Q17

 
jimmy902o
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Q17

by jimmy902o Mon Sep 10, 2012 11:23 pm

Can someone help me understand why A is better than B here? Based on the information in the third paragraph im not convinced that the author is satisfied that it occurs, after all the first sentence in the paragraph says the evidence "suggets" not proves. Thanks
 
mlbrandow
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Re: Q17

by mlbrandow Thu Sep 27, 2012 11:25 am

Take a careful look at both what the question is asking and what these two answer choices are saying:

(A) satisfied that it is occurring and that it suggests neutrinos have mass. What is the it here? Oscillation.

(B) hopeful that it will be useful in discovering other forms of dark matter. What other forms? This is wholly unsupported. Even if the author would agree that his attitude is "hopeful about discovery of other forms of dark matter" (probably true), that doesn't relate to oscillation at all, which is what the question is asking.

The support for (A) is very strong, although not rock solid. However, as with all inference questions, the other answer choices are distortions and/or without any support at all.

(B) refers to oscillation contributing to discovery of other types of matter, something never mentioned at all.

(C) The author never shows concern over misinterpretation of anything, and he certainly doesn't think anyone believes that neutrinos account for all of dark matter. The last paragraph addresses specifically the fact that this finding suggests that neutrinos do not account for all of the dark matter.

(D) The author isn't skeptical at all. He may not wholeheartedly endorse the idea beyond any doubt, but there is nothing at all to suggest that he is skeptical of the findings.

(E) Again, there is no support for this in the third paragraph (or anywhere in the passage for that matter). There is no mention of oscillation failing to occur outside an experimental setting.


To be clear, in questions like these, the correct answer may not be 100% immutable, but will have strong textual support, as is the case with (A) here. The incorrect answers will always be unsupported.

If you're straddling between two answers, carefully reread them both and also the question to be sure you aren't taking these answer choices out of the intended context of the question.
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tommywallach
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Re: Q17

by tommywallach Thu Sep 27, 2012 4:57 pm

Great response from mlbrandow here, and I'd +1 on everything he (she?) said. Just to be super clear, answer choice (B) may be possible (that the research into neutrinos will pay dividends in other research), but nowhere in the passage is that suggested. The author doesn't really weigh in on where the rest of the dark matter comes from, only that the neutrino issue seems to be resolving, and it helps explain dark matter.

Let me know if you have further questions!

-t
Tommy Wallach
Manhattan LSAT Instructor
twallach@manhattanprep.com
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