PrepTest 141, Section 4, 3. Moore: Sunscreen lotions…

How will the right answer fit in terms of support and conclusion?

Only the right answer will accurately describe the support and conclusion in the passage, along with being the only one that accurately describes a flaw.

Highlight the main conclusion in the passage, if there is one:

Sunscreen lotions…do not do so effectively.

Moore: [CONCLUSION]. Many scientific studies have shown that [SUPPORT].

The scientific studies used as support here make a comparison between “people who have consistently” used sunscreen and those who “rarely, if ever, used them.” The conclusion isn’t about any of these people, it’s only about sunscreen. So probably there’s something about the people in the studies that explains the results more than sunscreen not working.

Map the wording of the answers to the wording of the passage:

(A) …there are no other possible health benefits of using sunscreen…

This is bringing a totally new subject, when the conclusion is only about whether sunscreen blocks UV radiation. The argument isn’t taking this “for granted”.

(B) …the severity of those cases…

This is a little tricky. If we were told the sunscreen users get far less serious cancers than the non-users, that could blow up this argument. But the author says sunscreen doesn’t “block” radiation effectively. They don’t talk about screening enough out to reduce the chance of really bad cancer. I might not eliminate this right away, but I’d hope for something that maps better to wording the author actually used.

(C) …that are not specifically designed to block skin-cancer-causing…

These aren’t the sunscreens the author makes a conclusion about, and they aren’t mentioned in the passage at all. This answer is changing the subject.

(D) …would be impossible to challenge

What would make it impossible to challenge? Did you hear the author use any wording that strong? This is not an accurate description of the passage we just read.

(E) …people who consistently use sunscreen lotions spend more time in the sun…

Finally, an answer about the people in the study. Would time spent in the sun maybe be just as relevant to who gets skin cancer as using sunscreen is? For sure. From a competitive standpoint, it’s more important to recognize this is the only answer that makes the same comparison the argument makes. Winner.

(E) is the correct answer.

Common pattern/s in this question: It’s no surprise that we saw the author use a comparison in the argument, and the same comparison was made in the right answer.