Bunuel wrote:
Sarrin monks practice the Pran meditation technique only when extremely damaging weather conditions confront the farming villages surrounding Sarrin monasteries. Pran meditation is a more highly disciplined form of the ritual meditation that the monks practice daily, and involves unique practices such as isolation and fasting.
Which of the statements below does NOT follow logically from the passage above?
(A) Some meditation practices are less disciplined than Pran meditation.
(B) Pran meditation among Sarrin monks does not take place according to a precisely regulated schedule.
(C) The ritual meditation that a typical Sarrin monk practices daily does not take place in an atmosphere of isolation.
(D) Monks practice some types of meditation in response to threats faced by the local population.
(E) The ritual meditation that Sarrin monks practice daily is largely undisciplined.
KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:
Here's our "Odd-Man-Out" example, and since we need to find the one statement that isn't inferred, we should keep careful track of the boundaries around the argument. That way we'll be better prepared to spot what isn't there. The author begins by noting that the Sarrin monks use Pran meditation only in cases of severe weather. The author then explains the differences between Pran meditation and ritual meditation. Understanding the differences will likely be key to getting this question right. Pran meditation is different from ritual meditation because it's more highly disciplined and uniquely involves isolation and fasting. Thus there are three specific ways in which Pran meditation is different from ritual meditation. Let's go to the choices.
(A) The author states that Pran meditation is more disciplined than ritual meditation, so (A) must be true. Since we have one example of a less disciplined form of meditation, we can rightfully infer that some practices are less disciplined.
An 800 test taker understands that on the GMAT, the word some strictly means "one or more."
(B) The monks practice Pran meditation only when there's severe weather and, since weather isn't precisely scheduled, then Pran meditation must not be precisely scheduled either. Sure, that's an inference.
(C) If Pran meditation involves the unique practice of isolation, then no other meditation, including ritual meditation, involves isolation. This is therefore also inferable from the passage.
(D) Some means "one or more," so since the monks practice Pran meditation in response to local weather threats, then some types of meditation do in fact exist as a response to local threats.
(E) is correct because, even though the author implies that ritual meditation is less disciplined than Pran meditation, that doesn't mean that it's UNdisciplined. (E) takes us beyond what the passage supports, so it's not a valid inference and is therefore the correct answer here.
An 800 test taker has a keen eye and ear for distortions of the passage text
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