When Anton van Leeuwenhoek made the first recorded estimation of globa

Question

When Anton van Leeuwenhoek made the first recorded estimation of global population in the latter third of the 17th century, he reported the number at 13.85 billion people. Despite this grandiose guess, which was based on Leeuwenhoek's estimation of the amount of inhabitable land worldwide, a number of factors, including drought, disease, famine, high infant mortality, natural disasters, and war, had been keeping the world population far more in check. In fact, Leeuwenhoek was off by several orders of magnitude; the actual population figure for his time is now estimated at about half a billion. Although this number is relatively small compared to the nearly 7 billion people inhabiting the planet today, Leeuwenhoek made his prediction at a time when the population was rapidly expanding.

By 1830, the number of people increased twofold to a billion, and over the next century, the global population doubled again to 2 billion. Since 1930, a tripling of the human population has occurred, thanks to the scientific and technological advancements that have significantly improved life expectancy rates around the world. The developments of modern sanitation and health care practices have been particularly influential in enhancing the average quality and length of human life. Enhanced agricultural techniques provide greater crop yields from even marginal soil, making devastating food shortages a rarity around the globe. Particularly benefitting from these advances are large families in third-world communities, who once suffered high child mortality rates but now see the majority of their children reach adulthood. With each successive generation, the global population grows at a rapid pace.

According to the United Nations, Earth's current population of approximately 7 billion could swell to 10.5 billion by the year 2045; the consequences of such an increase are yet unknown, although some experts predict they are dire. In 1798, English economist Thomas Malthus postulated that the population grows faster than the food supply until war and pestilence balance the numbers, but the only time the world's population actually declined was when the bubonic plague struck Europe in the mid-14th century. Thus far, technology has managed to keep pace with the ever-expanding populace, but whether innovations will continue to keep us ahead of the demands of an enormous global population remains to be seen.    1 
 1. It can be inferred from this passage that

A. Anton van Leeuwenhoek was incompetent as a scientist.
B. someone born today will witness a tripling of the world's population.
C. the United Nations only recently began keeping population statistics.
D. the theories of Thomas Malthus will ultimately be proved correct.
E. an ever-expanding population could put a strain on world resources.

2 
 2. The author mentions Thomas Malthus's theory in order to

A. provide support for the argument that population expansion is unsustainable.
B. demonstrate that science has kept a predicted population collapse at bay.
C. divert the reader with an improbable but fascinating scientific assertion.
D. illustrate the evolution of thinking on the subject of population expansion.
E. highlight the weaknesses of 18th-century scientific understanding.

3 
 3. According to the passage, the factor that has had the greatest impact on population growth since Anton van Leeuwenhoek's time has been

A. plagues and other instances of disease.
B. war and natural disasters.
C. scientific and technological innovation.
D. high infant mortality.
E. the tradition of raising large families in the third world.

RC Butler 2021  -  Practice Two RCs Daily.   
Passage # 37 Date: 27-Jan-2021
 This question is a part of RC Butler 2021 .  Click here for Details

debjit1990 · Answer

answers:
1>E
2>E
3>C

hanhan428 · Answer

can you explain number 2 and 3?

Ks1859 · Answer

Hi There!

Let me try helping you.

2. The author mentions Thomas Malthus's theory in order to

So after reading this question, the first thing that popped in my mind was that the author is trying to support his argument by mentioning Thomas Malthus's theory. Although, I did not go to the passage again to see what he supported, but yes it was in the same direction of the passage.

