Q10

[Michelle5]

Hello, I was wondering if someone would be able to sight where this is in the passage? Thank you!

[fchoudhury3]

I believe this is suggested by the text in lines 33-36.

[Gerald]

Here's my explanation, based on the passage discussion posted at the top of the thread.

10. A
Question Type: Inference (14-18, 33-36, 38-40)

This question asks us to infer an opinion of the author. Our process is to find supporting text in the passage and make a baby-step inference to get the author’s opinion. Anything that contradicts our scale, we don’t like. Meanwhile, anything that encapsulates our scale will earn our favor. Here, we can infer the author believes "archivists have little choice but to become dependent on computer technology to store information." Not only does this align with our scale, but lines 33-36 state that archivists hesitant to adopt computer technology are "quickly running out of time" to do so. This indicates the author believes archivists must adopt the technology before the calamity of information deterioration. Lines 38-40 go on to say computer technology will provide the durability required for archiving, while lines 14-18 discuss the many types of conventional media that will be lost if they are not transferred to digital technology.

(B) This is unsupported by the passage. While the passage mentions current technology isn’t durable, the author never takes a "wait for better" approach. Rather, the author repeatedly states time is of the essence to save deteriorating conventional media.

(C) This is contradicted by the passage. The end of the first paragraph discusses the many durability issues of modern conventional media (e.g. VHS lasts only 20 years).

(D) This is unsupported. The first paragraph discusses problems of photographs and problems of text on acid paper, but it does not compare which causes greater headaches for archivists.

(E) This is out of scope. The passage never discusses whether cramming more info in less space affects durability.

[tuf58975]

Thank you! That makes much sense!!

[bswise2]

Would someone mind explaining why E is not sufficiently supported by lines 6-8? Thank you!

[coltonk30]

I chose answer choice E too. I found this question pretty difficult and E attractive at first glance. One thing I always do when I read a passage is note when distinct viewpoints are being advanced. In this case, the author advances one archivist's view in lines 6-8. The archivist's view isn't necessarily the same as that of the author. And indeed, the author doesn't attribute the decreasing durability of information storage to the increasing amount of information in a given space so much as to "the speed with which each new generation of technology supplants the last" (lines 25-26). Because ways of storing information are quickly becoming supplanted and, consequently, are potentially unable to yield the information they were used to store, this pace of technological change accounts for the decreasing durability of information storage. This seems to be the author's view, distinct from the view articulated in E.

When I answer questions like this one (asking us to infer the author's view), I try to pick the a/c that is the least bold. A is the least bold because it does not rule out the possibility of an archivist's choice to refuse to become dependent on computer technology to store information or of an archivist's reluctance "to become dependent on ever-changing computer technology." After all, if archivists have little choice, they still have a choice. Thus, A is supported by lines 33-36.