Q20

[jimmy902o]

I am having a tough time trying to figure out why B is a better answer than D. I fee like both could apply the the argument in the last paragraph. Thanks for the help!

[ohthatpatrick]

Yeah, analogy questions are the worst, aren't they?

We have to hope the abstract model we extract from the passage is not too precise nor too vague to only match with one answer.

Here's what I'd be taking from the last paragraph:
- there's a new theory about how oil is created (abiogenically)
- based on that theory, people are now looking for oil where they never would have looked before (the inorganic granite of the Siljan Ring)

(B) matches that pretty well. A new theory about how black holes are created is causing people to look for black holes where they never would have looked before.

(D) is definitely the 2nd best option because it involves the general idea of "a new theory is causing people to do new things".

But it doesn't match up as specifically. The new theory about photosynthesis isn't necessarily about "how photosynthesis is created". And exploring new functions of the cell membrane isn't a tight fit for "looking in places we've never looked before".

If the Swedes were trying different techniques with their existing oil wells, that would be more like what (D) is describing. But since the Swedes are really hunting for undiscovered oil in places that no one's ever considered, (B) is a stronger match.

I think the 1st half of most of these answers would be interchangeable ... "there's a new theory" ... so we should primarily be measuring our best choice by how closely the 2nd half corresponds to what the Swedes are doing.

Hope this helps.

[jimmy902o]

Agreed! Analogy questions are the worst!! and inference questions in reading comp to for that matter, always seems like i get a different interpretation than the authors! I dont know why but in LR both seem much easier. O well, i will try to learn from this and not make the same mistake again