Entry Exam Category: College Admission Exams
Course: Accuplacer
Exam: Accuplacer Reading Full-Length Practice Test
Practice Question
Extract
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, no matter how strongly held, will remain just that.
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 passage compares scientists to artists, saying they are driven by temperament, hunches, and desires, and that they often stick to their ideas even after evidence suggests otherwise. This implies they are predisposed (A) to certain ideas, determined (B) in pursuing them, and possibly overly zealous (D) in sticking to them despite contrary evidence. However, the passage does not present scientists as inherently logical; instead, it suggests they are driven by less rational, more emotional impulses like hunches, which contrasts with logic.