<p>Short on analysis but long on…, the book is little more than a series of diverting stories.
A. clich</p>
<p>I’d go with D. An anecdote is a short story or memory, which makes sense with the “series of diverting stories” part of the sentence.</p>
<p>I was thinking if it’s “little more than a series of diverting stories”, it’d be like saying a “little more than anecdotes”, rather than just “anecdotes”, so I eliminated D. What was wrong in the way I thought?</p>
<p>Cosmologist Martin Rees has cautioned that our present satisfaction with the big bang explanation for the creation of the universe may reflect the ——- of the data rather than the ——- of the theory.</p>
<pre><code>paucity . . validity
genius . . accuracy
relevance . . scope
destruction . . core
persuasiveness . . reality
</code></pre>
<p>Again, what’s the answer and explanation to this one?</p>
<p>Saying “the book is little more than anecdotes…” is different from saying “the book is a little more than anecdotes…”. The former implies that the book is almost nothing but anecdotes, while the latter says that anecdotes aren’t necessarily in the majority. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that I don’t know the real answer, so I might be trying to justify a wrong answer.</p>
<p>For your next question:
Rees’s point is that there isn’t enough data available to refute the big bang theory, or to come up with another theory. Thus, we just have to continue believing the big bang. The only answer that fits is A: paucity (shortage) … validity (correctness).</p>
<p>“little” and “a little” are different. The former has a negative connotation and means “almost none/almost no,” whereas the latter has a more positive connotation and means “some.” Same goes for “few” and “a few.” If you ask me to go drinking on Saturday night and I say “I have little money,” that means I probably can’t go; I’m broke. But if I answer “I have a little money,” that means I probably can go.</p>
<p>So “little more than anecdotes” means “not much more than anecdotes.”</p>
<p>Thanks guys.</p>