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705-805 Level|   Long Passage|   Science|         
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Sajjad1994
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If early twentieth-century geologists and geo- physicists had heeded 24 Sep 2023, 12:39
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ChandlerBong
Hi Sajjad1994,

Can you please post the OE for Q.5?

Thanks in advance. :)
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Posted here

https://gmatclub.com/forum/if-early-twe ... l#p2945893
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If early twentieth-century geologists and geo- physicists had heeded 24 Sep 2023, 21:09
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Can you please explain why option 3 for the first question ??

Thanks!
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Sajjad1994
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If early twentieth-century geologists and geo- physicists had heeded 24 Sep 2023, 23:04
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Maggie_Lko
Can you please explain why option 3 for the first question ??

Thanks!
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Welcome to GMAT Club!

Read the same in the following link and let me know if this makes sense to you.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/if-early-twe ... l#p2965605
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If early twentieth-century geologists and geo- physicists had heeded 26 Oct 2023, 02:48
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Sajjad1994 Could you please post the OA for Q2 and Q7?
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If early twentieth-century geologists and geo- physicists had heeded Updated on: 29 Oct 2023, 18:24
Originally posted by singhall on 28 Oct 2023, 22:35.
Last edited by singhall on 29 Oct 2023, 18:24, edited 1 time in total.
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in question 9. I was confused between A and D.
You have mentioned there is no mention of height, but I found one.

"Because the height of any structure is limited by the strength of its supporting materials, the stability of mountains seemed to corroborate the geophysicists' conclusion: the Earth was simply too strong for the continents to move."

Based on this I picked D.

Could you or any other expert please chime in.

Thanks and Regards
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If early twentieth-century geologists and geo- physicists had heeded 29 Oct 2023, 12:01
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bv8562
Sajjad1994 Could you please post the OA for Q2 and Q7?
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Posted here

https://gmatclub.com/forum/if-early-twe ... l#p2965605
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If early twentieth-century geologists and geo- physicists had heeded 29 Oct 2023, 12:02
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singhall
in question 9. I was confused between A and D.
You have mentioned there is no mention of height, but I found one.

"Because the height of any structure is limited by the strength of its supporting materials, the stability of mountains seemed to corroborate the geophysicists' conclusion: the Earth was simply too strong for the continents to move."

Based on this I picked D.

Could you or any other expert please chime in.

Thanks and Regards
Divya
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The height restrictions are not covered in the passage. All we care about is taller the structure, stronger the base. D is incorrect.
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If early twentieth-century geologists and geo- physicists had heeded 09 Oct 2024, 04:27
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3. The passage suggests that the author considers the disagreement between early twentieth-century geologists and geophysicists to have been

(A) confusing
(B) inevitable
(C) surprising and inexplicable
(D) hostile but ultimately useful
(E) needless and unproductive (This is correct, as if these two opponents regard some external phenomena more canny, they could avoid a dispute.)

8. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

(A) A particular view of a scientific issue is outlined and arguments against that view are stated.
(B) A theory is presented, relevant new evidence is discussed, and the theory is reinterpreted.
(C) A scientific dispute is examined and possible resolutions of the dispute are outlined
(D) A hypothesis is stated and new evidence proving its validity is presented.
(E) A scientific dispute is summarized and reasons for its occurrence are offered. (This is correct, as the reasons for a dispute are expressed in the second and third paragraph.)
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If early twentieth-century geologists and geo- physicists had heeded 13 Jan 2025, 05:35
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KarishmaB

Since I have been making errors on RC want to clarify 2 Q/s here. Requesting your help

Q1 Why option C and Not E
1. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with

(A) presenting new evidence - No 'New' Evidence is presented. What everyone always knew is just applied.
(B) correcting an oversimplification - Yes, on rocks being rigid but that cannot be the central focus
(C) analyzing the reasons for a dispute - Close contender but if we see the first para the author alludes on how they have finally aligned, so if the last pata was not present we could have stick with this, but wasn't the entire purpose of writing was to say hey - finally they have aligned, no more dispute guys!
(D) reinterpreting a theory - There was no reinterpretation, just another application of theory
(E) resolving a dispute between past and present views - past there were x views covered by para two and three, present views is last - dispute is in first para which is being resolved. This is an absolute perfect match.
Q2 how did we eliminate A. A is also mentioned
2. It can be inferred from the passage that all of the following are true of the phenomenon of creep EXCEPT:

(A) The effects of creep on normal crystalline solids are always imperceptible. "underneath the Earth's crust must be considered as fluids even though they are perfectly normal crystalline solids." as it is so subtle so it is imperceptible
(B) The rate of creep is increased by raising the temperature of a solid.
(C) Creep occurs even in relatively large geological structures.
(D) Creep operates most rapidly on rocks near their melting point.
(E) Creep occurs both on and below the Earth's surface.
Sajjad1994
If early twentieth-century geologists and geo-physicists had heeded the fundamental axiom of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. "Everything flows." the sterile and sometimes bitter controversy that divided them in the first half of the twentieth century might have been avoided.

At the time, some geologists argued that the history of past climates, reconstructed from examination of rock strata, and the distribution of past fauna, documented through analysis of the fossil record, were inexplicable if the continents had never moved. Noting that some of the continents could be fitted together reasonably well as a kind of crustal jigsaw puzzle, they theorized that during some part of the Earth's history, the continents must have moved.

Geophysicists, looking at different types of data, reached a very different conclusion. When a major earthquake occurred, they noted, the Earth behaved like a gigantic bell struck by a hammer. it rang, and the reverberations echoed around the Earth for several hours thereafter. They inferred from this that the outer part of the Earth was strong and rigid. This inference seemed to be confirmed by the evidence of mountains. Rocks at the base of mountains like ten-kilometer-high Everest had to be able to withstand enormous stress or they would crack and the mountains collapse. Because the height of any structure is limited by the strength of its supporting materials, the stability of mountains seemed to corroborate the geophysicists' conclusion: the Earth was simply too strong for the continents to move.

