critical reading question

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>I opened flasks of sterilized broth in the cellar of the
Paris observatory, where the air was still. Only one flask
out of ten became putrid, whereas eleven flasks out of
eleven opened in the courtyard quickly acquired a rich
growth of bacteria. I journeyed to Mt. Montanvert in the
Alps, where I opened twenty flasks of sterilized broth. Only
one became putrid. I concluded that the air in the cellar and
the air above the glacier were freer of bacteria than the air
in the city streets. But my adversaries performed similar
experiments with different results. Perhaps they were not
careful to follow my procedures. The neck of the flask must
be heated first to kill the bacteria on the glass; then a heated
instrument must be used to break the tip of the flask as it is
held high above the head. Immediately thereafter the flask
must be sealed again in a flame [Pasteur demonstrates the
procedure]. In these difficult researches, while I sternly
object to frivolous contradictions, I feel nothing but grat55
itude toward those who warn me if I should be in error.
I then devised a conclusive experiment. I boiled a nutritious
infusion in a flask with a long curved neck like this
one. The tip of the neck was not sealed but left open to the
outside air. Thus, there was no hindrance to the entrance of
fresh air with its “vital force” as claimed by the advocates
of spontaneous generation. But bacteria in the entering air
would be trapped by the walls of the long glass tube. The
fluid remained sterile so long as the flask was maintained
in the vertical position. If, however, I contaminated the
65 broth by allowing some of it to flow into the neck and then
back into the flask, putrefaction promptly followed. So we
see that life does not arise spontaneously. Life comes only
from life.</p>

<ol>
<li>The “conclusive experiment” (line 56) performed by
Pasteur was designed to answer critics who argued that:
A) the apparatus used in Pasteur’s earlier experiments had not been adeu.quately sterilized
B) Pasteur’s experiments related to spontaneous generation had no immediate application
C) the results of Pasteur’s experiments in the Alps and in the cellar could not be replicated
D) the broth in the flasks of Pasteur’s earlier experiments was not nutritious enough
Should have chosen<br>
E) heating made the air in the flasks of the earlier experiments unfit for spontaneous generation</li>
</ol>

<p>I choose C because Pasteur did say that “but my adversaries performed similar experiments with different results”. But the answer is E. Can you give me an explanation? Thank you.</p>

<p>The original test is here in case you need extra practice: <a href=“http://www.whw.name/Resources/Test_12.pdf[/url]”>http://www.whw.name/Resources/Test_12.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

2

<p>after a quick read, the only evidence i found for E was the last two lines "SO we see that life does not arise spontaneously. Life comes only from Life. That was the conclusion he came to after the deciding experiment. In all honesty i didn’t really understand the passage because it was random, kinda had to read it twice, didn’t have a blurb to put things into perspective. I hope i helped a little, just giving my 2 cents. Lol maybe i completely misread everything.</p>

3

<p>His “conclusive experiment” did not, at least not above circumstantially, answer his critics claims that the experiments could not be replicated. If he wanted to prove that he could replicate his experiment, he would just have done the exact same thing again, with the exact same procedure. However, there was one critical difference in this experiment - the long curved neck of the flask. You have to read on past line 56 (yes, the reference does not tell you this but you should realize that it will not just give you the answer) to find out the function of the long sterile neck. The function was to let air in so that the “life force” in the air could cause spontaneous generation in the flask. This is in stark contrast to critics who argued that heating the air somehow disrupted the life force and prevented spontaneous generation (these critics are not explicitly referred to in the passage).</p>

4

<p>“The tip of the neck was not sealed but left open to the outside air. Thus, there was no hindrance to the entrance of fresh air with its “vital force” as claimed by the advocates of spontaneous generation.”</p>

<p>Advocates of spontaneous generation thought that there was hindrance (the heating) that made the air impure for spontaneous generation. He devised this conclusive experiment so that he would’t have to heat the flask but still have no bacteria enter the flask by adding a curved end to the flask.</p>

<p>Tricky, Tricky problem. I made the same mistake when I took this test.</p>

5

<p>You have my deepest gratitude, MedicalBoy, 93tiger16, slasheer102. Delighted I was for a while after doing an easy May 2002 test, and here I am again at the bottom of the endless pit of despair, forever resenting at none but my powerless self.</p>

<p>And while we are at this test, I would like to humbly request your magnanimous salvation for the second, and hopefully the last, time.</p>

<p>In section 2 of the test, question 11 asks which would be LEAST like to be attributed to the “pattern” mentioned in line 19, passage 2. Can you explain to me what that pattern is? I thought it had to do with the “unreal things”, in which case I picked C, thinking that nothing can be more “real” than a “fact”. Yet the answer is B…</p>

6

<p>Anyone kind to enlighten this poor soul? Thanks a lot!!</p>