PT143.S2.P4.Q21

PrepTest 143 - Section 2 - Passage 4 - Question 21

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P1

To glass researchers it seems somewhat strange that many people throughout the world share the persistent belief that window glass flows slowly downward like a very viscous liquid. ████████ ██ █████████ ██████ ██ ███████ ████████ ███ ██████████ ███ ████ ███ █████ ████ ███████ ██ ███████ ██████ ███████ ██ ███ ███████ ███

Common belief · Glass flows downward like a liquid
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Origin of false belief · People misunderstand the fact that glass atoms aren't in a fixed structure
Because the atoms aren't fixed, people think that glass is like a liquid. By using "myth," the author indicates the common belief is false.
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Features of glass · Transition temperature
Cooled below the transition temperature, glass has physical properties of solid, even though it has non-fixed structure.
P2

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Debunking hypothesis about windows · People think stained glass windows are thicker at the bottom than the top because glass flows downward
Even though glass does very slightly flow downward, research shows this belief about stained glass windows is wrong.
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Study debunking hypothesis · Zanotto's research
It would take too long for the thicker bottoms of windows to result from glass flowing downward.
P3

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Elaborating on study · Although composition of windows can make glass flow faster, still not fast enough
P4

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Author's hypothesis · Thicker bottoms of glass are due to manufacturing methods
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Support for hypothesis · In 19th century, had to make glass in way that thickened the edges
People probably put thicker edges toward bottom for structural stability.
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Phenomenon-hypothesis (RC)
Show answer
21.

Which one of the following ████ ██████████ ██████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ███ ████████

a

Zanotto's research has ██████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ ████ ████████ ███ ███████ ████ ██ ██████ ███ █████████ ██ ████████ █████████ █████ █████ ██ ███████ ████ ███ ███ ██ ███ █████████

This is stated in the passage, but this is not the main point. Instead, this information supports the author’s main point that that antique windows are not thicker at the bottom because of the downward flow of glass.

1%
b

The technology of ████████████ ██████████ ███ ██████████ █████████████ ████ ████████ █████████████ ██████████ ██ ███████ ██████████ ██ ████ ████ ███ ████ ███████ ██████

This is stated in the passage but this is not the main point. This information explains why we see varying thickness in antique glass but not in modern glass. The information in (B) serves to support the author’s claim that the variations in window thickness are not due to gradual downward flow of glass.

2%
c

After years of █████████████ █████████ ██████ ██ █ ██████ ████████████████ █████ ███ █████████ ██ ██████ ██████████ ████ █████████ ████ ██ █████████ ███████████ ████ █████████ ████ █████ ██ ███████████████ ████ ██ ██████ ████ ██ ██████

While the passage references a new study that calculated the time needed for viscous flow to change the thickness of glass, the passage only mentions this calculation as it relates to types of glass, not solids in general. Additionally, the reason the author mentions this research is to debunk a previous belief––the research itself is not the main point; the research supports the main point.

3%
d

Recent research provides ████████ ████ ████████ █████ █████ █████ ████████ █████ ███ █████████ ██ ████████ ████ ████ ██ ████ ███ ██ ███████ ███████ ████ ████ ███████████ ██ ██████████ ███████████ ██ █████████ ███████ ███ ███ ███ ███ ██████ ██ ████ ███ ████████

Anti-supported. In fact, the author claims that this downward flow is not a factor that contributes to the differences in thickness in old windows. It would take many trillions of years for downward flow to change the thickness of glass, and medieval cathedrals are only a few hundred years old.

7%
e

Contrary to a ████████ ████ ███████ ██████████ ███████████ ██ █████████ ███████ ███ ███ ███ ███ ██████ ██ ████ ███ █████ ███████ ███ ███ ███ ██ ███ ███████ ██ █████ ██████ ███ ████████ ██████ ███████ ████ ███ ████████████ ███████████

This is the main point. The author debunks the commonly held belief that the flowing of solid glass causes difference in thickness in old windows. The author then goes on to suggest an alternative hypothesis: that it’s actually manufacturing techniques that caused these differences.

88%

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