It is natural to think of androids as the prerogative of science ficti

Question

It is natural to think of androids as the prerogative of science fiction or, at the very least, of cutting-edge science. Yet clockmaker Peter Kinzing and joiner David Roentgen essentially created an android in 1784. Their device is a finely dressed, robotic version of Marie Antoinette manipulating a tympanum—a musical instrument that plays, in this case, eight tunes by striking 48 strings with a pair of hammers. This machine—which Kinzing and Roentgen sold to the real Marie Antoinette—is an android not because of its human form but because it moves and functions as a human would to create music. Music box technology is at the heart of the device; spinning discs strike levers to make the android move, and the device is precisely calibrated to duplicate muscular effort. In many ways, the challenges Kinzing and Roentgen faced in the eighteenth century were no different from those researchers seek to overcome in the android-engineering laboratories of our time.    1 
 1. Which of the following CANNOT be inferred from the passage?

I. Robotic designers today still use elements of 18th-century technology in their creations.
II. Marie Antoinette had some interest in clockwork mechanisms.
III. The sheer complexity of the tympanum elevates it from music box to android status.

A. I Only
B. III Only
C. I and III Only
D. II and III Only
E. I, II, and III

2 
 2. Which of the following, if true, would be most analogous to the creation of Kinzing and Roentgen’s device as described in the passage?

A. A team of model makers creates an exact, full-scale replica of a 13th-century castle.
B. A 12th-century alchemist created a drug that functioned chemically in much the same way as a modern antidepressant.
C. A 19th-century engineer designed an automobile from which modern automobile manufacturers take inspiration.
D. Ancient Egyptians used kites to help them erect their stone obelisks.
E. A 21st-century supercomputer replicates human decision making, including an emotional component.

RC Butler 2023  -  Practice Two RC Passages Everyday.   
Passage # 301 Date: 30 Aug-2023
 This question is part of RC Butler 2023 .  Click here for Details

pudu · Answer

1. A only because in the passage it is said only that android makers still faces challenges similar to that faced by Peter and David.So we can't derive 1 from the passage.

2. D. Ancient Egyptians used kites to help them erect their stone obelisks. Because kites is using as a helping hand like Peter and David's device was manipulating a tympanum

Its_me_aka_ak · Answer

this threw me off, kindly explain both

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

1. Which of the following CANNOT be inferred from the passage?

Explanation

Analyze the question stem

This is an Inference all-that-apply question, asking for all the answer(s) that cannot reasonably be concluded based on the information in the passage.

Research

There is no specific reference point in the question stem, so review the passage map.

Make a prediction

No prediction can be made since all sorts of ideas can't be inferred from the passage. We can't infer that 18th-century clockmakers liked pizza, for example. But you can refresh your memory of the ideas that could appear in incorrect answers: Kinzing and Roentgen's device was an android because it emulated human function, and these men solved the same engineering problems as do modern android designers.

Evaluate the answer choices

There is nothing in the passage to  support (I) . While the final sentence says that researchers today share the same challenges that Kinzing and Roentgen had, it says nothing about technology used by modern robot designers.

(II)  is also not supported by the passage. Although the makers of the 18th-century android were clockmakers, no mention is made of clockwork in the Marie Antoinette android, nor does the passage indicate why she purchased it. Perhaps she was flattered that it looked like her.

(III)  is also not supported by the passage. It is not the tympanum that makes the android an android; it is shape and movement that make it an android.

(I), (II),  and  (III)  are the correct answers.

Answer: E

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

2. Which of the following, if true, would be most analogous to the creation of Kinzing and Roentgen’s device as described in the passage?

Analyze the question stem

The question stem asks for an answer choice that parallels Kinzing and Roentgen's creation. The choices for a parallelism question such as this one will present new situations, and the task is to find one that represents the same principle or sequence of steps as is in the passage.

Research

The question asks specifically about Kinzing and Roentgen's invention, so start by using your passage map to refresh your memory and then reread the part of the passage that describes the invention.

Make a prediction

The author's main point is that a historical device was so much like a modern invention in the way it functions that it deserves to be put in the same category, namely that it was an android. The correct answer will speak to this relationship of past and present innovation.

Evaluate the answer choices

(B)  is analogous to the prediction, in that someone a long time ago invented a drug that functions similarly to a modern pharmaceutical.

(A)  is a 180. People today are re-creating something that people long ago already made. This is not the same as someone a long time ago creating something that would be considered cutting-edge technology by future people.

(C)  gets the relative time frame of the inventions right, but the relationship is wrong. Nowhere does the author claim that today's android makers get inspiration from Marie Antoinette's music-making device or, indeed, that they are even aware of it.

(D)  discusses a use of technology in the past but does not relate a past invention to a modern one, so eliminate this choice.

(E)  discusses a modern or future use of technology but does not relate it to a past invention, so eliminate this choice.

TAKEAWAY:  Questions asking for analogous circumstances are uncommon, but you should be prepared in case you see one on Test Day. Before evaluating the choices, have the situation presented in the passage clearly in mind; then rule out any choice that departs from the pattern.

Answer: B

It is natural to think of androids as the prerogative of science ficti

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

It is natural to think of androids as the prerogative of science ficti

Prep Toolkit

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