SAT #15 (Questions 26 & 27)

Question

Which conclusion is best supported by the findings of Olausson’s 1993 experiment?

Answer 1

Answer Choices C and B are the correct answers because Lines 23-25 say, “They showed that soft stroking prompted two different signals, one immediate and one delayed,” and tell us most directly about the “findings of Olausson’s 1993 experiment.” These Lines tell us that Olausson found that soft touch caused two responses, one from the fast fibers and one from the slow fibers, and best match Answer Choice C which says that Olausson found that, “Gentle pressure is sensed not only by fast fibers but also by slow fibers.” For Question 27, Answer Choice A is incorrect because it only describes the methodology of Olausson’s 1993 experiment and not its findings. Answer Choice C is incorrect because it doesn’t match any of the Answer Choices for Question 26. Answer Choice D is incorrect because it concerns experiments from 1999 and not from 1993. For Question 26, Answer Choice A is incorrect because neither the Passage nor our Texts talk about the relative speeds of stimulation at the body’s extremities and parts closer to the brain. Answer Choice B is incorrect because neither the Passage nor our Texts talk about how the presence of hairs in human skin influences the speed of nerve signals. Answer Choice D is incorrect because the Passage talks about how two different nerve signals are activated by soft stroking, but not that the speed of either nerve fiber vares based on the strength of the applied pressure. 

How to solve this? Question 26 asks, “Which conclusion is best supported by the findings of Olausson’s 1993 experiment?” Because this is a Paired Question, to solve this we should begin by going through the answer choices for Question 27, looking for any texts that tell us about Olausson’s 1993 experiment.

1. For Question 27, both Answer Choices B and C are possible. Choice B talks more generally about the findings, while Choice C elaborates on them. Either could work, depending on the Choices for 26.
2. For Question 26, Answer Choice C is the most general, neutral option and matches Choice B from 27 more closely.