Toward the end of the 19th century, many scientists thought that all

Question

Toward the end of the 19th century, many scientists thought that all the great scientific discoveries had already been made and that there was not much left to do beyond some “tidying up.” Max Planck, born in 1858, turned this notion upside down with his study of black-body radiation. Even in a vacuum, a hot body will tend to come to thermal equilibrium with a colder body by radiative heat transfer. This is the principle by which we derive energy from the sun. However,   measurement of black-body radiation frequencies across a range of temperatures resulted in a parabolic curve, which theory in Planck’s time could not explain.   After many years of work devoted to this problem, Planck succeeded in quantitatively explaining the experimental data;   his key insight was that energy comes in small, discrete packets, called quanta  . His theory was the birth of what is called quantum mechanics, the revolutionary theory of matter that is fundamental to the modern understanding of physics, chemistry, and molecular biology.    1 
   His theory was the birth of what is called quantum mechanics, the revolutionary theory of matter that is fundamental to the modern understanding of physics, chemistry, and molecular biology.   
 1) Select the sentence that best describes the importance of Max Planck’s work to modern science, as described in the passage.  
 
  2  
 2) Which of the following would best paraphrase the opening sentence?

A. By the late 1800s, much of the scientific community felt it had completed the majority of its work and minor revisions were its only remaining task. 
B. By 1900, few scientists were still making significant discoveries, and most projects were revising current theories. 
C. At the end of the 19th century, scientists were concerned that they had run out of discoveries to make and could only perfect already proven theories. 
D. By 1900, the scientific community had declared that it had come to understand the natural laws of the universe. 
E. At the end of the 19th century, scientists ceased trying to formulate new theories.

3 
 3) Which of the following best describes the relationship between the highlighted portions of the passage?

A. Topic and scope 
B. Theory and debunking 
C. Problem and solution 
D. Hypothesis and analysis 
E. Thesis and synthesis

Vissamsetty · Answer

Mistake in option A, It is said that by the end of 1800. Rather it should be the end of 1900 to make it correct option.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

1) Select the sentence that best describes the importance of Max Planck’s work to modern science, as described in the passage.

The last sentence provides a summary of the importance of his work.

His theory was the birth of what is called quantum mechanics, the revolutionary theory of matter that is fundamental to the modern understanding of physics, chemistry, and molecular biology.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

2) Which of the following would best paraphrase the opening sentence?

While reading the paragraph, paraphrase the text in your head to make sure you understand it. The key aspect of this sentence is that, at the time, there were a number of scientists who believed that the major discoveries had been made and the remaining scientific work was to tweak and perfect current theories. With that in mind, you can look through the options to see which best fits this idea. Answer  choice (A)  is an excellent paraphrase of the sentence.

(B)  is problematic because there is a fundamental difference between scientists believing all the great discoveries to have been made and scientists making few new significant discoveries.

You can also reject  choices (C), (D),  and  (E)  because their description of  “scientists”  and the  “scientific community”  as a whole is too broad. The original sentence only states  “many scientists,”  suggesting that there were dissenters, such as Planck. 
 
  Answer: A

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

3) Which of the following best describes the relationship between the highlighted portions of the passage?

What you must keep in mind here is that you are asked for the relationship between the two highlighted phrases, not their relationship to the passage as a whole. A good way to attack this sort of question is to paraphrase each of the phrases and identify what it is saying on its own. The first phrase states an issue: that the current theory could not explain the parabolic curve scientists observed. The second phrase tells us of Planck’s breakthrough discovery of quanta. Thus, you can predict that the answer will tell us the relationship is between the limitations of the current theory and Planck’s solution.

(A)  is a trap because it uses words you frequently see elsewhere and are admonished to remember when considering any Reading Comprehension passage. However, topic and scope are irrelevant to this question, and  choice (A)  can be dismissed.

(B)  may be tempting because the first highlighted portion does contain the word  “theory.”  However, based on the wording of the first phrase, it is clear that the issue with the current theory was recognized by the scientific community; thus, Planck’s solution was not a challenge to a widely accepted belief, and “debunking” is not appropriate.

In answer  choice (C) , you are given problem and solution, which matches your prediction and is the correct answer.

(D)  is out of scope; a hypothesis is not brought up here, nor is that hypothesis being explained further.

(E)  is incorrect since the first highlighted sentence is not a thesis, or summary, of the paragraph, but rather an issue that needs to be addressed.

Answer: C

Toward the end of the 19th century, many scientists thought that all

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards