PT143.S2.P4.Q27

PrepTest 143 - Section 2 - Passage 4 - Question 27

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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
27.

The passage suggests that which ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██████████ ██████████ █████████████ ███ ██████████ ███████████ ██ ██████

a

It is higher ███ ████████ █████ ████ ███ ██████ ██████

Unsupported. This is not a comparison made in the text, so this is not something that the passage suggests.

3%
b

It has only ████████ ████ ██████████ ████ ██████████

Unsupported. The passage doesn’t say anything that indicates when the transition temperature of glass has been calculated, so we can’t claim that it has only been recently calculated with precision.

7%
c

Its upper extreme ██ ████ █████ ███ ███████ ████████

This is supported in P3. Here, we see that glass would need to be at least 350 degrees Celsius to have more than a negligible ability to flow––in other words, this is the minimum for the transition temperature range. We see in P1 that the transition temperature is typically a range of a few hundred degrees Celsius. If 350 degrees Celsius is the minimum, then we can infer that the upper extreme of the transition temperature is well above 350 degrees Celsius.

53%
d

It does not ██████ ███ ████████ ██ ████ █████ ██ █████ ██ ████ █████████

Unsupported. Actually, transition temperature is the range at which glass takes on behaviors of liquids. In other words, the transition temperature of any glass will be the range of temperature at which glass takes on the ability to flow downward.

26%
e

For some types ██ ██████ ██ ██ █ ████████ ███████████ ████ █████ ███ ███████ ████████

Unsupported. We know that the transition temperature is a range, not a specific temperature. Additionally, if 350 degrees Celsius is the minimum point at which glass can flow, then the transition temperature definitely isn’t well below 350 degrees Celsius.

12%

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