Ritwick91 wrote:
HI Experts,
Can you please explain why option B is wrong for Q-1 ?
Ritwick91passage :
Yet despite the considerable overlap between Wegener's concepts and the later widely embraced plate tectonics theory, and despite the fact that continental drift theory presented a possible solution to the problem of the origin of mountains at a time when existing explanations were seriously in doubt, in its day Wegener's theory was rejected by the vast majority of geologists.
explanation : here we are told that even though there were really important conjectures and convinving points in Wegner's theory , it was still doubted by mosy geologists
"Most geologists and many historians today believe that Wegener's theory was rejected because of its lack of an adequate mechanical basis."
- this in continuation of the last lone of 1st para : providing us the reasoning behind the doubts of most geo;losgists : inadequate mechanical basis
Stephen Jay Gould, for example, argues that continental drift theory was rejected because it did not explain how continents could move through an apparently solid oceanic floor.
- here we are given an example of a geologist who think the same as most geologist
However, as Anthony Hallam has pointed out, many scientific phenomena, such as the ice ages, have been accepted before they could be fully explained.
- "hpowever" means contrast : Hallam says we accept many scientifiv phenomena even before they are completely proved ... this implies that if geos can accept many phenomena without its complete approval why do you reject this???
POV of most geologists : lack of adequate mechanincal basis
POV of hallam : there are many scientifc things which are not adequately proved yet we accept them ... so basically the author mentions "HALLAM" to doubt the claim of most grologists
author in his next line says that : "The most likely cause for the rejection of continental drift―a cause that has been largely ignored because we consider Wegener's theory to have been validated by the theory of plate tectonics―is the nature of the evidence that was put forward to support it."
so he thinks that a plausible expkanation is something else and not what most geologists claim to be
Q1: The author cites Hallam on the ice ages primarily in order to
(A) provide an example of a geologic phenomenon whose precise causes are not fully understood by geologists today
- THIS IS AN EXPLANATION OF THE SENTENCE . IT DOES NOT TELL US "WHY THE AUTHOR HAS INTRODUCED THIS SNETECE"
(B) criticize the geological community for an apparent
lack of consistency in its responses to new theories
- OPPOSITE ... we are actually told that "most geologists and hitorians" think about the same response...there is no "lack of consistency"....instead they are very much "CONSISTENT"
(C) offer evidence held to undermine a common view of why Wegener’s theory was not accepted in its day
- CORRECT ... please read explanation ... "common view" = what "most geologists" think
(D) give an example of a modern scientist who believes that Wegener’s theory was rejected because
it failed to adequately explain the mechanical basis of continental drift
- OPPOSITE... this is the pirpose of "GOULD"
(E)
support Gould’s rationale for why Wegener’s theory was rejected by most geologists in the early twentieth century
- OPPOSITE