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Question 5


gmatimothy
Hey GMATNinja,

Would you please elaborate on what #5 choice means when it says "theoretical" support? Does it entail support from work (Toomre's modeling) to simulate Larson's theory? Unsure how that modeling can be described as theoretical. Thanks!
Quote:
5. The passage suggests that Toomre's work complements Larson's theory because it

(A) specifies more precisely the time frame proposed by Larson
(B) subtly alters Larson's theory to make it more plausible
(C) supplements Larson's hypothesis with direct astronomical observations
(D) provides theoretical support for the ideas suggested by Larson
(E) expands Larson's theory to make it more widely applicable
That's a good question about the meaning of "theoretical" support!

Before we dissect that term, however, notice that it's possible to identify (D) as correct even without worrying too much about the exact meaning of the word "theoretical" in this case.

From the passage, we know that Toomre's computer modeling is cited to support Larson's idea about the formation of the Milky Way. The only answer choices that come close to capturing this meaning are (C) and (D). But notice that (C) says Toomre provided "direct astronomical observations." And since Toomre provided a computer model, not "direct astronomical observations," (C) is definitely wrong, which leaves us with (D).

Regarding the word "theoretical": notice that Toomre does not support Larson's idea with actual data or measurements. That is, Toomre does not provide "astronomical observations." Instead, Toomre provides a computer model which suggests that Larson's idea could be correct.

In other words, Toomre's support for Larson is based on a theoretical model, as opposed to actual observations.

I hope that helps!
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You're right, I actually chose (C) for this question; I inferred that the modeling showed related observations that support Larson's theory, but I shouldn't make such an assumption - choice (D) gets you to where we want to be without an unnecessary implication. Thanks so much, you're the best!

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Question 5


gmatimothy
Hey GMATNinja,

Would you please elaborate on what #5 choice means when it says "theoretical" support? Does it entail support from work (Toomre's modeling) to simulate Larson's theory? Unsure how that modeling can be described as theoretical. Thanks!
Quote:
5. The passage suggests that Toomre's work complements Larson's theory because it

(A) specifies more precisely the time frame proposed by Larson
(B) subtly alters Larson's theory to make it more plausible
(C) supplements Larson's hypothesis with direct astronomical observations
(D) provides theoretical support for the ideas suggested by Larson
(E) expands Larson's theory to make it more widely applicable
That's a good question about the meaning of "theoretical" support!

Before we dissect that term, however, notice that it's possible to identify (D) as correct even without worrying too much about the exact meaning of the word "theoretical" in this case.

From the passage, we know that Toomre's computer modeling is cited to support Larson's idea about the formation of the Milky Way. The only answer choices that come close to capturing this meaning are (C) and (D). But notice that (C) says Toomre provided "direct astronomical observations." And since Toomre provided a computer model, not "direct astronomical observations," (C) is definitely wrong, which leaves us with (D).

Regarding the word "theoretical": notice that Toomre does not support Larson's idea with actual data or measurements. That is, Toomre does not provide "astronomical observations." Instead, Toomre provides a computer model which suggests that Larson's idea could be correct.

In other words, Toomre's support for Larson is based on a theoretical model, as opposed to actual observations.

I hope that helps!
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Hey GMATNinja! the option E in 7th question is "indicate that the theories in question are no longer as unconventional as they once seemed"
.. "are no longer as unconventional" i.e they are conventional now? Can you please help me understand what I am missing here?

GMATNinja
Quote:
7. The author of the passage puts the word "renegade" (line 29) in quotation marks most probably in order to

(A) emphasize the lack of support for the theories in question
(B) contrast the controversial quality of the theories in question with the respectable character of their formulators
(C) generate skepticism about the theories in question
(D) ridicule the scientists who once doubted the theories in question
(E) indicate that the theories in question are no longer as unconventional as they once seemed
srikanth9502
In Question 7, I am confused between option A and E. Could you please explain why A is wrong and E is correct?
The word "renegade" implies that those theories were not conventional or commonly accepted. This does not necessarily imply that those theories lacked support.

For example, there might be strong support for a theory claiming that eating hot dogs every day is good for your health. But if most people reject that theory, it would still be considered "renegade".

The author puts the word "renegade" in quotes to emphasize that those theories are gaining acceptance. For example, imagine that new evidence suggested that eating broccoli and carrots, foods commonly viewed as healthy, was in fact bad for your health. You might then say:

    I no longer want to eat "healthy" foods like broccoli and carrots.

The use of the quotation marks emphasizes that those foods were once accepted as healthy but that this view is changing. The same thing applies in this passage. The theories were once considered "renegade", but now they are becoming less and less "renegade".

I hope that helps!
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Hi Experts,

Please can you help me with QS 2.

I had rejected Option A as Larson states "The halo of the Milky Way formed over a period of a billion or more years as hundreds of small gas clouds drifted about, collided, lost orbital energy, and finally collapsed into a centrally condensed elliptical system"

How can we infer from the above lines that he also states "amount of time it took to form the galaxy" as galaxy and the spherical halo surrounding it is diff.

