PrepTest 153, Section 2, Question 11
Unlike other mechanical devices, the clock did not(55 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- APresent-day clocks are(9 more words not shown)
- BThe mechanisms used(21 more words not shown)
- CClocks used only(11 more words not shown)
- DThe mechanisms that(23 more words not shown)
- EInterest in predicting(13 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The clocks got simpler? That's an interesting reversal.
The reason is their original job. Imagine a mechanism built to predict where the moon or Saturn will be. Keeping track of the passing minutes is something it also lets you do. If people gradually care more about that timekeeping function and less about the astronomical one, we can see why later clocks might need less complicated machinery.
What we’re looking for
We have a set of facts to draw from, not an argument we need to attack. The most-supported answer could concern how a device's purpose affects its complexity, or simply the unusual movement from complicated clocks to simpler ones. Let's see which choice stays within the comparison we were given.
Working the answers
- A
The astronomical functions diminished in importance; they did not necessarily disappear. A present-day clock could still help predict an astronomical event even if timekeeping were its main purpose. “Of no use” goes beyond what we know.
- B
Watch the second half of the comparison. This compares older astronomical mechanisms with newer mechanisms used to predict astronomical phenomena. But the passage explains simplification through a shift toward timekeeping. It does not establish that the machinery for astronomical prediction itself generally became simpler.
A recent astronomical instrument could be extremely complicated. That would not conflict with some newer timekeeping clocks being simpler than the early astronomical clocks. B does not make the comparison supported by the passage.
- C
Two clocks could both be used only to tell time while differing considerably in mechanical complexity. Picture a simple timekeeping mechanism and an elaborate one. The passage does not rule out that difference. It compares early clocks with later ones; it does not make all time-only clocks roughly equal.
- DCorrect
This keeps the comparison straight: early mechanisms for astronomical prediction versus timekeeping mechanisms in some later clocks. The earliest clocks were the most complicated, and their complexity served an astronomical purpose. As timekeeping became the more important function, clocks became simpler. D draws that supported comparison without claiming that every modern device or every modern astronomical mechanism is simple.
- E
A change in the function of clocks does not establish a steady decline in people's interest in astronomy. People could remain interested in predicting astronomical events while using other instruments for that purpose. E changes the subject from the development of clocks to the interests of people.
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