to completely rule it out. Our job is to pick the best match of the ones presented, which may not be a perfect match. The question asks for the answer that is "most analogous," rather than "a perfect analog." And hey, at least one of the alternative, those bioactive phytochemicals, looks pretty new to me!

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good, as they say. The passages are about problems and solutions, respectively, so a pair of articles that have that same relationship should be good enough to be considered a contender. The specifics are less important than that big picture, that relationship.

[emilyjmyer]

While "new" might make answer C appear to be less than perfect, Emily, that's not a good enough reason to completely rule it out. Our job is to pick the best match of the ones presented, which may not be a perfect match. The question asks for the answer that is "most analogous," rather than "a perfect analog." And hey, at least one of the alternative, those bioactive phytochemicals, looks pretty new to me!

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good, as they say. The passages are about problems and solutions, respectively, so a pair of articles that have that same relationship should be good enough to be considered a contender. The specifics are less important than that big picture, that relationship.

Hi Adam,

Thanks for getting back to my question! I totally see where you are coming from and I does that the passage does offer some new alternatives by talking about the bioactive phytochemicals. I just am struggling to accept this as the answer because it is not a perfect match because we talk a lot about matching strong language with strong language and matching soft language with soft language. How is this any different?

Thanks,

Emily

[katehos]

Hi Emily!

Like Adam mentioned, you're not looking for the perfect match, but rather the most analogous match! You're correct to want to match strong language with strong language (and soft with soft), but I don't think "new" is particularly strong language considering what the question is asking. The question is specifically about the relationship between the passages, which in this case can be broadly described as one passage (A) that discusses issues with something and one passage (B) that suggests some solutions to that problem. This relationship is analogous to that described in answer choice (C), as the first title describes issues with housing and the second describes solutions to that problem.

None of the other answer choices even come close to that! The important language here comes from the specific relationship between passages, so the word "new" does not make or break the answer choice. That said, I like that you're keeping the relative strength of language in mind -- keep that up!

Hopefully this helps
Kate