PSAT Reading Question 38: Answer and Explanation

Question: 38

Based on information in the passage and in the figure, the mice, in general,

• A. showed an ability to generalize from paintings to art of other media by the same artist.
• B. had a greater appreciation for Picasso than Renoir before the conditioning.
• C. exhibited increased staying times following conditioning with morphine.
• D. were influenced less by the milk reward than by the morphine reward.

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:

C

The question asks for a conclusion about mice, in general, based on information in the passage and in the figure. Since this is a general question, it should be answered after the specific questions. The figure shows data from Experiment 1, and the passage says that Experiment 1 showed that mice stayed longer at paintings that they associated with pleasure from a morphine injection. Eliminate answers that are inconsistent with either the passage or the figure. Choice (A) is a Right Answer, Wrong Question trap answer: it uses words from the description of Experiment 2, but the figure only relates to Experiment 1. Eliminate (A). Eliminate (B) because the figure and the passage both support the idea that the mice did not have a greater appreciation for either Picasso or Renoir before conditioning, which contradicts (B). Keep (C) because the figure and the passage both show that the mice had increased staying times following conditioning with morphine. Eliminate (D) because it is a Right Words, Wrong Meaning trap answer: the passage does not compare the degrees to which milk and morphine influenced the mice's actions. The correct answer is (C).