Reading comp PrepTest 135 · Section 3 · Question 9

Passage

Questions 8-13  .        While recent decades have seen more information  . recorded than any other era, the potential for Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Social Science


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Problem introduced (greater potential for losing material) and examples of durable and unstable materials
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Comparison, according to the author/archivists:
      • There's now more info recorded than ever, but it's at a greater risk of being lost than older recordings (first through third sentences)
    • Examples of durable recordings, according to the author:
      • Mesopotamian tablets, medieval parchment (still looking fresh), black-and-white photographs (fourth through last sentence)
    • Examples of unstable recordings, according to the author:
      • Acidic paper, color photos, videotapes (fourth through last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "now greater than ever" (first sentence); "great concern" (second sentence); "still look as though they were copied yesterday" (fourth sentence); "already unreadable" (fourth sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Possible solution (computer storage) and an issue with that solution (becomes obsolete quickly)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's view:
      • Transferring documents to electronic formats would seem to offer a solution, but technology changes and can make it risky to use these formats (first and second sentences)
      • And yet, archivists are running out of time (last sentence)
    • Examples of unstable computer storage, according to the author:
      • Disks can't be read with new hard/software; digital storage tapes are only good for a decade (third and fourth sentences)
    • Author's attitude: "would seem" (first sentence); "may not now be retrievable" (third sentence); "quickly running out of time" (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Another issue (the amount of deteriorating material makes choosing valuable documents to store difficult)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's view:
      • New technologies might allow preservation, but archivists will still have a difficult time sorting the valuable documents worth preserving from the not valuable documents in time to preserve these documents (first, second, and last sentences)
    • Examples of valuable documents that were preserved, according to the author:
      • Homer/Virgil copied and saved due to their popularity (third sentence)
      • Great works, like those of Plato, were almost lost (fourth sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "may soon provide" (first sentence); "will have to be made quickly" (first sentence); "Ideally" (second sentence); "should be informed by an assessment of the value" (third sentence); "great work" (fourth sentence); "Undoubtedly, many important works have no survived" (fifth sentence); "danger" (last sentence); "sheer volume" (last sentence); "make it virtually impossible" (last sentence); "sort the essential from the dispensable" (last sentence)

Main Point: The high volume of information recorded, coupled with the decreased durability of recording materials, has created a problem for long-term storage that needs to be addressed before important documents are lost.

Meta-Structure?

Problem/Solution: This passage most closely fits the common Problem/Solution Meta-Structure.* The author kicks off the passage by noting a problem — information is at risk of being lost. The author offers a possible solution but then highlights a problem with this solution (speed of obsolescence) before bringing up other aspects of the problem (decisions need to be made fast). So, this passage presents a problem and a solution, even if the problem is big and the solution is imperfect.

In general, the main point of a Problem/Solution passage is the author's preferred solution or their opinion on an offered solution. Here, the only solution is considered insufficient, and the author notes that the clock is ticking as we try to find one that works, so those aspects of the problem should be noted in the main point.

Examples: The most prominent minor Meta-Structure is examples. Throughout the passage, the author presents several sets of examples, so it's important to be able to quickly find them. So, it can help if we highlight or underline these examples. In Paragraph 1, the author lists examples of ancient documents that have been preserved and modern ones that are falling apart (P1, S4-S5). In Paragraph 2, the author lists storage technologies that won't solve the storage problem (P2, S3-S4). And in Paragraph 3, works that did and didn't survive over time are noted (P3, S3_S4).

Last Thoughts?

Those lists of examples took up so much space that we should expect there to be a few questions asking about them, so let's be sure to head back to the passage when they come up in the questions!

Question prompt

The passage provides information Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: C

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Social Science

Strategy Overview

Remind ourselves of the main point of the passage, then head to the answers, focusing on those that line up with the main point and then using our notes/the passage to find the correct answer

Answer Anticipation

This is a variation of a Must Be True question. In this question, each answer choice is, Jeopardy-style, in the form of a question. The correct answer will feature a question that the passage answers. The four incorrect answers will present a question that the passage doesn't answer.These questions generally provide no indication as to the topic of the correct answer or where it'll show up in the passage. As such, we'll need to rely on our big-picture understanding of the passage to answer this question. We should start by reminding ourselves of the main point (either by reviewing what we said after reading the passage or by re-reading our answer to the main point question). From there, we can head to the answer choices. If we can't recall the answer to a question in a given answer choice, or if a possible answer isn’t related to the main point or reflected in our notes, we shouldn't comb through the passage, searching for an answer. Instead, we'll table that answer choice and move on to the next one. If we can recall the answer to a question — even vaguely — we'll use our notes/highlights/underlines to find the part of the passage that provides the answer. If we can point to the answer in the passage, we'll select that answer choice and move on to the next question.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Are there any copies Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Is this question answered by our main point, or do our notes suggest that it is answered by one of the paragraphs?

    Nope. Our notes don't mention Homer, Virgil, or parchment paper. Of course, Home and Virgil could have written "valuable documents" mentioned in the third paragraph, and parchment paper could be a "durable" or "unstable material[]" mentioned in the first paragraph. But since this doesn't point us to a specific paragraph, we should resist the urge to check the passage, table (A), and check the remaining answer choices.

    If we had to check the passage to confirm that (A) is wrong, we can scan the text or use the CTRL/Command + F search function to look for "Homer" or "Virgil." They're mentioned in the third paragraph. (If we highlighted these examples, we could easily find these without using CTRL/Command + F.) Looking there, we can see that it talks about printed versions of works by Homer and Virgil (P3, S3), but it doesn’t specifically mention parchment, so we can rule this answer out.

  2. B
    Why is information stored Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) Is this question answered by our main point, or do our notes suggest that it is answered by one of the paragraphs?

    No. Our notes don't mention acidic paper. Of course, that could be a "durable" or "unstable material[]" mentioned in the first paragraph. And "digital storage tape" is almost certainly related to the "[p]ossible solution" of "computer storage" mentioned in the second paragraph. But since this doesn't point us to a specific paragraph, we should resist the urge to check the passage, table (B), and check the remaining answer choices.

    If we had to check the passage to confirm that (B) is wrong, we can use the CTRL/Command + F search function to search for "acidic paper" and "storage tape." They appear in the first and second paragraphs, respectively. (If we highlighted these examples, we could easily find these without using CTRL/Command + F.) Checking, we can see that acidic paper from the ‘80s deteriorated a couple decades later (P1, S4), whereas digital storage tape is considered safe for only a decade (P2, S4). So, if anything, it seems as if the digital storage tape is more unstable. And, in any case, there’s no information as to why this is the case.

  3. C
    When were optical storage Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem

    (C) Is this question answered by our main point, or do our notes suggest that it is answered by one of the paragraphs?

    Our notes don't mention optical storage tape, but it sounds like a type of "computer storage" that is presented in the second paragraph as a "[p]ossible solution." Unlike (A) or (B), this answer choice points us to a specific paragraph, which means that this answer choice is more likely to be supported by the passage. We can mark this answer choice as a contender. But before we check the passage, we should check the remaining answer choices to confirm that they're not directly answered by our main point or notes. Once we do that, we can circle back to (C) to confirm that it is supported.

    Once we're ready to check the passage, we can use the CTRL/Command + F search function to search for "optical." It appears in the second paragraph. (If we highlighted this example, we could easily find these without using CTRL/Command + F.) There, we can see that optical storage disks were “the cutting edge of technology” in the 1980s (P2, S3), providing an answer to this question. This is, therefore, the right answer.

  4. D
    Approximately how many of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) Is this question answered by our main point, or do our notes suggest that it is answered by one of the paragraphs?

    Our notes don't mention the clay tablets from Mesopotamia. Of course, that could be a "durable" material mentioned in the first paragraph. So, like (C), this answer choice points us to a specific paragraph, which means that the passage may answer this question. We can mark (D) as a contender. But before we check the passage, we should check the remaining answer choices to confirm that they're not directly answered by our main point or notes. Once we do that, we can circle back to (D) to confirm that it is supported.

    If we check the passage to determine whether (D) is supported, we can use the CTRL/Command + F search function to search for "Mesopotamia." That will point us to the first paragraph. (If we highlighted this example, we could easily find these without using CTRL/Command + F.) Reviewing that paragraph, we'll see there’s no indication of the number of clay tablets remaining (P1, S3), so we can rule this one out.

  5. E
    How were the works Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) Is this question answered by our main point, or do our notes suggest that it is answered by one of the paragraphs?

    Our notes don't mention Plato. Of course, Plato could have written "valuable documents" mentioned in the third paragraph. So, like (C) and (D), this answer choice points us to a specific paragraph, which means that the passage may answer this question. We can mark (E) as a contender. Then, we can choose whether to review the passage to determine whether (C), (D), or (E) is supported.

    If we check the passage to determine whether (E) is supported, we can use the CTRL/Command + F search function to search for "Plato." (If we highlighted this example, we could easily find these without using CTRL/Command + F.) That will take us to the third paragraph, which says a few “copies turned up” in random places are discussed (P3, S4), so there’s no answer to how they were originally recorded. Therefore, we can rule this one out.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 9%
  2. B 7%
  3. C Credited 80%
  4. D 2%
  5. E 3%

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