PT135.S3.P2.Q8 > Analytics

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While recent decades have seen more information recorded than any other era, the potential for losing this information is now greater than ever. ████ ████████ ██ ██ █████ ███████ ██ ███████████ ███ ███ ███████ ████ ██████████ █████ ███████ ███ █████████ █████████████ ███ █████████ █████ ████ █████ ███ ████████ ██ ████████ █████ █████ ███ █████████ ██████████████ ███ ██████████ ██ █████████ █████ ███ █████████ ██████ ██ ████████ ███

Problem · Potential for losing recorded information is higher than ever

This is a concern for archivists, whose job is to preserve vital records forever.

Examples · Books printed on acidic paper, color photographs, videotapes

These items don't last for long, unlike some documents that were made hundreds or thousands of years ago.

Apparent solution · Computer technology

Allows archivists to save stuff electronically.

Why solution won't work · New generation of technology replaces the previous one quickly

Tech for reading CDs might not be available in the near future. Digital storage tapes might deteriorate.

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Another aspect of problem · Running out of time

(This looks like a transition. The author will explain what he means in the next paragraph.)

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Elaborate on this aspect · Archivists don't have enough time to decide what to save

Even if we could store things on computer technology for a very long time, we still have to decide what stuff to transfer onto that technology. But there's too many records in the world to identify everything that's essential to save. So some things that are essential will likely still be lost.

Passage Style

Problem-analysis

Single position

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

Question Type

Main point

In this Problem-Analysis passage, the author describes a general problem (the amount of recorded information is increasing while the methods we use to store that information is becoming less durable) and then goes into detail about some issues that make that problem hard to overcome (computer equipment quickly becomes obsolete, and the huge volume of recorded information out there makes it hard to prioritize what to preserve). So the main point is that archivists are facing the problem of how to maintain records in light of the the shortcomings of modern storage methods and the amount of information out there.

The increasing volume ██ ███████████ █████ ██████ ███ ███ ██████████ ██████████ ██ ██████ ███████ █████ ███ ██████ ██ ████ ███ ████ █████████ ███ ██████████ ██ █████ ███ █████ ███████

This is a good description of the problem (it’s more and more difficult for archivists to carry out their charge) and the reasons behind that problem (increasing volume of information, decreasing durability of modern storage media).

92%

Modern data storage-and-retrieval ██████████ ████ ███████ ██████████ ██ ███████████ █████████ ████ ███████████ ███████████ ████ ███████ ██████████ ████ ████ ███████

Anti-supported. The author argues in P3 that distinguishing between essential and dispensable information is a problem—it’s “virtually impossible.”

Many archivists have ████ ██ ███████ ████ █████████ ███ ██████ █████████ ██ ████████████ ███████ █████ ███ ██████ ██ ██████ ██████ ████ █████ ████████ ██ ██████████ ███████ ██████

The author does raise the concern that electronic storage isn’t as durable, and notes that some archivists are reluctant to use electronic media. But this is only one of the concerns the author raises to make a bigger point: it’s getting all-around harder for archivists to do their jobs. That’s the main point, and it’s what (A) correctly describes.

Given the limitations ██ ███ ████████ ██ ██████ ███████ ██████ ██ ██ ████████████ █████████ ███ ██████████ ██ ████ ████ █████ █████████ ████ ████ ███████ ██ ████ ███████ ██████

Four problems. First, the author doesn’t raise any concerns about the capacity of modern storage; her worry is the durability of that storage. Second, she doesn’t suggest that only essential documents should be saved; she just wants to make sure that essential documents are getting top priority. Third, she doesn’t suggest that sorting essential from dispensable was any less important before or that it’s increasingly important now. She simply says it’s important, and that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to do so. And fourth, even if (D) were accurate, it wouldn’t be the main point. Sorting between essential and dispensable documents is only one of the concerns the author raises to make a bigger point: it’s getting all-around harder for archivists to do their jobs. That’s the main point, and it’s what (A) correctly describes.

Modern electronic media ██████ ██ ██ ██████ ███ █████ ███████████ ██ ██████ ████ ████ ██ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██ ██████████ ██ ██ █████████ ██ █████████

The author doesn’t suggest that the ease of recording and storing information is the source of any problems. She also doesn’t suggest how much information is essential and how much isn’t. She just notes that it’s important—and difficult—to sort between them.

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PrepTest 135 - Section 3 - Passage 2 - Question 8

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