The most casual observer of Nature recognizes in almost every instance

Question

New Project RC Butler 2019  -  Practice 2 RC Passages Everyday   
Passage # 31, Date : 16-FEB-2019
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The most casual observer of Nature recognizes in almost every instance that comes under his notice in everyday life, without the aid of logical definition, the broad distinctions between an animal, a plant, and a stone or mineral. To him, the old definition that an animal is possessed of life and locomotion, a plant of life without locomotion, and a mineral deficient in both, seems to be sufficient, until some day he travels beyond the circuit of diurnal routine, and encounters a sponge or a zoophyte, which possesses only one of his supposed attributes of animal life, but which he is assured is nevertheless a member of the animal kingdom.

Such an encounter usually perplexes the neophyte at first, but rather than confess his generalizations to have been too gross, he will tenaciously contend that the sponge must be a plant, until the evidence produced is so strong that he is compelled to desert his position and seek refuge in the declaration that one kingdom runs into the other so imperceptibly that no line of demarcation can be drawn between them. Between these two extremes of broad distinction, and no distinction, lies the ground occupied by the scientific student, who, whilst admitting that logical definition fails ¡n assigning briefly and tersely the bounds of the three kingdoms, contends that such limits exist so positively, that the universal scientific mind accepts the recognized limit without controversy or contradiction.   1 
 B 
 1. What is the primary purpose of the first paragraph of the passage?

(A) To explain the differences between animals, plants and minerals
(B) To introduce an exception to acknowledged characteristics of animals, plants and minerals
(C) To conclude how neophytes can, at times, be wrong in their perceptions
(D) To clarify to the common man the characteristics of a sponge and a zoophyte
(E) To redefine the old broad distinctions between animals, plants and stones

2 
 B 
 2. The author would most probably agree with each of the following about neophytes  EXCEPT

(A) They are generally unaware that exceptions exist
(B) When presented with proof, they are open to acceptance
(C) They generally do not travel outside their daily routine
(D) They justify their position vehemently
(E) They do not agree with the scientific student

3 
 B 
 3. According to the passage, which of the following is most probably true of a zoophyte?

(A) It is capable of movement
(B) It is a living being
(C) It is capable of movement and is also a living being
(D) It does not contain chlorophyll as plants do
(E) It is not an animal

Aristotle Reading Comprehension Grail 2017, Passage #55

Sajjad1994 · Accepted Answer

Official Explanation

Topic

Classification of Species

Scope

The conformation of all species to the general perception about those species

Passage Map

P1 –  To state that there are certain species of animals that may not conform to our general perception of animals
 P2 –  To explain how the mindset of a scientific student is different from that of a neophyte or an amateur

1. What is the primary purpose of the first paragraph of the passage?

Explanation:

The passage starts by delineating accepted beliefs about the characteristics of plants, animals, and mineral. It then talks about a normal person’s perception of them and how it changes when confronted with an exception to his long-held beliefs. Hence,   (B) is the correct answer.

(A)  The differences have been mentioned to outline the belief of the common man. No attempt is done to elaborate on it.
 (C)  Neophytes are mentioned in the second paragraph and not in the first.
 (D)  While this is mentioned in the paragraph, the primary purpose of the paragraph is to do much more than just this.
 (E)  The old distinctions still stand—the paragraph is merely bringing to light a few exceptions they harbor.

2. The author would most probably agree with each of the following about neophytes EXCEPT

Explanation:

Words/phrases such as  ‘tenaciously’ ,  ‘compelled to desert his position’ , and  ‘seek refuge in the declaration’  lead to an inference of resistance to
the acceptance of ideas. Hence,   (B) is the correct answer.

A  and  C  can be inferred from  para 1  where the common man finds himself out of his comfort zone when confronted with an exception.  D  and  E  can be inferred from  para 2

3. According to the passage, which of the following is most probably NOT true of a zoophyte?

Explanation:

The passage states that animals possess two attributes—life and locomotion. It further states that a sponge or a zoophyte possesses only one of these attributes. Then, this attribute must be life because it would be a little absurd to assume that zoophytes are capable of movement but do not possess life. Hence,   (B) is the correct answer.

(A)  This implies that zoophytes do not possess life, which doesn’t make sense.
 (C)  The passage clearly states that zoophytes possess only one of these two attributes.
 (D)  The passage never mentions chlorophyll.
 (E)  Opposite. According to the passage, zoophyte is an animal.

Skyline393  Let me know if you have any doubt.