Thus isn't the comparison between the amount of time it took the spherical halo around the galaxy to form.

Thanks
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Hello experts,
I need a clear explanation of question 6.
What is the main asking point of this question?
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KittyDoodles
Hi Experts,

Please can you help me with QS 2.

The question calls for something that Larson's theory and the conventional theory both EXPLICITLY address, in ways that contradict one another.

If we absolutely must, we can hold the two theories up against each other point-by-point. But this is actually all that the passage says about Larson's theory:
the halo of the Milky Way formed over a period of a billion or more years as hundreds of small gas clouds drifted about, collided, lost orbital energy, and finally collapsed into a centrally condensed elliptical system



There's not much here. Remember, the correct answer MUST be explicitly mentioned for both theories (as that's the only way to know when they contradict each other)—so why not start out by just checking this very brief blurb about Larson's theory for each of the answer choices?

Quote:
(A) amount of time it took to form the galaxy

We have Larson's take on this: over a period of a billion or more years"


Quote:
(B) size of the galaxy immediately after its formation

Nothing here about this.


Quote:
(C) the particular gases involved in the formation the galaxy

All we have is "small gas clouds". No specs about the specific gases in these clouds.


Quote:
(D) importance of the age of globular clusters in determining how the galaxy was formed

Nothing about globular clusters at all for Larson.


Quote:
(E) shape of the halo that formed around the galaxy

Nope. (The halo degenerated into something shaped like an ellipse, but we're not told anything about the shape of the original halo.)


Oh hey! We're done. Only A gives us anything that's mentioned in those lines about Larson's theory, so we don't even have to bother with the conventional theory.
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KittyDoodles
Hi Experts,

Please can you help me with QS 2.

I had rejected Option A as Larson states "The halo of the Milky Way formed over a period of a billion or more years as hundreds of small gas clouds drifted about, collided, lost orbital energy, and finally collapsed into a centrally condensed elliptical system"

How can we infer from the above lines that he also states "amount of time it took to form the galaxy" as galaxy and the spherical halo surrounding it is diff.

Thus isn't the comparison between the amount of time it took the spherical halo around the galaxy to form.

Thanks

The Milky Way galaxy IS the "halo". This is stated in the first paragraph:
The Milky Way contains about 125 globular clusters (compact groups of anywhere from several tens of thousands to perhaps a million stars) distributed in a roughly spherical halo around the galactic nucleus


The "halo", in other words, represents the shape of the entire contents of the Milky Way galaxy.
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Question 7


Anirudh16
Hey GMATNinja! the option E in 7th question is "indicate that the theories in question are no longer as unconventional as they once seemed"
.. "are no longer as unconventional" i.e they are conventional now? Can you please help me understand what I am missing here?

GMATNinja
Quote:
7. The author of the passage puts the word "renegade" (line 29) in quotation marks most probably in order to

(A) emphasize the lack of support for the theories in question
(B) contrast the controversial quality of the theories in question with the respectable character of their formulators
(C) generate skepticism about the theories in question
(D) ridicule the scientists who once doubted the theories in question
(E) indicate that the theories in question are no longer as unconventional as they once seemed
srikanth9502
In Question 7, I am confused between option A and E. Could you please explain why A is wrong and E is correct?
The word "renegade" implies that those theories were not conventional or commonly accepted. This does not necessarily imply that those theories lacked support.

For example, there might be strong support for a theory claiming that eating hot dogs every day is good for your health. But if most people reject that theory, it would still be considered "renegade".

The author puts the word "renegade" in quotes to emphasize that those theories are gaining acceptance. For example, imagine that new evidence suggested that eating broccoli and carrots, foods commonly viewed as healthy, was in fact bad for your health. You might then say:

    I no longer want to eat "healthy" foods like broccoli and carrots.

The use of the quotation marks emphasizes that those foods were once accepted as healthy but that this view is changing. The same thing applies in this passage. The theories were once considered "renegade", but now they are becoming less and less "renegade".

I hope that helps!
Yes, the passage suggests that the "renegade" theories are now more conventional than they used to be.

Thinking about the overall flow of the passage, in the second paragraph we learn about an earlier "conventional" view. In the third paragraph, we get some evidence that goes against this earlier conventional view.

Because the earlier view has been undermined, astronomers are taking a second look at some alternative theories that were considered renegade in their own time. But with this new evidence, it appears that the theories are not so "renegade" after all -- which is why the author uses the quotation marks.

So, while these theories used to be quite unconventional, they are now more conventional. (E) is the correct answer to question 7.

I hope that helps!
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Hello experts

for question 3, if we take the first option, absolute age of the galaxy is between 10 to 17 billion years. We can infer that the galaxy was formed during this period of time, and hence this describes the time gap of billion years for the formation of the galaxy.
This is in line with the recent discovery.
However, in E, we are explicitly talking about the stars. The stars are not in question here, but the clusters, which are a group of many stars, are. Hence, if we find discrepancies in the age of stars, there can be other reasons for this as well. What we are interested here is the age of the clusters.
Can you please explain to me where I am getting wrong here ?
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