Entry Exam Category: College Admission Exams
Course: Accuplacer
Exam: Accuplacer Reading Timed Practice Test
Practice Question
Extract
In a world bound to the wheel of change, the humanities stress the persistence of unchanging issues. They do not offer the prospect of progress in knowledge as the sciences do, nor do they even offer, as do the social sciences, the promise of such progress. They raise questions about meaning, purpose, and values that a hurried world, enamored of technique, finds uncomfortable.
The author implies that the social sciences:
Answer Choices
- A: Are valued for their techniques
- B: Can make no contribution to progress
- C: Cannot deal with long-term issues
- D: May someday add to the world's knowledge
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: The passage states that the humanities do not offer progress in knowledge, and they do not even offer the promise of such progress 'as do the social sciences.' This implies that the social sciences do offer the promise of progress in knowledge, though not necessarily immediate progress. Therefore, the correct inference is that the social sciences may someday add to the world’s knowledge.