PrepTest 143, Section 1, Question 2
Popular science publications that explain new developments in(62 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(12 more words not shown)
- AScience publications should(9 more words not shown)
- BThe more recent(16 more words not shown)
- CIn reporting scientific(15 more words not shown)
- DIn reporting scientific(13 more words not shown)
- EEven the most(10 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
What is the publication trying to achieve?
A catchy headline such as “Cancer cured!” might attract readers while badly overstating a discovery. That example helps me see the tradeoff, though the passage's particular concern is heavy reliance on metaphors: the accessible writing reaches people but usually gets the science wrong. More rigorous writing is accurate but loses the wide audience.
I understand the dilemma. I don't yet understand why accuracy must win.
If the goal is selling copies, a large audience might matter more. If the goal is getting people interested in science, perhaps an approachable explanation gets them curious enough to learn more later. Those are possible goals, not endorsements of inaccurate reporting. They show why describing the tradeoff doesn't decide which side to choose.
What we’re looking for
The author chooses rigor and says to stop pursuing the wide audience. The question asks for a principle supporting that choice. Give me a rule that puts getting the science right ahead of reaching more people.
Working the answers
- A
A balance is a different recommendation. The author tells publications to give up trying to reach a wide audience, not to find a middle ground between accuracy and accessibility. A doesn't establish why the author is right to choose accuracy at that audience's expense.
- B
This makes the difficulty worse for newer discoveries, but difficulty doesn't tell us what we should prioritize. We could accept that accurate reporting is hard and still choose to pursue a large audience. The missing piece is a value judgment, not another description of the problem.
- CCorrect
Accuracy matters more than audience size. That is exactly the priority the argument needs: when accurate writing and a wide audience conflict in the way described, accepting the smaller audience is the better choice. C connects the dilemma to the recommendation.
- D
This chooses the other side. If reaching more readers matters more than accuracy, the publications have a reason to keep pursuing a wide audience despite the scientific shortcomings. That challenges the recommendation.
- E
Some metaphors can remain even in rigorous writing. The passage's concern is relying heavily on metaphorical writing that usually misrepresents the science, not eliminating every metaphor. E doesn't tell us whether accuracy or audience size should take priority.
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