RC Chapter 7 Passage D: Fossils

[nonameee]

Q4: The passage says: "[the discovery]... has had a tremendous impact on theories about the origins of speech." Now, having an impact doesn't imply "the reexamination of prior theories" (D)

Can someone please explain how the answer choice (D) is the correct one?

Also, I don't understand why (C) is wrong? I think it is pretty clear that since the larynx had such an impact on theories about the origins of speech, it must be necessary for speech (OK, may be necessary is too strong of a word, but anyway (C) looks much more convincing to me than (D)).

Please clarify.

Thank you.

[george.kourdin]

post the whole passage/questions

<3

[messi10]

Hi nonameee,

I am noticing a slight pattern with your RC posts. You seem to be getting stuck on language a bit too much. The positive thing is that you have an eye for detail but the negative implication is that you are sometimes ruling out the correct answer choices.

In this question, you have answered your own question on why C is wrong:

OK, may be necessary is too strong of a word

You are absolutely right that necessary is too strong a word. By that logic, you should have eliminated it. Use your CR skills. Just because something is connected (larynx and speech) does not mean one is necessary for the other. Even though this answer is a real world plausible answer (which is an common error type on GMAT), it is almost always incorrect on the GMAT.

I personally struggle with inference questions myself. I end up inferring too much. On my last practice test, I got all 5 RC inference questions incorrect. So I am working on this as well. The RC inference is very similar to CR inference. You must not infer anything that cannot be directly implied from the passage.

Answer choice D seems like a bit of a stretch as you have pointed out but try and answer this in your own words: How would you interpret the phrase: "X had a tremendous impact on the theories of Y"

It could mean
i) X was so powerful that the theories of Y had to be re-written
ii) X was a new discovery that added a lot more support for the theories of Y
iii) X was a discovery that questioned many parts of theories of Y

Now, lets say that X has just been discovered and I don't know what kind of impact it will have on Y, but I know that it will have an impact. So how can I rephrase the line about tremendous impact? Can I not say "The discovery of X necessitates the re-examination of theory of Y"

But again, you don't have to think this far on the test. Eliminate the wrong answers. I think you need to revisit the section that details the types of wrong answers. If you were solid on that, you would have eliminated C straight away. It is a really obvious wrong answer because of the word "necessary".

Hope this helps

Regards

Sunil

[nonameee]

Thanks a lot for your reply.

As I've said, I thought and still think that "to have an impact" = "reexamination" is quite a stretch in this case and (C) looked much better or at least as good as the other answer-choice.

[tim]

nonameee, did this clear things up for you or did you still have questions?

[nonameee]

Tim, not exactly actually. I'd still love to hear some more explanation if that's possible.

Thanks a lot.

[tim]

C should have been an immediate red flag because of the presence of the word "necessary". While this does not automatically allow us to reject the answer choice, it needs a lot more textual support than an answer choice that is not as strongly worded..

You seem to be concerned that having an impact on a theory does not imply reexamination of that theory. I disagree, but I'd like to invite you to explain your point more. Can you provide an explanation of how something might have an impact on a theory without entailing a reexamination?

[nonameee]

Yes, here you go:

If one thing has an impact on a theory, it means, IMO, that this thing has influenced the theory. Now to influence may mean:

- to give it a boost
- to reexamine it
- to reject it
- etc.

For example:

Mendeleev's discovery of the Periodic Table had a tremendous impact on inorganic chemistry.

In this example 'to have an impact' means to influence (which in this case also meant that it gave it a boost), rather than to reexamine it.

To prove my point further, here's a reference to the
Dictionary.com:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/impact

9. to have an impact or effect on; influence; alter: The decision may impact your whole career. The auto industry will be impacted by the new labor agreements.

The first example here means that the decision can influence your career. It doesn't necessarily imply that you would have to reexamine your career.

[tim]

Okay, I see what you’re saying. But you really need to let this one go. You are placing way too much emphasis on a particular interpretation of the word "reexamine" that you want to be true in this case. You can keep complaining forever about the fact that you don’t think that the words are being used the way you want them to be, but please understand this is probably the one thing you can do to most thoroughly guarantee that you won’t make improvement on the GMAT. Learn to understand how the GMAT interprets words, and you will be much better off. Complain that you don’t like how the GMAT interprets words, and you will be perpetually disappointed with your lack of progress toward the score you are seeking. I hope we can now put this issue to rest..