PT159.S4.P4.Q25

PrepTest 159 - Section 4 - Passage 4 - Question 25

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P1

The success of modern physics has consisted primarily in the analysis of physical reality into its fundamental components. ███ ███████ ███████ ████ ██████████ ███ █████ ██ ████████ ██ █ ███████ ██ ███████████ ███ ███████████ ████ █ ██████ █████ █████ ██ ███████ ██ ████████████ ███████████ ████████████ ███ ██████████ ███ █████████ █████████ ████ ███ █████ ███████ ███ █████ ███████████████ ████ ████ ███ ██ █████ ███████ ████████████ ████ ██ ███ █████ ████ ██████████ ██ ████ ██ ██████████ ██ █████ ███ ███████ ███ ████████ ██ ███████████ ███████ ████ █████████████ ██ █████ ███████ ████ ██ ███ █████ █████████ ███ █████████ ███ ████████████ ██ ███ ███ █████████ █████████ ██ ████ █ ███████████ ███████ ██ █████████ █████ ███████ ███ ████████ ██ ███ █████ █████████ ███ ███ ███████████ ████ ████ ███ ███████

“Theory of everything” · Doesn’t predict behavior of complicated systems
Predicting this behavior requires knowing locations and trajectories of all particles into the future.
P2

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Problem of prediction · More difficult in chaotic systems
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Description of chaotic systems · Nonlinear rather than linear
In nonlinear systems, a minor difference at beginning of process results in large difference at the end. Example: water faucet opened wide.
P3

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Partly chaotic systems · Partly linear and partly chaotic
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Potential explanation for partly chaotic behavior · Complexity theory
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Potential application to living things · Complexity theory might help explain aspects of living things
Example: Cells involve both linearity and chaos.
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Show answer
25.

The author calls reports that ██████████ ███ █████ ██ ████████ ██ █ ███████ ██ ███████████ ██████████ ███████

a

it is impossible, ████ ██ ██████████ ██ █████████ ███ ████████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ █ ███████████ ██████

The author doesn't suggest that we can't identify the location of all particles. What we can't do is predict the behavior of all those particles for a significant time into the future.

13%
b

such a theory █████ ██ ██████████ ██ ██████████ ███ ████████ ██ ███████ ███ ███ ██████████ ███████

The author doesn't suggest that a "theory of everything" can be successful in explaining the behavior of linear systems. In fact, the author states that the theory cannot predict the behavior of complicated systems. Note that "nonlinear" is not equivalent to "complicated." Complicated systems can be linear or chaotic. So the fact that the "theory of everything" cannot predict the behavior of complicated systems is something that applies to complicated systems that are linear, too.

27%
c

not everything is ████ ██ ██ █████████ █████████

The author's criticism of the "theory of everything" doesn't suggest that there are some systems that don't have subatomic particles. The critique is that the location and characteristics of subatomic particles don't capture the behavior of those particles.

3%
d

such a theory █████ ██ ███████ ██ ██████████ ███ ██████ ███ ████████████ ██ █████████ █████████

Supported by the first paragraph. The "theory of everything" can only explain interactions and characteristics of subatomic particles, but would not predict the behavior of those particles for a significant time into the future.

54%
e

modern science is █████████ █████████ ████ ███████████ ███████

The author's criticism of the "theory of everything" isn't based on what modern science tends to focus on. The critique is that the location and characteristics of subatomic particles don't capture the behavior of those particles.

2%

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