There followed a classic confrontation, pitting "movement" against "rigidity," which in retrospect need never have occurred. The "strength paradox" had been familiar to generations of geologists from the study of rock deformations in mountain belts, where it had been observed that some quite rigid rocks had in the past been highly ductile, on occasion even viscous. But both geologists and geophysicists failed to connect this evidence with a phenomenon they knew in the context of practical problems of structural engineering "creep”. Creep is observed in materials that are subjected to relatively low stresses for very long periods of time; the materials deform continuously, but very slowly, like fluids with an extremely high viscosity. The process operates most rapidly in materials near their melting point.

Thus, before talking of the -strength" of rocks, both groups of scientists should have known something of the temperature of the rocks they were studying and should have specified the time scale under consideration. Rocks at the Earth's surface are between 600' and 1,000' C below their melting temperatures and thus creep so slowly that even on geological time scales of millions of years, they may be regarded as brittle and strong solids. Within the Earth, however, temperature increases relatively rapidly with depth and, below a few hundred kilometers, creep occurs so readily that on time scales of more than a few million years, rocks underneath the Earth's crust must be considered as fluids even though they are perfectly normal crystalline solids.

1. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with

(A) presenting new evidence
(B) correcting an oversimplification
(C) analyzing the reasons for a dispute
(D) reinterpreting a theory
(E) resolving a dispute between past and present views


2. It can be inferred from the passage that all of the following are true of the phenomenon of creep EXCEPT:

(A) The effects of creep on normal crystalline solids are always imperceptible.
(B) The rate of creep is increased by raising the temperature of a solid.
(C) Creep occurs even in relatively large geological structures.
(D) Creep operates most rapidly on rocks near their melting point.
(E) Creep occurs both on and below the Earth's surface.


3. The passage suggests that the author considers the disagreement between early twentieth-century geologists and geophysicists to have been

(A) confusing
(B) inevitable
(C) surprising and inexplicable
(D) hostile but ultimately useful
(E) needless and unproductive


4. According to the passage, the theoretical position of early twentieth-century geologist was based on which of the following?

I. The shapes of the Earth's continents
II. The evidence of ductility in rocks
III. The fossil record

(A) I only
(B) III only
(C) I and II only
(D) I and III only
(E) I, II, and III


5. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following statements best expresses the "strength paradox" (Highlighted)?

(A) Some rocks arc rigid and brittle, whereas others are fluid and ductile depending on their chemical composition.
(B) Rocks at the base of mountains may be very rigid while rocks higher up the mountain are more fluid.
(C) The rigidity of the same rock can vary widely depending on the physical stresses acting on it.
(D) Rocks in scene locations on the Earth's surface are far more rigid and brittle than are other rocks subjected to comparable stress.
(E) The strength of rocks in mountain belts varies according to the rate of creep in a particular location.


6. According to the author of the passage, geologists and geophysicists could have resolved their theoretical argument if they had

(A) more carefully reviewed the fossa evidence
(B) closely examined the physical appearance of the Earth's surface rock
(C) applied their knowledge of the effects of stress to the geological evidence
(D) known about the phenomenon of creep
(E) understood more completely the effects of phenomena such as earthquakes


7. The author suggests that the major reason for the disagreement between early twentieth-century geologists and geophysicists was that each group

(A) reached conflicting conclusions from separate analyses of the fossil record
(B) interpreted the evidence of rock deformations differently
(C) examined data on different kinds of phenomena
(D) based their respective theories on conflicting estimates of the Earth's age
(E) made different though equally inaccurate assumptions about the Earth's history


8. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

(A) A particular view of a scientific issue is outlined and arguments against that view are stated.
(B) A theory is presented, relevant new evidence is discussed, and the theory is reinterpreted.
(C) A scientific dispute is examined and possible resolutions of the dispute are outlined
(D) A hypothesis is stated and new evidence proving its validity is presented.
(E) A scientific dispute is summarized and reasons for its occurrence are offered.


9. Which of the following statements, if true, is most compatible with the principle underlying the geophysicists' citation of Mt. Everest as evidence for their theories?

(A) A one-hundred-story building must have a much stronger base than is necessary for a twenty-story building of similar materials.
(B) A thin external material like glass makes a skyscraper less vulnerable to stress from wind than does a thick material like brick.
(C) The girders supporting the ceilings and floors on higher levels of a multistory building must be stronger than those supporting ceilings and floors on lower levels.
(D) Multistory buildings in earthquake zones must obey height restrictions because of the probability of seismic stress.
(E) Buildings with foundations composed of relatively rigid materials art less subject to creep.

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If early twentieth-century geologists and geo- physicists had heeded 22 May 2025, 21:59
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Question 1: The author of the passage is primarily concerned with... (C) analyzing the reasons for a dispute
Answer: (C) analyzing the reasons for a disputeExplanation: The passage discusses a historical disagreement between early twentieth-century geologists and geophysicists regarding the Earth's rigidity and the phenomenon of "creep." The author delves into why each group held their particular views and how their differing interpretations of evidence led to the dispute, ultimately suggesting a resolution was possible if they had considered both sets of phenomena.
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If early twentieth-century geologists and geo- physicists had heeded 07 Jul 2025, 03:42
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Hi Sajjad1994,

Can you please post the OE for Q.3?

Thanks in advance.
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Sajjad1994
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If early twentieth-century geologists and geo- physicists had heeded 07 Jul 2025, 13:10
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Vibhatu
Hi Sajjad1994,

Can you please post the OE for Q.3?

Thanks in advance.
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