PT143.S2.P4.Q25

PrepTest 143 - Section 2 - Passage 4 - Question 25

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
25.

The author of the passage ██████████ ███ ██████ ████ ██████ █████ █████ ██████████ ████████ ████ ████ ██ ███ █████████ ██████████ ████

a

the atomic structure ██ █████ █████ ██ ███████████ ██████ ████ █████████

The erroneous assumption isn’t that the atomic structure is crystalline rather than amorphous. Instead, according to the author, people learn that glass has an amorphous atomic structure, and erroneously assume that this means that solid glass flows like liquid glass would, thus causing window glass to flow slowly downward.

21%
b

the amorphous atomic █████████ ██ █████ ██████ ██ ██ ██████ ████ █ ████ ███████ ██████ ████ ██ ███ █████ ████

This is the erroneous assumption that has led people to the incorrect belief that window glass flows noticeably downward over time. According to the author, people learn that glass has an amorphous atomic structure, and assume that this means that solid glass flows like liquid glass does, while in reality, glass below the transition temperature behaves as a solid, even though it has an amorphous structure.

62%
c

methods of glass ██████ ██ ████████ █████ ████ ███████ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ██ ██████ █████

We are looking for the incorrect assumption that the author believes is what caused people to accept the myth that glass flows downward over time. According to the author, this misunderstanding comes from assumptions about the effects of the structure of the atoms in glass, not from assumptions about medieval glass making methods, so (C) is not the erroneous assumption that caused people to accept the incorrect belief.

5%
d

the transition temperature ██ ███ █████ ████ ██ ████████ ███████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ████ ██ ███ █████ ████ ██ ██████ ███████

We are looking for the incorrect assumption that the author believes is what caused people to accept the myth that glass flows downward over time. According to the author, this misunderstanding comes from assumptions about the effects of the structure of the atoms in glass, not from assumptions about differences between medieval and modern glass. Additionally, nothing in the passage indicates that it’s wrong to think that the transition temperature of medieval glass is the same as that of modern glass; we don’t even know if the author thinks that this is an erroneous assumption.

4%
e

liquid glass and █████ █████ ███ █████████████████ ██████████

This isn’t an erroneous assumption––the author agrees that liquid and solid glass are thermodynamically different.

9%

Confirm action

Are you sure?