PrepTest 152 - Section 3 - Passage 4 - Question 20

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Physicists posit that at first our universe was infinitesimally small and infinitely hot and dense. ██ ████ █████████ █ ██████ ██ █████████ ██████ ███████ █████████ ████ ███ ██████ ███ ██ ███ █████ █████████ ██ ██████ ███ █████

Intro topic · Big Bang

Expansion from small, dense, hot universe to larger, cooler universe

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C and C's hypothesis · Big Bang is a recurring event

Support for hypothesis · Multiverse theory

Earlier Big Bangs have occurred outside of the known universe

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Introduce entropy · Idea that disorder increases over time

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Illustration of entropy · Randomly moving objects in room

Room will tend toward disorder each time an object is moved

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Relevance of entropy to Big Bang · Raises questions about pre-Big Bang universe

If the universe tends toward disorder, how did it ever reach its starting state as small and dense in the first place? Seems too orderly, not random

C and C's hypothesis · Most likely starting state for universe is empty space

In other words, it's unlikely that the universe would have started as small and dense purely by chance

G and V's hypothesis · Seemingly empty space can create tiny big bangs

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C and C's hypothesis · Our Big Bang is was a kind of "tiny big bang" in an even larger multiverse

Significance of hypothesis · Reconciles Big Bang theory with entropy

The larger multiverse can be disordered, random, and full of empty space while still containing pockets of matter and energy for big bangs

Passage Style

Phenomenon-hypothesis (RC)

Single position

20.

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

Question Type

Main point

The main point of this Phenomenon-Hypothesis passage is Carroll and Chen’s hypothesis that the Big Bang is not a unique event.

The phenomenon that they attempt to explain is the mystery of why there was a small, hot, and dense universe to begin with, because such a low entropy starting point would be unexpected. Carroll and Chen resolve this mystery by hypothesizing that our universe came from an energy fluctuation in a high entropy multiverse.

Carroll and Chen ████████ ████ ███ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ██ ██████ ███████████ ██ █ ████ ███████ ███████████

This is the main point. Carroll and Chen hypothesize that our universe came from an energy fluctuation in a high entropy multiverse; this hypothesis reconciles the second law of thermodynamics with the seemingly unlikely fact that the starting point of the Big Bang was a low entropy configuration.

57%

According to Carroll ███ █████ ███████ █████████ ███████ █████ ███ ████ ████ ███ █ ██████ ██ ██ ██████████ ████ ███ ██ ██ ██ ████████

The main point of the passage is Carroll and Chen’s hypothesis about the origin of the universe; the main point isn’t this claim about entropy.

Additionally, this claim explains the second law of thermodynamics; this isn’t the idea developed by Carroll and Chen.

Carroll and Chen █████████ ███ ██████████ ████ ██ ██████████ ████ ███ ████████ █████████ █ ██████ ██ █████████ ██████ ███████ ██████████

Carroll and Chen don’t challenge this view. Instead, their hypothesis answers the question of how a period of extremely rapid, massive inflation could have occurred if the most common initial condition is actually cold, empty space.

10%

According to Carroll ███ █████ █ ██████ ████ ███ █████ █████████████ ██ ████████ ██ █ ██████ ███████ █████████ ███ █ █████████

Actually, in P6 we see that, according to Carroll and Chen’s view, the small, hot, and dense initial condition just seems to be unlikely, but it actually is not unlikely. (D) is descriptively inaccurate, so it can’t be the main point.

14%

Carroll and Chen █████ ████ ███ ████████ ██ ███ ██ ████ █████████ ██ ██ ████████████████ ███████████

The claim that our universe is one of many universes in an all-encompassing multiverse isn’t Carroll and Chen’s hypothesis. According to the passage, this belief comes from other physicists. Carroll and Chen base their hypothesis on this claim; this claim itself isn’t Carroll and Chen’s hypothesis.

18%

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PrepTest 152 - Section 3 - Passage 4 - Question 20

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