Q12

[AllyMaeBell]

12. (D)
Question Type: Synthesis (Lines 1-34, 38-48)
This question asks to consider the relationship between passage A and passage B in more abstract language. Our work on question 9 is helpful for this. Answer choice (C) nails the relationship: Passage A is all about honeybees (concerned in its entirety with a phenomenon), while passage B uses the honeybee phenomenon to support a broader argument about symbolic communication (discusses in support of a more general thesis).
(A) is a contradicted interpretation. Passage B actually confirms the conclusion of Passage A.
(B) Unsupported interpretation. Which phenomenon would this be? Passage B gives several examples concerning honeybees.
(D) Out of scope. Passage B does not claim that anything from Passage A cannot be scientifically explained.
(E) Unsupported interpretation. Passage A is not just about the origins of a phenomenon, and passage B certainly does not make anything from Passage A its primary concern.

[irenaj]

Hello AllyMaeBell,

I chose D because I thought Passage A proposes explanation for Bee's communication (by sound), which B cannot explained--B just excludes the possibility of by smell but does not solve the mechanism.

Could you pinpoint where I get wrong? Thanks very much!

[maryadkins]

Passage B is not trying to explain the phenomenon discussed in Passage A. Passage B sets out to discuss a more general thesis and uses the honeybees as an example.

As a general point, you also want to be careful about confusing "cannot explain" as you put it with "argues cannot plausibly be explained." These are different. For (D) to be correct, Passage B would actually have to argue this.

Hope this helps!

[syousif3]

isnt the correct answer C ???

Edit: It is C. I guess it is just a typo by the instructor beside 12 should be C not D, when I saw D I freaked out because I was 100% confident C is the right answer. Thank god it is lol

[HadisA912]

Hello,

I was struggling between A and C, and choose A, as:

Passage A concludes that bee communication is based essentially on sound. Passage B, on the other hand, says it is purely symbolic. That is contradictory. Passage A starts with von Frisch, who believed that a pattern in the dance, which is symbolic, is the main way of communication. However, at the end of A, we know that this is not true, but sound is the essential component.
Passage B never talks about sound, and assumes that the dance and maybe the odor are factors. But the odor is then excluded in the end of Passage B.

So Passage A rejects a position in Passage B, namely, the position that the dance symbolically communicates the information (distance, direction etc), because Passage A says it is mainly the sound.

Now, one could argue that "essentially" doesn't mean 'fully' and thereby, there is no contradiction.
But then, Passage A also says that bees have the ability to effectively communicate even in COMPLETE darkness -> symbolics can't be a decisive factor.

So I had all that in mind, and then chose A, even though I think C is just as correct. C is the more direct and obvious answer, but A is also one in my opinion.

Could you please elaborate?

Thanks

[Annie Levin]

Since you see why C is correct, I won't go into too much detail on that answer. Let's unpack what makes A incorrect:

Answer choice A says "Passage A discusses and rejects a position that is put forth in Passage B." The first thing I want to ask myself in analyzing this answer choice is "what position does Passage A discuss and reject, if any?" The only position that Passage A rejects is that smell is key to honeybee communication, rather than sound. So for answer choice A to be correct, Passage B would need to put forth the position that smell is key to honeybee communication.

Passage B discusses the hypothesis about honeybee communication and smell, but mentions it only to say that it was disproven. So we can't say that the smell theory is "put forth in Passage B". If anything, both passages reject the smell theory of honeybee communication. That's why A is incorrect.

One other thing to note is that "communication based on sound" and "symbolic communication" aren't inherently contradictory. Symbolic communication just means that we're using one thing to represent another thing. The passage talks about vervet alarm calls, and how there is a different alarm call for eagle and for snake. Presumably those alarm calls aren't precisely mimicking the sounds of eagles and snakes--each one is a distinct sound that the vervets have learned to associate with "eagle" and "snake". That is an example of something that is both sound-based AND symbolic at the same time. Those two concepts aren't in opposition.