MCAT Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills Question 58: Answer and Explanation

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Test Information

Question: 58

6. Which of the following would be most analogous to the centrist approach, as it is described in the passage?

  • A. A physicist who seeks to reconcile two competing theories by finding a middle ground that incorporates aspects of both
  • B. A physicist who draws on a new field of theoretical mathematics in order to address a longstanding dispute within the field
  • C. A physicist who delineates three distinct approaches to solving a problem and evaluates their relative strengths and weaknesses
  • D. A physicist who suggests that a significant experimental discrepancy can be addressed without major reworking of present theories

Correct Answer: D

Explanation:

D This is an Analogy question.

Note: The correct answer will be the one that is most logically similar to the centrist view or approach. In the passage, the author states that according to the centrists, "the act takes limited steps to ameliorate specific and concrete inequities" (paragraph 4), that "Big questions such as "What is fair minority representation?" never need to be asked because judges and other federal officials are simply correcting what is obviously wrong given the specific facts at hand" (paragraph 4), and that "We will do just fine if the country and the courts continue to muddle through the issue of minority representation a case at a time" (paragraph 5).

A: No. This choice is immediately attractive because it mentions a middle ground. However, the centrists aren't trying to get the progressives and conservatives to come to some new agreement through compromise. Rather, the centrists argue that there is already basic agreement or mutual understanding on what is fair, and it's just a practical issue of how to achieve that in particular cases.

B: No. The centrists do make use of any new theory or outside discipline.

C: No. Although the passage delineates three positions, the question asks for an analogy to the approach of the centrists, not of author of the passage.

D: Yes. This choice is analogous to the author's description of the centrists as seeking to focus on a case by case approach that does not require engaging deep theoretical questions.

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