I think the stimulus says
magnanimity (good deeds)→white blood increase→benefit immune system
So I chose (E)...
Why is (D) the answer?
I eliminated it because of the phrase "benefitial to...interests".
Thank you
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- tzyc
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Atticus Finch
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Elle Woods
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Re: Q4 - The mind and the immune
Tough question, and i'll admit I don't particularly like (D) either.
However radical increase and consistency are far to strong for us to pick in our answer choice. Thus (D), although it is a little bit of a stretch is the best answer choice.
However radical increase and consistency are far to strong for us to pick in our answer choice. Thus (D), although it is a little bit of a stretch is the best answer choice.
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- nthakka
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Vinny Gambini
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Re: Q4 - The mind and the immune
Tough question!
The argument goes on to talk about the mind and immune system being linked, and how the marrow/spleen works to produce white blood cells, and how the marrow/spleen is connected to the brain. It further states white cell activity is stimulated by good behavior.
(a): It is unsupported that good deeds MUST be unselfish. Maybe you can do good deeds but still gain something out of it, and this can still stimulate your immune system.
(b): we know that the presence of magnanimity produces chemicals which stimulate white cells, but we can't infer anything about a LACK of magnanimity.
(c): I found this answer choice most tempting. Essentially, this has the relationship reversed. We know m.b. causes beneficial chemicals to be produced, but this answer choice implies the opposite. Maybe it is the behavior itself that regulates chemicals, not the chemicals regulating the behavior.
(d): We know magnanimity produces beneficial chemicals, which stimulate white blood cells, which help these cells fight infection. Thus, we can reasonably infer that magnanimity serves to benefit one's interests.
(e): be cautious of words like "radically". This is too strong. Further, we don't know if the number of white cells will be radically INCREASED, just that the white blood cells are STIMULATED by the presence of these chemicals. Maybe the existing cells already in place are becoming stronger/more stimulated, and not increasing numerically. Remember to be flexible, but careful in making unwarranted assumptions.
Thus, (D) is the most supportable and the correct answer.
The argument goes on to talk about the mind and immune system being linked, and how the marrow/spleen works to produce white blood cells, and how the marrow/spleen is connected to the brain. It further states white cell activity is stimulated by good behavior.
(a): It is unsupported that good deeds MUST be unselfish. Maybe you can do good deeds but still gain something out of it, and this can still stimulate your immune system.
(b): we know that the presence of magnanimity produces chemicals which stimulate white cells, but we can't infer anything about a LACK of magnanimity.
(c): I found this answer choice most tempting. Essentially, this has the relationship reversed. We know m.b. causes beneficial chemicals to be produced, but this answer choice implies the opposite. Maybe it is the behavior itself that regulates chemicals, not the chemicals regulating the behavior.
(d): We know magnanimity produces beneficial chemicals, which stimulate white blood cells, which help these cells fight infection. Thus, we can reasonably infer that magnanimity serves to benefit one's interests.
(e): be cautious of words like "radically". This is too strong. Further, we don't know if the number of white cells will be radically INCREASED, just that the white blood cells are STIMULATED by the presence of these chemicals. Maybe the existing cells already in place are becoming stronger/more stimulated, and not increasing numerically. Remember to be flexible, but careful in making unwarranted assumptions.
Thus, (D) is the most supportable and the correct answer.
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- ohthatpatrick
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Atticus Finch
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Re: Q4 - The mind and the immune
Great response!
I'll just add that for Inference questions, such as this, extreme language is often our best friend when it comes to eliminating unlikely answers.
When I scan these answer choices,
(A) "must"
(B) "most"
and
(E) "radically" + if/then structure
are instantly unappealing.
(C) is the most safely, softly worded, but the previous poster correctly noted it goes backwards.
(D) is doing what many correct Inference answers do: it's synthesizing the set of causal relationships described.
Since magnanimity produces beneficial chemicals that stimulate white blood cells, which are needed to fight infection, we can say that magnanimity is beneficial to oneself.
(Naturally, this is not 100% proven, as the information we're given doesn't preclude the possibility that magnanimity has OTHER effects that work against an individual's interests ... but it is true that the statements do SUPPORT what (D) is saying)
I'll just add that for Inference questions, such as this, extreme language is often our best friend when it comes to eliminating unlikely answers.
When I scan these answer choices,
(A) "must"
(B) "most"
and
(E) "radically" + if/then structure
are instantly unappealing.
(C) is the most safely, softly worded, but the previous poster correctly noted it goes backwards.
(D) is doing what many correct Inference answers do: it's synthesizing the set of causal relationships described.
Since magnanimity produces beneficial chemicals that stimulate white blood cells, which are needed to fight infection, we can say that magnanimity is beneficial to oneself.
(Naturally, this is not 100% proven, as the information we're given doesn't preclude the possibility that magnanimity has OTHER effects that work against an individual's interests ... but it is true that the statements do SUPPORT what (D) is saying)
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