Hope it Helps

pankajpaliitkgp · Answer

2. The author would most probably agree with each of the following about neophytes EXCEPT

(A) They are generally unaware that exceptions exist
 : yes, they are unaware mentioned in first paragraph. 
(B) When presented with proof, they are open to acceptance
 : in sencond para first line, it mentions that they will say it's plant while earlier they were saying it animal. use of "tenaciously contend" makes it clear that they don't want to listen any argument. Right answer. 
(C) They generally do not travel outside their daily routine
 :mentioned in first para, they come to know about reality only when they travel. Means they don't generally. 
(D) They justify their position vehemently
 :somebody else need to explain. 
(E) They do not agree with the scientific student
 :Off course they don't agree across two paragraphs.

pankajpaliitkgp · Answer

3. According to the passage, which of the following is most probably NOT true of a zoophyte?

(A) It is capable of movement
 :Yes, "a zoophyte, which possesses only one of his supposed attributes of animal life," suggests that zoophyte is animal and defnition of it "animal is possessed of life and locomotion" means it can move. 
(B) It is a living being
 :nowhere ,passage has talked about living being. But, it's common sense to consider an animal and plant or in between these two a living being. Can, please, some one explain why it is the answer. 
(C) It is capable of movement and is also a living being
 :For me A and B is true then this should be true as well. 
(D) It does not contain chlorophyll as plants do
 :Passage has nowhere mentioned about this. This seems right answer to me. 
(E) It is not an animal
 :Passage has cleared that it's something between animal and plant. So, we can't define it. So, statement hold true.

anmit123 · Answer

Q1-
A could be correct, keep it for now  (remember,do not take it as final answer until you have evaluated all answer choices) 
B a much better answer choice because the para first defines animal,plant and mineral, and later talks about the exception.Keep it and eliminate A.
C,D and E are irrelevant.

Ans:B

Q2-
A is wrong becuase they do know there are exceptions.
C,D,E are completely irrelevant.
Only B remains,so it is the answer. (If there was a better answer choice, I would not have gone with B because the passage says-'until the evidence produced is so strong that he is compelled to desert his position and seek refuge in the declaration that one kingdom runs into the other so imperceptibly that no line of demarcation can be drawn between them.' so there is atleast some degree of acceptance, but B is still the best answer choice among given options.

Ans:B

Q3-
D is irrelevant
E is wrong,it belongs to animal kingdom
C is wrong because it has only 1 characteristic-either living or movement

Between A and B, I am confused.

Passage says- 'encounters a sponge or a zoophyte, which possesses only one of his supposed attributes of animal life, but which he is assured is nevertheless a member of the animal kingdom.'

Next para- 'he will tenaciously contend that the sponge must be a plant,'

this seems contradictory, so not sure.

pankajpaliitkgp · Answer

Thanks for explanation,
I've doubt on question#3 as you made cleared that zoophytes have life, but not able to move. Thus,
(A) It is capable of movement .  NOT TRUE 
(B) It is a living being.  TRUE 
(C) It is capable of movement and is also a living being.  NOT TRUE 
(D) It does not contain chlorophyll as plants do.  CAN'T SAY TRUE OR NOT TRUE 
(E) It is not an animal.  TRUE

So, shouldn't answer be either A or C, as it is asking for "NOT TRUE"? I'm confuse.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hello

pankajpaliitkgp , 
 anmit123 , 
 Skyline393

I have read the passage twice collect my thought and logics then attempted question number three and was able to eliminate

(A) It is capable of movement  - It means that it has two qualities 1.  Life  and 2.  Locomotion , passage suggests that it has only one of those two. So it is a suspect - Keep it.
 
  (B) It is a living being   - If it is a living being it  MUST  Posses one of two qualities mentioned in the passage and one surely is Life. It could be a Plant so eliminate it.

(C) It is capable of movement and is also a living being  - Same as A if it has both the qualities it must be an Animal. And this is not supported by passage. Unable to eliminate it

(D) It does not contain chlorophyll as plants do   - It is neither mentioned nor inferred from the passage - So couldn't say anything about it.

(E) It is not an animal   - If it is not an animal then it could be a Plant or mineral or nothing - This is out of the race

Only debatable options are A and C. I have verified Question stem also there is no typo.

If we remove the word NOT from question stem then B is perfect answer  .

I will request to  generis  to for his insights

Thanks

generis · Answer

SajjadAhmad , Question #3 definitely has a typo. Your reasoning is sound. The OE says that B is the answer. Two notes: (1) agreed, (B) is the answer if "not" is removed; and (2) if "not" is left in, (B) is not correct and two other answers are possible, as you note. I would remove the word "not" from Question #3. That word must be a typo. Good detective work!

