PrepTest 129, Section 4, Question 26
Fractal geometry is a mathematical theory devoted to(468 more words not shown)
The enthusiastic practitioners of fractal(23 more words not shown)
- AThe Koch curve(17 more words not shown)
- BFractal geometry will(17 more words not shown)
- CThe greatest importance(19 more words not shown)
- DStudying self-similarity was(8 more words not shown)
- ECertain complex natural(11 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
These practitioners are the enthusiasts, not the skeptics. They expect fractal geometry to rival calculus in significance and to describe complex natural forms with new precision. The cloud example shows the kind of promise they see.
What we’re looking for
We should look for a belief that supports that outlook without inventing a more specific claim about which fractal is best or which older techniques will disappear.
Working the answers
- A
The Koch curve is an example. We aren't told it's the easiest fractal to generate or the most important one.
- B
The comparison is between describing a cloud with fractal geometry and describing a house with traditional geometry. It doesn't say fractal geometry will take over the same applications. New applications could be important without duplicating the old ones.
- C
Computer images have attracted public attention, but the enthusiasts' claims go beyond popularity. Nothing identifies wider publicity as the images' greatest importance.
- D
Using computers to display intricate patterns doesn't establish that studying self-similarity was impossible before sophisticated computers existed.
- ECorrect
If fractal geometry can describe a complex natural form such as a cloud, the enthusiasts must see a relevant resemblance between those forms and the fractal patterns being studied. Self-similarity is the common property developed here. The proposed natural application supports this limited claim about certain forms, not a claim that every natural object works this way.
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