PT1.S1.Q12 (P2) - "According to the passage"

miriaml7

I was stuck between answer choice B and E. E was really tempting because in paragraph three it says that, "in general, biochemists judged to be too ignorant of chemistry to grasp the basic process." Would really appreciate clarification about why E is incorrect. Thanks!

Admin Note: Edited title. Please use the format "PT#.S#.Q# (P#) - brief description of stimulus"

Granger Danger

Sorry, which question is this?

miriaml7

Totally forgot to add that in the original post:/ It's question #12 @"Granger Danger"

Granger Danger

I'll weigh in on this. So this is a very confusing passage first of all. The first paragraph begins with an analogy and the reader must be VERY careful to know what corresponds to what since the passage will return to the thesis/antithesis framework later on.

So the thesis, or the thing that is trying to describe something in broader terms, is cytology. To me, cytology is trying to describe a large amount of cell structure.

On the other hand, biochemistry isn't having any of this. Biochemistry wants to focus on narrower things.

For #12, the question asks, "According to the passage, cytologists in the late nineteenth century were critical of the cell research of biochemists because cytologists believed that...?" I also went to paragraph three for this information. I agree that B and E seem like the best contenders. Be careful with E though.

Watch what the test writers did here. Look at line 33-34: "In general, biochemists judged cytologists to be too ignorant of chemistry to grasp the basic processes." What is the question asking you in #12? From whose viewpoint? The cytologists or the biochemists? It's from the cytologist's point of view. The test writers included the "too ignorant" part but switched the group who said that. The cytologists said the "too ignorant" thing in the passage, not the biochemists.

Also, think about it another way. The cytologists want to explain broader cell structure. The biochemists want to do some narrow chemistry things. AC B also points to the fact that the cytologists do broader explanations of cell structure that the biochemists do not do. I don't think the cytologists could go quite so far as saying that the biochemists can't understand the basic processes of the cell. I think this AC would be stronger if it said that the biochemists can't understand the broader cell structure. I think the cytologists would support that more than what is written for AC E.

Let me know if this makes sense! I hope this helps.