Please see my post immediately below.

generis · Answer

The official explanation for Question #3:

Fair enough, from a logical standpoint. 
But we are looking for premises or information  from the passage  that will support the correct answer.
Although the OE gives textual support for the correct answer,
I am not convinced that the OE gives textual support for eliminating the other answers.

In Verbal, our job is to eliminate four incorrect answers, not to find one correct answer.

I have approached the text of the passage differently.
 
The layperson rejects "zoophyte = animal" and insists that "zoophyte = plant"
because for him, while both animals and plants possess life, animals move. Plants do not move.

From the lines below  we can draw the inference* 
that yields the answer for this amended Question #3—
 According to the passage, which of the following is most probably true of a zoophyte?

a sponge or a zoophyte, 
which possesses only one of his supposed attributes of animal life, 
but which he is assured is nevertheless a member of the animal kingdom.

Such an encounter usually perplexes the neophyte at first, but . . . 
he will tenaciously contend that the sponge must be a plant, 
until the evidence produced is so strong that he is compelled to desert his position 
 . . .

WHY does he insist that a zoophyte is a plant?
He observes the zoophyte. He may be wrong about the classification, but he can see.

According to his definition, a plant possesses life but not locomotion.

If he insists that the zoophyte is a plant, then the zoophyte must fit his definition of plant: 
the zoophyte  is alive but does not move .

He rejects the classification of the zoophyte as an animal, because for him, 
an animal is something that is alive and that moves.

The zoophyte that he observes must be alive but not able to move (fits his definition of plant).
And for him, the zoophyte is not an animal because if it were an animal, it would move.

3. According to the passage, which of the following is most probably true of a zoophyte?

A) It is capable of movement. 
No. He insists that the zoophyte is a plant. For him, plants do not move. 
He has observed the zoophyte. He is wrong about the classification, but his eyes can see.
If it were capable of movement, he would immediately accept the classification of zoophyte as "animal." He does not do so.

B) is a living being 
Yes. 
 He  insists that the zoophyte is a plant, which he understands to mean: 
a  living  being that does not move.

He is told that the zoophyte is an animal, which he understands to mean:
a  living  being that does move.

He must be insisting that the zoophyte is a plant 
because although alive, the zoophyte does not move. The zoophyte is alive.

C) It is capable of movement and is also a living being. 
No. If the zoophyte were both moving and alive, he would happily accept its
classification as an animal (for him, animal = alive and moving). 
The zoophyte is  not  both alive and moving.

(D) It does not contain chlorophyll as plants do 
No. Laughably off-topic. Chlorophyll is never mentioned.

(E) It is not an animal 
No. The layperson is told that the zoophyte is an animal.
Evidence supports that fact, to the point that the layperson gets frustrated. 
The zoophyte  IS  an animal.

If Question 3 is amended, the correct answer is B.

*Finding premises in the passage
 From the passage , what do we know about zoophytes?
We have step-by-step information from which we can draw inferences to answer Question #3.

• The layperson believes that an animal both possesses life and has locomotion (movement).

• The layperson believes that a plan possesses life but not locomotion (movement)

• The layperson is confused when he encounters a sponge, which is a type of zoophyte.

• He is confused because he is told that a zoophyte is an animal.

• He refuses to believe that the zoophyte is an animal.

• He insists that the zoophyte is a plant  . Why?
-- For him, the definition of a plant is something that possesses life but does not move (does not possess locomotion).

INFERENCE: he insists that the zoophyte is a plant because  the zoophyte fits his definition of a plant. 
More specifically, we can infer that the zoophyte is alive but the zoophyte does not move.

Stated differently: This zoophyte thing that he observes? He insists that it is a plant, which he believes possesses life but does not move.
Because he defines the zoophyte as a plant, 
we can infer: he can see that the zoophyte possesses life but does not possess locomotion.

Those qualities are what he sees, regardless of whether he is correct about the category.
The correct inference (what is "most true" about the zoophyte) that can be drawn from the text comes from this info in the passage.

Kritisood · Answer

SajjadAhmad   generis  hi

For ques 2:

the para says "until the evidence produced is so strong that he is compelled to desert his position"
doesn't this go to say that when the evidence is presented they do accept it? then how is B correct for question 2?

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The most casual observer of Nature recognizes in almost every instance

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The most casual observer of Nature recognizes in almost every instance

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