PrepTest 128, Section 4, Question 18
In the early 1900s, most astronomers mistakenly believed(458 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(12 more words not shown)
- AIts use during(10 more words not shown)
- BIt yielded data(13 more words not shown)
- CIt played a(18 more words not shown)
- DIt was regarded(18 more words not shown)
- EIt was a(25 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
What have we learned about spectroscopy? It uses light patterns to identify chemicals, and the data can be interpreted in different ways. Those are sensible starting points.
What we’re looking for
The right answer may draw a further, smaller inference, but we'll need to connect that inference to what the technique actually detected.
Working the answers
- A
We aren't told how widely spectroscopy was used outside astronomy.
- B
Payne questioned the existing interpretation and examined the data closely. That isn't a story of initially rejecting the data as unreliable and later accepting them.
- C
The author doesn't establish that spectroscopy played a crucial, overlooked role in discovering fusion. Its role here is evidence about the sun's composition.
- D
We aren't given this judgment about the instrument's reliability. Disputing Payne's reading isn't the same as calling spectroscopy an unproven tool.
- ECorrect
Payne's reading indicated ninety percent hydrogen and mostly helium in the remainder, while still detecting iron and other elements found on Earth. Those other elements occupy only a small part of the remaining ten percent. So the technique could detect elements present in amounts considerably below ten percent. This isn't an exact iron-percentage calculation; it's an inference from the reported composition and the fact that these minor elements were detected.
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