MCAT (Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills ) 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A passage argues that the peer review system in science, while imperfect, remains the best available mechanism for quality control. The author's attitude toward peer review is best described as:
- Uncritically enthusiastic and without reservation
- Skeptical and calling for its replacement with open review
- Qualified endorsement that acknowledges flaws while defending its utility (Correct answer)
- Neutral and descriptive without taking a position
Correct answer: Qualified endorsement that acknowledges flaws while defending its utility
Phrases like 'while imperfect, remains the best' signal qualified endorsement: the author sees flaws but still defends the system's value.
Question 2: An economist's passage claims that rent control reduces housing supply in the long run. A city planner counters that rent control preserves affordable housing in the short run. These two positions:
- Are mutually exclusive and cannot both be true
- Operate on different time horizons and may both be correct within their own frames (Correct answer)
- Agree that rent control is ultimately beneficial for low-income residents
- Are based on incompatible definitions of 'affordable housing'
Correct answer: Operate on different time horizons and may both be correct within their own frames
The economist addresses long-run supply effects while the planner addresses short-run affordability; both claims can be true simultaneously because they address different time frames.
Question 3: A CARS passage on evolutionary biology states: 'Altruistic behavior in animals poses a challenge to naive interpretations of natural selection.' The word 'naive' as used here most nearly means:
- Childlike and emotionally sincere
- Oversimplified and failing to account for complexity (Correct answer)
- Morally pure and uncorrupted
- Empirically unverified
Correct answer: Oversimplified and failing to account for complexity
In academic prose, 'naive' applied to a theory means it oversimplifies and fails to capture the phenomenon's full complexity.
Question 4: A passage traces how 'progress' changed meaning from a religious concept (divine plan) to a secular concept (scientific advancement) during the Enlightenment. The author's primary purpose is most likely to:
- Argue that religious notions of progress are superior to secular ones
- Show how a key concept's meaning shifts across historical and intellectual contexts (Correct answer)
- Demonstrate that the Enlightenment rejected all religious ideas
- Prove that scientific advancement is the only valid form of progress
Correct answer: Show how a key concept's meaning shifts across historical and intellectual contexts
Tracing semantic shifts over historical periods is a classic humanities method for showing how ideas are culturally and historically constructed.
Question 5: A CARS passage presents an argument that ends with: 'For these reasons, the conclusion seems inescapable.' The phrase 'seems inescapable' is best interpreted as:
- A confident assertion that no reasonable person could disagree
- A hedged claim that the author believes the argument is strong but implicitly acknowledges possible objections (Correct answer)
- An invitation for the reader to reach their own independent conclusion
- A sign that the author is uncertain about the argument's validity
Correct answer: A hedged claim that the author believes the argument is strong but implicitly acknowledges possible objections
'Seems' is a hedging word that qualifies the claim, signaling the author finds the conclusion very compelling while leaving slight room for alternative views.
Question 6: A passage about legal philosophy argues that laws derive legitimacy from social consensus rather than from natural law or divine authority. A question asks which scenario would most challenge this view. The best answer is:
- A democratic majority passes a law later found to violate individual rights (Correct answer)
- A legislature debates a bill for several months before passing it
- International human rights agreements are ratified by most nations
- Citizens regularly follow laws even when they disagree with them
Correct answer: A democratic majority passes a law later found to violate individual rights
If a law emerges from social consensus yet violates rights, it challenges the idea that consensus alone is sufficient for legitimacy—suggesting laws may need an external standard beyond mere agreement.
Question 7: During a timed CARS section, a student reads a passage but finds the main argument unclear after the first read-through. The most effective strategy is to:
- Re-read the entire passage from the beginning before attempting any questions
- Skip all questions for that passage and return at the end of the section
- Use the questions themselves to identify what aspects of the passage are most important, then re-read targeted sections (Correct answer)
- Answer all questions based on general knowledge of the topic
Correct answer: Use the questions themselves to identify what aspects of the passage are most important, then re-read targeted sections
CARS questions highlight what the test-makers consider most important; using them to guide targeted re-reading is more efficient than a full second read under time pressure.
MCAT (Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills ) 5
A passage argues that the peer review system in science, while imperfect, remains the best available mechanism for quality control.
The author's attitude toward peer review is best described as: