CR Question

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

I have a question in Critical Reading from the January 2008 Test (Code FFPZ):

Passage 1

Because chimpanzees exhibit behavior so remarkably
similar to some human behavior, scientists observing
them in the wild often develop a degree of empathy
with the individuals being studied. In itself this is
not a bad thing. Subtle communication cues among
chimpanzees are more readily detected and recorded
Once an observer has established this empathy.

However, scientists must guard against the constant
Danger of automatically interpreting what they see as if
chips act from human motivations. Their observations
must be as objective as possible. Intuitive interpretations
may initially be based on an understanding stemming
directly from empathy, but they must be tested after-
ward against the facts set out in the data.

Passage 2

My first day observing a community of forest chim-
panzees showed me a richer and more satisfying world
than I had imagined. I suddenly recognized why I, a non-
scientist, or anyone should care about what happens to
them: not, ultimately, because they use tools and solve
problems and are intellectual beings, but because their
emotions are so obviously similar to ours.

I was moved by the play, the adult male chasing
a toddler round and round a tree, the mother nibbling
her baby’s toes and looking blissful, the three females
playing with and adoring a single infant. They feel!
That was my discovery.

The experience described in Passage 2 most directly suggests that the statement about the “danger” (line 9, Passage 1)
A) accurately assesses the strength of a common human impulse
B) needlessly exaggerates the risks a person faces among wild chimpanzees
C) appropriately warns professionals about the necessity of keeping their research current
D) discourages overly optimistic observers from expecting to make new discoveries
E) fails to consider the consequences of a flawed research methodology

I chose D, but it is A. Anyone know why?

Thanks!

2

Actually the answer is the opposite of D - this experience (somehow) encourages observation.

I picked A too. In the first passage, the author states that observation can be dangerous because it can be distorted by our feelings - so we must keep them as objective as possible. Passage 2 demonstrates how observation became “dangerous” by succumbing to feelings. This experience exactly shows the danger described in passage 1.

By common human impulse, they meant that our capricious emotions interferred with our observations. So yes, passage 2 does present a perfect example of this assertion.

(let me know if I don’t really make sense)

3

@BethanyD But in Passage 2, the author never implies that his observation became “dangerous”…

4

But in passage 2, the author became subjective more than objective because he or she linked what the chimps do to human thinking… and that is precisely the “danger”" described in passage 1. (not being objective)

5

Yeah agreed, and D does not reflect views of passage 1. author of passage 1 does not try to discourage but admonish that their observation should be as objective as possible.

6

Choice D has many flaws but nothing in Passage 2 even remotely implies that the author was “discouraged”.