In 2006, after being declared missing for three weeks, a Japanese man

Question

In 2006, after being declared missing for three weeks, a Japanese man was discovered asleep in the snow in a state similar to hibernation. In animals, hibernation is characterized by slower breathing, lower body temperature, and a slower metabolism. Although humans do not normally hibernate, the doctors who treated the man hypothesized that he had entered a state of hibernation.

Which of the following, if it could be carried out, would be most useful in an evaluation of the above hypothesis?

Which of the following, if it could be carried out, would be most useful in an evaluation of the above hypothesis?

A. Verifying all details in the man's ID card

B. Checking the man's breathing, body temperature, and metabolism before he wakes up

C. Finding out whether the man is part of an experiment

D. Doing a practical test with another subject to assess the possibility of human hibernation

E. Researching the man's background to check the possibility that he was raised by animals

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

In 2006, after being declared missing for three weeks, a Japanese man was discovered asleep in the snow in a state similar to hibernation. In animals, hibernation is characterized by slower breathing, lower body temperature, and a slower metabolism. Although humans do not normally hibernate, the doctors who treated the man hypothesized that he had entered a state of hibernation.

Which of the following, if it could be carried out, would be most useful in an evaluation of the above hypothesis?

Which of the following, if it could be carried out, would be most useful in an evaluation of the above hypothesis?

A. Verifying all details in the man's ID card

Incorrect.

In this variation of Investigation questions, you are required to find which method of investigation will be most useful in evaluating the doctors' conclusion. To do so, first break down the argument. The first two sentences are premises that relate the history of events that took place. The last sentence uses the conclusion word hypothesized that, identifying it as the conclusion:

Premise A: for 3 weeks a man had been sleeping in the snow
 +
Premise B: hibernation is characterized by slow breathing, low body temperature and a slow metabolism
 =
Doctors' Hypothesis: the man was hibernating

Relevant Investigation: ?

The correct answer is a method of investigation which could support or weaken the conclusion depending on its outcome, i.e., an investigation that tests the most crucial factor.

In this question, we are asked to find a test which will reveal whether the Japanese man hibernated. Since ID cards do not indicate whether someone has hibernated for three weeks, checking the man's ID will not do.

B. Checking the man's breathing, body temperature, and metabolism before he wakes up

Since hibernation, according to the definition in the argument, is characterized by slower breathing, lower body temperature and a slower metabolism, checking these parameters in the sleeping man will indicate whether he is indeed hibernating.

C. Finding out whether the man is part of an experiment

Incorrect.

In this variation of Investigation questions, you are required to find which method of investigation will be most useful in evaluating the doctors' conclusion. To do so, first break down the argument. The first two sentences are premises that relate the history of events that took place. The last sentence uses the conclusion word hypothesized that, identifying it as the conclusion:

Premise A: for 3 weeks a man had been sleeping in the snow
 +
Premise B: hibernation is characterized by slow breathing, low body temperature and a slow metabolism
 =
Doctors' Hypothesis: the man was hibernating

Relevant Investigation: ?

The correct answer is a method of investigation which could support or weaken the conclusion depending on its outcome, i.e., an investigation that tests the most crucial factor.

Whether the man was part of an experiment does not eliminate or confirm the possibility that he was in a state of hibernation. Therefore, this is not a suitable factor for checking for hibernation.

D. Doing a practical test with another subject to assess the possibility of human hibernation

Incorrect.

We are asked to find a test which will reveal whether the Japanese man hibernated. Whether another person manages to hibernate is irrelevant as it will not tell us anything about the Japanese man in the question.

E. Researching the man's background to check the possibility that he was raised by animals

Incorrect.

Merely being raised by animals does not necessarily mean one can hibernate. Furthermore, it does not indicate whether the Japanese man was hibernating when he was found in 2006.

sumitkrocks · Answer

Option (B) is the logical way to verify whether man is alive and is possibly in the state of hibernation

errorlogger · Answer

Which of the following, if it could be carried out, would be most useful in an evaluation of the above hypothesis?

hibernation is characterized by slower breathing, lower body temperature, and a slower metabolism. 
- If we can get these details, we can confirm that the body had went into the state of hibernation!
A. Verifying all details in the man's ID card
 This doesn't help us understand if the body went into the state of hibernation!

