PrepTest 144, Section 1, Question 21
Passage A Karl Popper's main contribution to the(496 more words not shown)
Passage A(258 more words not shown)
Passage B(246 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- Arepudiating an experimental(1 more words not shown)
- Brevising a(1 more words not shown)
- Cdisproving a(1 more words not shown)
- Dpredicting a planet's(1 more words not shown)
- Etheories that are(4 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We need something A discusses in general that B shows happening. A asks when negative evidence disproves a theory. B eventually describes the rejection of Newton's theory of gravity after the Mercury problem and Einstein's successful alternative.
What we’re looking for
Keep that separate from the Uranus episode, where an auxiliary assumption changes and Newton's laws survive.
Working the answers
- A
B does not reject the observed orbits as bad results. Astronomers accept the mismatch and reconsider what produced their prediction. Challenging a theory or assumption is different from repudiating the result itself.
- B
In the Mercury episode, Newton's theory is rejected in favor of Einstein's. B does not describe making revisions within Newton's theory. In the Uranus episode, the revision concerns an auxiliary assumption, not the theory itself.
- CCorrect
Disproof is central to A's discussion, and B illustrates a theory being rejected in the Mercury case. We do not need to pretend the initial failed prediction accomplished that by itself; B describes the further developments leading to rejection.
- D
B certainly involves predicting planets' orbits. A does not mention that specific activity, so this satisfies only half the question.
- E
A mentions the requirement that scientific theories make testable predictions. B does not illustrate an untestable theory: its examples involve predictions checked against observations.
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