Q27

[jardinsouslapluie5]

Why is (E) wrong?

[demetri.blaisdell]

This is a pretty general inference question so we have to dive right in to the answer choices:

(D) is the right answer. The subject matter of course is fractals themselves. Lines 2-4 tell us that despite all the work mathematicians have been doing with fractals, they haven't defined them. It's clearly considered a mathematical theory (Lines 1-2). Lines 38-43 tell us that practitioners are already using fractal geometry to make cool patterns and describe forms. The last part of the last paragraph tells us there are still some problems with the theory but it is already fairly well-developed.

The wrong answers:

(A) is contradicted. Lines 37-40 talk about the worldwide public that is captivated by fractal patterns and I doubt many of them understand the theorems and whatnot.

(B) has degree problems. Sure, computers have helped in the development of fractal geometry. But we can't infer that most of the breakthroughs in (ALL OF) mathematical theory were due to the help of computers.

(C) is either unsupported or contradicted. Lines 42-47 talk about applications for fractals. But none of them seem to apply to engineering. It's hard to imagine how describing the shape of clouds will help you build a bridge.

(E) sounds like a recap of the last paragraph. But look closely at lines 56-60. First of all, this view is only held by the critics of fractal geometry. The biggest problem, however, is that (E) is talking about all mathematical theories while the passage only discusses what some critics think is required for fractal geometry to be accepted. That's too large of a generalization for the passage to support.

I hope this explanation helps. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Demetri

[pewals13]

I think the key to this question is using the process of elimination:

(E) is wrong because it is too strong, the last paragraph of the passage seems to suggest that a significant number of mathematicians may, in fact, already support the the theory.

The passage never uses or suggests such strong conditional language, rather it only states that a subset of mathematicians share this view that support of a significant number of scientists is "required."

[hayleychen12]

I‘m still confused with the "application" part of D.

We only know from line 39-42: practitioners in the field of fractal geometry consider it a new language for describing complex natural and mathematical forms.
I don't think this sentence imply "find application before ...." since maybe these practitioners are still in the process of developing the model.

[ohthatpatrick]

We could support the "applications" part with line 55-57, in which fractal geometers have proven a handful of theorems we previously couldn't.