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 est15
  • Posts: 94
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#16733
Can you explain why C is correct rather than E? My problem with C was that it didn't sound like a conclusion for the entirety of the passage since the question asks for the conclusion of the final paragraph of the passage. To me, C sounds like it's introducing a last-minute statement. E sounds more like a final concluding sentence that captures what the passage is about. Thanks.
 David Boyle
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#16745
est15 wrote:Can you explain why C is correct rather than E? My problem with C was that it didn't sound like a conclusion for the entirety of the passage since the question asks for the conclusion of the final paragraph of the passage. To me, C sounds like it's introducing a last-minute statement. E sounds more like a final concluding sentence that captures what the passage is about. Thanks.
Hello est15,

Answer C goes best with the last sentence of the stimulus, about reputation. Answer E does sound sort of nice as a conclusion, but that does not mean it goes well with the last sentence of the stimulus. (Besides, "The behavior of participants in the Ultimatum Game sheds light on the question of what constitutes a "fair" division." is maybe a little bit too broad an observation. Actually, answer C says something that is similar to answer E, but in a more narrow, focused, and supportable way.)

Hope this helps,
David
 Oakenshield
  • Posts: 19
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#28822
Hello staff,
I feel so confused about the question stem:which would most logically conclude....
Is it different from "which would logically summarize"? I think the latter one asks us to summarize the whole paragraph (I think E really did it.), whereas the former one asks to find one sentence that can be put at the end of the paragraph (i.e. we have to find a answer choice closely related to the last sentence of the fourth paragraph).
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 Jonathan Evans
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#29019
Hi, Oakenshield,

Excellent question. Actually (E) does not logically summarize the final paragraph. Neither the passage as a whole nor the last paragraph is concerned with discerning "what is fair;" instead the passage addresses the underlying motives that prompt "proposers" and "responders" to act in the manner in which they do. In your hypothetical scenario of a logical summary of the final paragraph, you have to consider what role this paragraph plays in the overall purpose of the passage.

Now with respect to this question ("logically conclude the final paragraph"), to generate a good prephrase for a question that asks you to extrapolate or expand, you also must have a solid grasp of the overall main point/primary purpose of the passage. Your prephrase (1) must follow the "train of thought" from the preceding sentences and (2) relate to the overall main point.

In other words, consider what the author is trying to accomplish. In the passage, the author attempts to explain the behavior of the participants in the experiment by referring to possible evolutionary advantages conferred by their otherwise somewhat inscrutable behavior. The final paragraph addresses how the behavior of the responders relates to this evolutionary advantage; to (1) add to the discussion in the final paragraph and (2) relate it to the main point, you should envisage the missing part of the discussion, i.e. how the behavior of the proposers also fits this model. Thus you arrive at a strong prephrase that matches answer C.
 Rita
  • Posts: 38
  • Joined: Sep 30, 2016
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#29565
Hi,

Could you please explain why D is incorrect? I thought it was the better answer because it looped in the concept of 'self esteem', which was introduced somewhat randomly at the end of the passage. Also, by tying self-esteem and positive reputation back to the idea of evolutionary benefits accrued to people living in small groups, I thought it stayed within the subject matter of the fourth paragraph.

C, by contrast, returned to the topic of the third paragraph, so I thought it was less of a strong conclusion for paragraph four. Could you explain why C is really the better choice?

Thanks,
Rita
 Adam Tyson
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#29568
My problem with answer D, Rita, is that it brings in a new idea that hasn't got any obvious support elsewhere in the passage. What are these other benefits that supposedly flow from high self-esteem and positive reputation? If that was the end of the paragraph (as opposed to the first sentence of a new paragraph), we would be left wondering what these other benefits are, and why the author neglected to tell us more about them. It would be more of a tease than a conclusion, wouldn't it?

Answer C brings up nothing new, but instead ties up a loose end from earlier in the passage, relating the ideas of the last paragraph back to earlier ideas, strengthening the author's claim about the possible evolutionary origin of this type of behavior. That makes it a much tidier way to end the paragraph, and possibly the entire article.

When picking one of these "extended reasoning" answers, be sure that whatever you pick continues the ideas already discussed but doesn't bring up new ones. It must remain in keeping with the main point and tone of the passage as a whole, and should usually relate back to information presented previously in a sensible way, supported by the evidence in the passage.
 Rita
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#29571
Thanks Adam! That makes a lot more sense.

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