Critical Reasoning

Geneticist Barbara McClintock's work showed that genes could transpose within
chromosomes-that they could move around (the so-called jumping genes). McClintock
discovered this through careful hybridization during her investigation of maize (corn)
genetics. Her work with genetics, which began in the 1920s, came about twenty years
after the rediscovery of Gregor Mendel's principles of heredity, at a time when
acceptance of those general principles was not widespread. Thus, the reason that her
theory-which to some seems to have been simply ignored when it first appeared-was not
widely adopted is that it was simply too advanced for many geneticists to accept at
the time.

Which of the following would it be most useful to establish in order to evaluate the
conclusion of the argument above?

A. Whether McClintock's research was widely available to other geneticists at the time of
its completion
B. What events led to the rediscovery of Mendel's principles of heredity
C. Whether McClintock's work is now considered more advanced than Mendel's principles
of heredity
D. How Mendel's principles of heredity were received by the scientific community when
Mendel first developed them
E. Who the people are that think McClintock's work seems to have been ignored when it
first appeared


OA after discussions.

re-read the argument..not sure but i'd go with A here.

What's the source and OA?

imo A, though i would like to know the source (probably not a good source)

b,c,e - clearly knocked out, irrelevant
d - mendel's principle is not related to McClintock's & so is their acceptance

gmatdriller wrote:Geneticist Barbara McClintock's work showed that genes could transpose within
chromosomes-that they could move around (the so-called jumping genes). McClintock
discovered this through careful hybridization during her investigation of maize (corn)
genetics. Her work with genetics, which began in the 1920s, came about twenty years
after the rediscovery of Gregor Mendel's principles of heredity, at a time when
acceptance of those general principles was not widespread. Thus, the reason that her
theory-which to some seems to have been simply ignored when it first appeared-was not
widely adopted is that it was simply too advanced for many geneticists to accept at
the time.

Which of the following would it be most useful to establish in order to evaluate the
conclusion of the argument above?

A. Whether McClintock's research was widely available to other geneticists at the time of
its completion
B. What events led to the rediscovery of Mendel's principles of heredity
C. Whether McClintock's work is now considered more advanced than Mendel's principles
of heredity
D. How Mendel's principles of heredity were received by the scientific community when
Mendel first developed them
E. Who the people are that think McClintock's work seems to have been ignored when it
first appeared

Premise: When it first appeared, McClintock's theory was NOT WIDELY ADOPTED.
Conclusion: Her theory was TOO ADVANCED for many geneticists to accept at the time.

For EVALUATE questions, it can be helpful to rephrase the answer choices as STRONGLY NEGATIVE statements.
The rephrase of the correct answer choice will WEAKEN the link between the premise and the conclusion.

Answer choice A, rephrased as a strongly negative statement:
McClintock's research WAS NOT WIDELY AVAILABLE to other geneticists at the time of
its completion.
If McClintock's research was not widely available, then the conclusion that her research was not widely adopted because it was TOO ADVANCED is weakened.

The correct answer is A.