A. provide support for the argument that population expansion is unsustainable.-unsustainable(Not able to be held at the current level)-Absolutely, the author does supports and tries to give extra weight by providing various supports, that the current population will increase in a later period of time.- Correct 
 B. demonstrate that science has kept a predicted population collapse at bay.-Its is just an additional point in the argument, but not the reason to introduce Thomas's theory
C. divert the reader with an improbable but fascinating scientific assertion.-Absolutely wrong-OUT
D. illustrate the evolution of thinking on the subject of population expansion.-If it would have been to illustrate evolution, there would have been other theories, argument or contentions in some order.- OUT
E. highlight the weaknesses of 18th-century scientific understanding.-Wrong

3. According to the passage, the factor that has had the greatest impact on population growth since Anton van Leeuwenhoek's time has been

This one is a simple one, the author says in the later in the 3rd paragraph he says "Thus far, technology has managed to keep pace with the ever-expanding populace, but whether innovations will continue to keep us ahead of the demands of an enormous global population remains to be seen."

Straight C

Hope this helps!

Do let me know if the reasoning for the above answers is wrong! I'd be happy to hear

ravigupta2912 · Answer

I got A incorrect but it is the best of options. I voted B and after analysing, I feel B isn't correct.

B. demonstrate that science has kept a predicted population collapse at bay.

"science" "predicted population collapse"

First of all, the prediction is for future. The future events haven't materialised yet, so we don't know the outcome. Secondly, TM mentions war and pestilence as the reasons for balancing global population. These factors are not related to science. So B is definitely out.

rahulgarg02 · Answer

Hi,
Could someone please explain why is the answer to question no.2 not 'B'. The last sentence of the passage which is preceded by the question stem states that "Thus far, technology has managed to keep pace with the ever-expanding populace, but whether innovations will continue to keep us ahead of the demands of an enormous global population remains to be seen." So isn't he/she trying to show that Thomas Malthus's theory has been presented as a concern which has thus far been kept at bay by science and technology?

Please clarify

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Read the explanation posted already, find it in the link below https://gmatclub.com/forum/when-anton-v ... l#p2733576 Good Luck

LaveenaPanchal · Answer

1. It can be inferred from this passage that

A. Anton van Leeuwenhoek was incompetent as a scientist.  Incorrect. Passage no where indicates this. 
B. someone born today will witness a tripling of the world's population.  Incorrect. Since 1930, a tripling of the human population has occurred. This does not mean it continues till today. 
C. the United Nations only recently began keeping population statistics.  Incorrect. Passage does not give any information on when did United Nations began keeping population statistics. 
D. the theories of Thomas Malthus will ultimately be proved correct.  Incorrect. This is not mentioned in the passage. 
E. an ever-expanding population could put a strain on world resources.  Correct. This can be inferred from the last line of the passage.

2. The author mentions Thomas Malthus's theory in order to

A. provide support for the argument that population expansion is unsustainable.  Correct. The author states that Thomas Malthus postulated that the population grows faster than the food supply until war and pestilence balance the numbers. 
B. demonstrate that science has kept a predicted population collapse at bay.  Incorrect. Science has infact contributed to population growth. 
C. divert the reader with an improbable but fascinating scientific assertion.  Incorrect. No where is passage is indicated that Malthus's theory is untrue. 
D. illustrate the evolution of thinking on the subject of population expansion.  Incorrect. There is no evolution of thinking discussed in the passage. 
E. highlight the weaknesses of 18th-century scientific understanding.  Incorrect. There is no weakness in 18th century scientific understanding.

3. According to the passage, the factor that has had the greatest impact on population growth since Anton van Leeuwenhoek's time has been

A. plagues and other instances of disease.  Incorrect. It has impact on population check and not on growth .
B. war and natural disasters.  Incorrect. It was postulated in Thomas Malthus Theory.  
C. scientific and technological innovation.  Correct. It is suggested by the lines "Since 1930, a tripling of the human population has occurred, thanks to the scientific and technological advancements that have significantly improved life expectancy rates around the world." 
D. high infant mortality. Incorrect.  It is mentioned in the list of factors not considered for Population estimate.  
E. the tradition of raising large families in the third world.  Incorrect. It is mentioned in the list of factors not considered for Population estimate.

VerbalBot · Answer

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When Anton van Leeuwenhoek made the first recorded estimation of globa

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When Anton van Leeuwenhoek made the first recorded estimation of globa

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