Entry Exam Category: College Admission Exams
Course: Accuplacer
Exam: Accuplacer Reading Sample Questions Practice Test
Practice Question
Extract
Read the passage(s) below and answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage(s) and in any introductory material that may be provided.
Passage
During the early development of a new idea, scientists behave rather like artists, driven by temperament. We start off with a hunch, a feeling, even a desire that the world be one way, and then we proceed from that presentiment, often sticking with it long after the data suggest we may be leading ourselves and others down a blind alley. What saves us is that experiment acts as the ultimate referee, settling all disputes. No matter how strong our hunch is, at some point we will have to prove it with facts. Otherwise our hunch, nо matter how strongly held, will remain just that.
Adapted from Donald Goldsmith and Marcia Bartusiak, E Einstein. His Life, His Thought, and His Influence on Our Culture ©2006 by The Reference Works, Inc
Passage
During the early development of a new idea, scientists behave rather like artists, driven by temperament. We start off with a hunch, a feeling, even a desire that the world be one way, and then we proceed from that presentiment, often sticking with it long after the data suggest we may be leading ourselves and others down a blind alley. What saves us is that experiment acts as the ultimate referee, settling all disputes. No matter how strong our hunch is, at some point we will have to prove it with facts. Otherwise our hunch, nо matter how strongly held, will remain just that.
Adapted from Donald Goldsmith and Marcia Bartusiak, E Einstein. His Life, His Thought, and His Influence on Our Culture ©2006 by The Reference Works, Inc
In the first two sentences ('During'... 'alley'), scientists are presented as all of the following EXCEPT
Answer Choices
- A: predisposed
- B: determined
- C: inherently logical
- D: overly zealous
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The first two sentences depict scientists as driven by hunches and persistence despite data, not as inherently logical.