Question

Which of the following conditions, if true, would invalidate the passage’s main argument?

• A. If top-scorers possessed multidisciplinary knowledge that enabled them to look at a problem from several perspectives.
• B. If assessment tests were made more extensive and rigorous.
• C. If it were proven that teams characterised by diversity end up being conflicted about problems and take a long time to arrive at a solution.
• D. If a new machine-learning algorithm were developed that proved to be more effective than the random decision forest.
• A. an ideal team comprises of best individuals from diverse fields of knowledge.
• B. modern problems are multifaceted and require varied skill-sets to be solved.
• C. criteria designed to assess merit are insufficient to test expertise in any field of knowledge.
• D. diversity and context-specificity are important for making major advances in any field.
• A. If a large number of decision trees in the ensemble were trained on data derived from easy cases.
• B. If the types of decision trees in each ensemble of the forest were doubled.
• C. If a large number of decision trees in the ensemble were trained on data derived from easy and hard cases.
• D. If the types of ensembles of decision trees in the forest were doubled.
• A. A team comprised of nutritionists, psychologists, urban planners and media personnel, who have each scored a distinction in their respective subject tests.
• B. A team comprised of nutritionists, psychologists, urban planners and media personnel, who have each performed well in their respective subject tests.
• C. A specialised team of nutritionists from various countries, who are also trained in the machine-learning algorithm of random decision forest.
• D. A specialised team of top nutritionists from various countries, who also possess some knowledge of psychology.
• A. Unlike other fields of knowledge, neuroscience is an exceptionally complex field, making a meaningful assessment of neuroscientists impossible.
• B. In narrow fields of knowledge, a meaningful assessment of expertise has always been possible.
• C. Neuroscience is an advanced field of science because of its connections with other branches of science like oncology and biostatistics.
• D. In the modern age, every field of knowledge is so vast that a meaningful assessment of merit is impossible.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

The correct answer is (A):
This is one of the most difficult questions of slot 2. The clue to the right answer lies in finding the key argument of the author. From the above given options, we can shortlist two choices: 1 and 3. Though 3 seems tempting, it is not invalidating the author’s main argument because the author’s main argument is not about the time taken to arrive at the solution, and about whether there are conflicts in teams characterized by diversity. The author’s argument could be valid even if these two points are true. After all option 3 is in a way supporting the author by suggesting that solutions can be arrived at, even though there might a few conflicts and additional time taken by the teams. The author’s main concern is diversity and he says that diversity is important. He is against homogeneity throughout the passage, but if it were found that top-scorers possessed multidisciplinary knowledge that enabled them to look at a problem from several perspectives, then his argument on diversity would be totally weakened. Thus option 1 is the right choice.

Answer 2

The correct answer is (A):
The author in the passage discusses meritocracy from all the above perspectives except choice 1. Choice 1 speaks of what an ideal team comprises of, but the idea of ‘ideal team’ has not even come in the passage. To critique something means to evaluate that thing. The author evaluates meritocracy from different perspectives. Choice 2 can be seen in the first para of the passage where the author says: The multidimensional or layered character of complex problems also undermines the principle of meritocracy. Choice 3 is substantiated from the sentences that come in the second para where the author says: Even with a knowledge domain, no test or criteria applied to individuals will produce the best team. In other words, there cannot be a test to assess merit in any field of knowledge. Choice 4 can be found in the first sentence of the second paragraph: Believers in a meritocracy might grant that teams ought to be diverse but then argue that meritocratic principles should apply within each category.
Thus we see that meritocracy has been discussed from all of the above perspectives except 1. The composition of an ideal team has not been discussed anywhere in the passage.

Answer 3

The correct option is (A):
The last sentence of the second last para says: Programmers also boost the forest ‘cognitively’ by training trees on the hardest cases – those that the current forest gets wrong. This ensures even more diversity and accurate forests. Thus, if we want to weaken the efficacy of a random decision forest, we should train a large number of decision trees on data derived from easy cases. Thus option 1 directly weakens the argument. There is no need to test the other choices.

Answer 4

The correct answer is (A):
To mark the correct answer, we must keep in mind the author’s criteria. The author is very much focused on diversity, but at the same time, he says that there cannot any test to judge the best expert. He says such a test is not possible. So the idea of distinction in choice 1 is not at all possible. You can do well in your respective subject test, but the idea of scoring a distinction implies a test, which is just not possible to design. Thus though option 1 has the diversity, it misses the test angle the author discusses. Option 2 has the diversity at the same time implies that an expert can perform well in his area of expertise, but that area of expertise cannot be tested.
Option 3 and 4 are missing on the diversity angle that the author argues in favor of.

Answer 5

To answer the question correctly, we must read the sentence that comes immediately before the sentence in which the idea of neuroscience is introduced. The sentence says: Each of these domains possesses such depth and breadth, that no test can exist. Consider the field of neuroscience.
By reading these two sentences, we can say that the author gives neuroscience just as an example to illustrate the idea of depth and breadth of any field. The earlier sentence says ‘each of these domains possess…’. Thus it is not neuroscience alone that has immense depth and breadth but almost any other field.

So, the correct answer is (D): In the modern age, every field of knowledge is so vast that a meaningful assessment of merit is impossible.