#8 - Global Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (C).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[mkarimi73]

Could a complete explanation be posted for this question? Also, if a question says, "Both passages are primarily concerned...," this is a form of Must Be True/Main Point, correct? This is different than, "Both passages are concerned with answering..."?

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Sure, mkarimi73.

You are absolutely right that this is a MBT/prove type question. We need to find an answer choice that must be true based on the stimulus.

Answer choice (A): This answer choice says that both passages are generally concerned about collective versus individual wisdom. It's true that Passage A discusses collective and individual wisdom, but Passage B does not address this and is focused more clearly on market function.

Answer choice (B): This answer choice is closer, in that both passages address what we can know from market movement. Passage A says that we can use the market movement to show how the likelihood of events changes, and Passage B says it just shows popularity. However, this is not the PRIMARY purpose of the passages.

Answer choice (C): THIS IS THE CORRECT ANSWER. Both passages are concerned with the value of the information we learn from the market. Passage A says the market can give us reliable information about what the likelihood is of certain events, while Passage B says that the market is an unreliable indicator.

Answer choice (D): This answer choice discusses a side issue. Passage A says that money is an indicator of the reliability of information, but Passage B says that it's just a way to keep out random data. That's not the main purpose of the passages though, as both are more focused on the market as a whole rather than just the financial aspect of the market.

Answer choice (E): Neither passage is comparing the overall efficiency of stock markets as a whole to the reliability of the election market.

Hope that helps!

[rswinter]

Hi there,

I'm hoping you can help me see what I'm missing in the distinction between (B) and (C), because I still feel like (C) is more problematic answer choice in its vagueness.

(C) suggests the passages are concerned with whether or not markets can be used to elicit reliable information. However, both passages seem to take the fact that they can provide certain types of reliable information as a given. Passage A says yes they can give you reliable information about the stocks, contracts, etc being traded. Passage B says yes they can give you reliable information about what prevailing public opinion is at a given moment.

So, to me, the question being addressed in each isn't whether markets can give reliable information, its what kind of reliable information they can give.

This is why I ultimately went with (B), which specifically asks not IF we can learn from markets but WHAT we can learn.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thank you

[rswinter]

Right after posting this, I think it finally clicked. I wasn't paying enough attention to the final two sentences of Passage B, which ultimately express a stance on the likelihood that a market prediction will be "right" or "wrong."