B. Checking the man's breathing, body temperature, and metabolism before he wakes up
 Yes, this is exactly what we were looking for. Since, these are the parameters that confirm if a body is in state of hibernation or not. Knowing this piece of information is critical!

C. Finding out whether the man is part of an experiment
 Irrelevant!

D. Doing a practical test with another subject to assess the possibility of human hibernation
 We are not concerned about any other body but the person's body in concern!

E. Researching the man's background to check the possibility that he was raised by animals
 This will help us understand if humans hibernate or not but not if the body went into hibernation or not! 
IMO B

winterschool · Answer

In 2006, after being declared missing for three weeks, a Japanese man was discovered asleep in the snow in a state similar to hibernation. In animals, hibernation is characterized by slower breathing, lower body temperature, and a slower metabolism. Although humans do not normally hibernate, the doctors who treated the man hypothesized that he had entered a state of hibernation.

Which of the following, if it could be carried out, would be most useful in an evaluation of the above hypothesis?

Which of the following, if it could be carried out, would be most useful in an evaluation of the above hypothesis?

A. Verifying all details in the man's ID card  Incorrect

not related with hibernation process

B.  Checking the man's breathing, body temperature, and metabolism before he wakes up   Correct

after checking these requirements , can say whether the man was in hibernation or not

C. Finding out whether the man is part of an experiment  Irrelevant

that is not a fact

D. Doing a practical test with another subject to assess the possibility of human hibernation  Incorrect

this choice talks about possibility of hibernation, but doctor already hypothesized the man was in hibernation state

E. Researching the man's background to check the possibility that he was raised by animals  Irrelevant

kantapong · Answer

Just being similar does not mean it is so.
According to definition of hibernation, temperature bla bla bla, the correct answer is B

IanStewart · Answer

The first sentence of the stem would make a good SC question; it sounds like they declared for three weeks that the person was missing, but they mean to say that they declared that the person had gone missing three weeks earlier.

There's no way to answer this question without knowing what the stem is saying, and I have no idea what they mean when they say the man was "discovered in a state similar to hibernation". The only thing we know about hibernation, from the stem, is that it is characterized by slower breathing, lower body temperature, and a slower metabolism. When the person was found in a "state similar to hibernation", what does that mean? I can only conclude that his breathing was slower than normal, his body temperature was lower than normal, and his metabolism was slower than normal. There's nothing else "the man was discovered... in a state similar to hibernation" could mean, from the information in the stem. And if that's true, answer B is useless to us, because we must already know about his temperature, breathing and metabolism if we know he was in a hibernation-like state. Answer B essentially just restates a premise, so it wouldn't give us new information that would help us establish the conclusion.

The only answer I find justifiable here is D. It's also unclear to me what the stem means when it says "humans don't normally hibernate". If by that they mean "it is unknown if humans are capable of hibernating" (or if they mean what is actually true in reality, that there is no evidence that humans can hibernate), then answer D becomes a good answer. We have two competing hypotheses upon discovering this person in the snow. Maybe he was genuinely hibernating for a few weeks, or maybe he was just asleep. If we learned by experimenting on other people that humans were incapable of hibernating, then that would make it very unlikely this person was, because hibernating is one of those things that a whole species either does or doesn't do. But if we learned by experimenting that people can indeed hibernate, then that would mean that the hypothesis that this person was at least has a chance of being true.

The writing in the stem isn't clear enough for any one answer to be clearly correct, in any case. I found the original source of the question online, and the source claims the answer is B, but the logic of the "official explanation" is wrong (it ignores one of the central premises of the stem), so I don't think the question makes sense.

vinnymittal · Answer

Since the doctor hypothesized that the man is indeed hibernating, isn't he supposedly have checked for those symptoms of breathing, temperature, etc. ? I still don't understand 'B' as the answer.

VerbalBot · Answer

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In 2006, after being declared missing for three weeks, a Japanese man

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In 2006, after being declared missing for three weeks, a Japanese man

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