#5 - Concept Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (D).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

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

Answer choice (E):


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

[biskam]

"The Information presented in the passage implies which one of the following about the frequency of reports of secondary occultations after the Herculina event?"

I understand that the answer is D but I originally crossed it out. I compared the choice to lines 42-47 where it says "Even if every asteroid has as many satellites as can be fitted around it without an undue number of collisions, ONLY ONE IN EVERY hundred primary occultations would be accompanied by a secondary event..." But, choice D says, "Primary occultations by steroids were reported to have been accompanied by secondary occultations in more than one out of every hundred cases."

I was uneasy with this choice for a couple of reasons:
1) "Only one in every hundred" in the passage VS "more than one out of every hundred" in the choice
2) hypothetical scenario in the passage VS past tense fact in the choice ("Primary occultations by steroids were reported..."

Any help would be appreciated!

[AthenaDalton]

Hi biskam,

Great question!

You're right to focus on subtle differences in wording between the passage and the answer choice. Here, the passage states that reports of secondary events have become so commonly reported that the reports are too numerous to all be accurate. The passage then goes on to state that even if asteroids had the maximum possible number of asteroids orbiting them, only about 1 in every 100 occulations would be accompanied by a secondary event. So the passage is talking about the physical limitations on the actual number of secondary events that occur in space.

By contrast, answer choice (D) asks about reports of secondary occultations. The passage tells us that the maximum possible number of such events is 1 in 100, and also tells us that the reports are far too numerous to all be true. So we can infer that over-reporting is going on, and that the number of reports will exceed 1 in 100 cases.

As to your question about the use of hypothetical language, the passage uses the 1 in 100 figure to demonstrate the hypothetical maximum number of asteroids accompanied by secondary occultations that could physically exist. By contrast, we have a definite number of reports of such sightings. So the shift in language reflects a slight shift in topic: from the maximum number of secondary occultations that could possibly occur to the higher number that are actually being reported.

I hope this helps clear things up. Good luck studying!

Athena Dalton

[Blueballoon5%]

I chose answer choice E, but it was purely a guess. I am unsure what answer choice E and D (the correct answer) is even saying, to be honest. I don't even know the difference between answer choice D and E (they look similar). If someone could help me, that would be wonderful.

[Claire Horan]

Hi Blueballoon,

At around line 40, the passage reads, with respect to what happened after the Herculina event: "In fact, so common did reports of secondary events become that they are now simply too numerous for all of them to be accurate. Even if every asteroid has as many satellites as can be fitted around it without an undue number of collisions, only one in every hundred primary occultations would be accompanied by a secondary event." According to the author, reports totaling more than one secondary event per 100 primary occultations would be inaccurate.

Premise 1: The reports became too numerous to be accurate.
Premise 2: Reports of more than 1 secondary event per 100 primary events would be too numerous to be accurate.
Conclusion: Answer choice (D)--more than 1 secondary event per 100 primary events was reported.

Answer choice (E) is different. If you read carefully, you will notice that it describes reports where primary events were accompanied by more than one secondary occultation. Note that the passage defines "occultation" as "eclipse." That would be an asteroid eclipse with two secondary eclipses, a phenomenon which the passage doesn't even mention.

I hope this helps—and thanks for the question!

[godingtherese@gmail.com]

I can see how D is correct, but I'm unsure why A and C are incorrect.

Is it because A and C use the term "tenfold" which suggests 10x the original number when the stimulus does not give enough evidence for us to predict the number of this increase?

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi godingtherese,

We just don't have the information to support answer choices (A) and (C). The passage doesn't give information about the number of these events reported before and after 1978. We know they are now more numerous than the science would support, but we don't know how that compares exactly to the pre-1978 reports. Both answer choices (A) and (C) claim to have this comparison, but we can't know that based just on the information from the passage.

Hope that helps!

[godingtherese@gmail.com]

Thank you! That helps!