PT143.S2.P4.Q22

PrepTest 143 - Section 2 - Passage 4 - Question 22

Hide analysis
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
███ ███████ ██ ███ ████ ███ ████████ ███ ███ █████████ ████████ █████ ██████ ████ █ ████████████████ ██ ███ ████ ████ ███ █████ ██ █████ ███ ███ ████████ ██ █ █████ ███████ ██████████ ███
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.
██ ████ ████████ ███ █████████ ██ ██████ █████ ███ ███ █████████ ██ █████ █████ ███ ████ ████████ ███ █████████████████ ████ ███ ███ ███ █████ █████ ████ ███ ████ █ ███████ ████████ ██████ ███████ ██ ███ ████ ██ █████ ██ █ █████ ██████████ ████████████ █████████ █ █████ ██ █ ███ ███████ ███████ ████████ ██████ █████ ███ █████ ███ ██ ████ ██████ ██████ █████ ███████ ██ █████████ ██████ ██████████ ███ ██ █████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████████ ██ █ ██████

Features of glass · Transition temperature
Cooled below the transition temperature, glass has physical properties of solid, even though it has non-fixed structure.
P2

████████ █ ███ █████ ███████ ███ ██████████ ██████ ████ ███████ █████ ███████ ██ ████████ ██████████ ███ ██████████ ███████ ██ ███ ██████ ███████ ███ █████ █████ █████████ █████ ███ █████ ██ ████████ ███████ █████ █████████ █████████ █████ ████ ██ █████ ████ █████████ ███

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.
███ █████████ ██████████ █████ █████ ███████ ███ ██████████ ███ ████ ██████ ███ ███████ ████ ██ ██████ ███ █████████ ██ █████████ █████ ██ █████ ██ █ ██████████ ███████ ████ █████████ ██ ███ █████████████ ████████ █████████ █████ █████ ███████ █ ██████ ████ ██████ ███ ███ ██ ███ █████████

Study debunking hypothesis · Zanotto's research
It would take too long for the thicker bottoms of windows to result from glass flowing downward.
P3

███ ████████ ███████████ ██ ███ █████ ██████████ ███ ████ ██ █████ ████ █████████ █████ ██████ █████ █████ ████ ██████ ████ █████ ██████ █████ ████ ████ █████████ ██ █████ ██ ███ ███████████ ███████ ███████████ ████████ ███████ █████ ████████ ██████████ ████ █████ █████ ███ █████████ ███ █████ ███ ████ ██ ████ ███████ ███ ████ █ ███████████ ██████████ ██ ████ ██████ █████ ███ █████ ███ ███████████ █████ ███ ██████████ ███ ████ ███████ ███████ █████ ████ ███ █████ ████████████ ████████████ ████ ████ ██████████ ███ ████████ ███████ █████ ██ ███████████ ████ ██ ███ ████ ████ ███ █████ ██ ████ ████ ████ █ ██████████ ███████ ██ █████ ██ █████ ████ ██ ██ ██████ ██ ██ █████ ███ ███████ ████████

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

███ ██████████ ██ █████████ █████████ ████████ ██ ███████ ███████ ████████ ███████ ███████ ████ █████ █████████████ ████████ ███

Author's hypothesis · Thicker bottoms of glass are due to manufacturing methods
█████ ███ ██████████ ████████ ███ ████ ███ ██ ████ ██████ █████ ███ ██ ████ ██████ █████ ████ █ █████ █████ ███ ████ ███████ ██ ████ █ █████ ████████ ███ ████ ██████████ ███████ ███ █████████ ███ ██████ ██ ███████ ██████████ ██████████ ██ █████ ████ ████ █████ ██ ███████ █████ █████ ██ ████ █ ███ ████ ███ █████ ████████ ████ ██ ███ ███████ ██████ █████ ███ █████ ████ ██████ ██ ███████ ██ ████ ███ ████ ██ █ ████ █ ██████ ████ ████ ███████ ████ ████████ ██████ ████ ██████ █████ ██ ████ ██ ████████ ██████ █████ ██ ██████ ████ ████ ███████ █████ ███ ███████ █████████ █████

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
22.

The passage most helps to ██████ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██████████

a

What is one ███ ██ █████ ███████████████████ ██████████ █████████████ ██████████ ██████ ████ █████ ████████ ████ ██ ████████ ██████

Unsupported. The passage doesn’t distinguish between seventeenth-century techniques and medieval techniques, so we can’t answer this question from the information in the passage.

7%
b

What is one ███ ██ █████ ██████████████████ ██████████ █████████████ ██████████ ██████ ████ █████ ████████ ████ ██████

This is stated in P4, which explains the only way to make glass until the nineteenth century, and how glass is made today.

79%
c

Was glass ever ████ ██ ███████ █████ ██ ████████ ██████

Unsupported. The passage doesn’t say anything about pre-medieval windows, so we can’t answer this question.

1%
d

Are unevenly thick █████████████ ███████████ ████ ████ ██ █████████ █████ ██████

Unsupported. We know that germanium oxide glass flows more easily than other types of glass, but this is all that the passage says about germanium oxide glass. We don’t know if germanium oxide glass was used to make unevenly thick stained-glass windowpanes.

5%
e

How did there ████ ██ ██ ██████████ ██ ████████ ███████ ██████

Unsupported. We know that medieval stained glass has impurities, but we don’t know where these impurities came from.

8%

Answer five questions and we'll estimate your score.

It takes about five minutes.

Take the free diagnostic
More free LSAT prep: Sample LSAT questions Full-length diagnostic & practice test All free LSAT resources

Confirm action

Are you sure?