Question Type:
Inference
Stimulus Breakdown:
CAUSAL: Small cages are abnormal and harmful for mice.
CONDITIONAL: If an animal's environment is abnormal, the reliability of research on them is diminished.
Answer Anticipation:
Inference questions want us to combine ideas in order to derive something else, typically using CONDITIONAL, CAUSAL, QUANTITATIVE, or CONTRAST language.
We know that the lab mice's environment is not normal, so we can apply the conditional and infer that the reliability of research on these lab mice will be diminished.
Correct Answer:
C
Answer Choice Analysis:
(A) We have no way of judging the near future from the info provided.
(B) There was no talk about whether this is appropriate or not. That's OUR moral baggage as we read it.
(C) YES, this is close to our prephrase: we know that research on these mice will be diminished (i.e. compromised).
(D) We have no way to use this info to prove that IN THE FUTURE, they WILL develop something new.
(E) We have no way to judge the specific above-50% quantity of "usually".
Takeaway/Pattern: When we read Inference, we want to actively think about whether any ideas can be combined to derive some other idea.
#officialexplanation