Self-study
This passage was adapted from articles published in the 1990s.
P1
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Intro topic ·
Computer scientist Philip Emeagwali's inspiration and work on parallel computing
Describe Emeagwali's contribution ·
Developed parallel computing system to predict underground oil flow
Used network of many computers working simultaneously; solved speed and efficiency problems with traditional "sequential" computers
P2
Problem ·
Predicting oil flow requires many simultaneous calculations
Emeagwali's solution ·
Connect many individual computers over Internet to form huge parallel computer
New problem and solution ·
Properly dividing parallel tasks is hard; solution was to design computer network like tree branches
Tree branches follow very efficient patterns for collecting and moving resources; computer networks that follow the same underlying patterns are very efficient at generating and transmitting data
P3
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Emeagwali's future work ·
Parallel computing modeled after spacing of honeycombs
Emeagwali's perspective ·
Nature will become a more important source of inspiration for technical solutions
Passage Style
Single position
Spotlight
12.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ █████ ███████ ███ ████ ███████ ███ ███████████ ██████████ █████████
a
Until recently, computer ██████████ ████ ███ ████ ███████ █████████ ██ ████ ██ ███ ████████████ ██████████ ████ ████ ████ █████ ██ ████████ █ ████ ███████ ██ ███████ ██████████
This is the best answer. (A) supports Emeagwali’s prediction by showing that scientists have only recently become aware of the many math principles underlying natural processes. Because they have only recently become aware of these principles, we have at least some evidence that they are more likely to pay attention to these principles now and in the future compared to the past. This provides support to the prediction that scientists will “increasingly” look to nature.
b
Some of the █████████ █████████ ██████ ███████ ████████ ████ ███ ██ ██ ██████████ ██ ██████████ ███ █████ █████ █████████
This doesn’t connect technological problems to solutions that might be found in nature. This simply indicates that some variables affecting the weather haven’t been discovered. But would looking to the weather or other aspects of nature help in solving technical problems? (B) doesn’t help answer this question.
c
Computer designs for ███ ██████████ ██ ███████ █████████ ████ ██ ██ ████ ██████████ ████ █████ █████████ ███ ███ ████████ ██ █████ ███████████
This compares the success of designs for natural phenomena that are affected by human activities vs. those that aren’t affected by human activity. But it doesn’t help connect technological problems to solutions found in nature. What should lead us to think computer scientists will increasingly look to nature? (C) doesn’t help answer this question.
d
Some of the ████████████ ██████████ ██████████ ███████████ █████ ██ ███ █████ ████ ████ ████████ ███ ███████ ███ █████ █████████ ████████ ████████ ████████
This doesn’t connect technological problems to solutions that might be found in nature. More importantly, it doesn’t tell us why computer scientists generally will be more likely to turn to nature (as opposed to Emeagwali himself).
e
Underlying the designs ███ ████ ███████████ ████████████ ███ ████████████ ██████████ ██ █████ ███ █████████ ██ █████ ████████████ ████ ███ ██████████ ██████
This doesn’t connect technological problems to solutions that might be found in nature. Are the math principles described in (E) found in nature? Will they help for future technololgy? (E) doesn’t answer these questions.