Self-study
P1
While recent decades have seen more information recorded than any other era, the potential for losing this information is now greater than ever. ████ ████████ ██ ██ █████ ███████ ██ ███████████ ███ ███ ███████ ████ ██████████ █████ ███████ ███ █████████ █████████████ ███ █████████ █████ ████ █████ ███ ████████ ██ ████████ █████ █████ ███ █████████ ██████████████ ███ ██████████ ██ █████████ █████ ███ █████████ ██████ ██ ████████ ███
Problem ·
Potential for losing recorded information is higher than ever
This is a concern for archivists, whose job is to preserve vital records forever.
Examples ·
Books printed on acidic paper, color photographs, videotapes
These items don't last for long, unlike some documents that were made hundreds or thousands of years ago.
P2
Apparent solution ·
Computer technology
Allows archivists to save stuff electronically.
Why solution won't work ·
New generation of technology replaces the previous one quickly
Tech for reading CDs might not be available in the near future. Digital storage tapes might deteriorate.
Another aspect of problem ·
Running out of time
(This looks like a transition. The author will explain what he means in the next paragraph.)
P3
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Elaborate on this aspect ·
Archivists don't have enough time to decide what to save
Even if we could store things on computer technology for a very long time, we still have to decide what stuff to transfer onto that technology. But there's too many records in the world to identify everything that's essential to save. So some things that are essential will likely still be lost.
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Single position
11.
Which one of the following █████████ ███ ████████ ███████ ███████ ██ ██████████ ███ ████ ████ █ ████ ███████ ██ ██████ ███ █████████ ███ ███ ██ ██████ ██████████████
a
to provide evidence ██ ███████ ███ █████████ ████ ██ ███ █████ ████████ ██ ███ ███████
The first sentence of P1 claims that “the potential for losing... information is now greater than ever.” The referenced text doesn’t support that claim; it undermines it by offering computer tech as a potential way to store large amounts of information in a small space. (The rest of P2 then explains how computer tech isn’t such a great solution after all, which does support the first sentence of P1. But we’re only asked for the purpose of the first sentence of P2, not P2 as a whole.)
b
to identify an ██████████ ████████ ██ ███ ███████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ █████████
In P1, the author raises the overall problem of the passage: the need for storage has increased while the durability of storage has decreased. The referenced text then explains that computer tech “would seem to offer an answer.” So the purpose of the referenced text is to identify an ostensible (i.e., seeming) solution to the problem raised in P1.
c
to argue a █████ ████ ██ ████████ ██ ███ ████ ████████ ██ ███ ███████
The last sentence of P3 claims that it’s virtually impossible to sort through essential from dispensable information in time to save the essential information. This claim does nothing to reject the referenced text. The fact that it’s hard to sort through lots of information doesn’t make it any less true that computers let us store lots of info in a small physical space. These two claims are consistent with each other.
d
to offer an ██████████ ███████ ██ ███ ███████ ██████ ██ ███ ███ ██ ███ █████ █████████
The end of P1 gives an example of how storage durability has decreased over time. The referenced text isn’t another example of this, because the referenced text doesn’t say anything about durability. Instead, it’s a claim about storage space.
e
to suggest that ███ ██████ █████████ ██ ███ ████ █████████ ███ ████ ███████████
The danger described in the last paragraph is that it’s virtually impossible to sort through essential from dispensable information in time to save the essential information. The referenced text doesn’t do anything to counter that danger. The fact that computers let us store lots of info in a small physical space doesn’t make it any less true that it’s hard to sort through lots of information in a short time. These two claims are consistent with each other.