PrepTest 104, Section 1, Question 12
Clothes made from natural fibers such as cotton,(64 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AWashing clothes made(12 more words not shown)
- BHigh temperatures have(18 more words not shown)
- CClothes made from(12 more words not shown)
- DIf natural fibers(20 more words not shown)
- EArtificial fibers are(5 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The cotton starts curled, gets straightened to make cloth, and then curls back when heated. That gives us a simple picture of why the cloth shrinks: the stretched-out fibers return to a more compact shape.
But high temperatures return all cloth fibers to their original state. Why doesn't the same account give us the same shrinkage for artificial fibers? Perhaps they were straight to begin with. Then returning to their starting shape would not involve curling up.
What we’re looking for
We're asked what the information most strongly supports. My prediction is that artificial fibers are straight in their original state. That connects the manufacturing requirement, the effect of heat, and the contrast between natural and artificial cloth.
Working the answers
- A
The passage explains what high temperatures do. It doesn't say low temperatures produce the opposite effect or make natural fibers slightly straighter. They might simply leave the fibers unchanged. We can't infer a new effect for cold washing from the stated effect of hot washing.
- B
A blend still contains natural fibers, and the passage says high temperatures return all fibers in cloth to their original states. Its natural fibers were originally curled. So mixing in artificial fibers doesn't establish that heat has no effect on the straightness of any fibers in the fabric. B removes the natural fibers' described response without support.
- C
Shrinking with heat isn't the same as stretching easily when pulled. We don't know how much force either fabric requires to stretch, or how far it can stretch. The account of a fiber returning to its original shape doesn't supply that comparison.
- D
We know that natural fibers can be straightened before cloth is made. We don't know whether they can be straightened again after hot washing curls them. The passage describes a change, not an irreversible change. “Cannot be straightened again” adds a limitation we haven't been given.
- ECorrect
Cloth requires straight fibers, and heat returns the fibers to their original state. Natural fibers shrink back toward a curled original shape. The contrast with artificial fibers supports the conclusion that their original shape is already straight, so returning to it doesn't produce that same curling-and-shrinking effect.
This follows the mechanism the passage gives us. We aren't adding a separate theory about elasticity, cold water, or reversing the process afterward.
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