Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumComparing Author Perspectives, Tones, and Bias

Passage A
For decades, deep-sea oceanography relied on tethered instruments and remote sensors, leaving the vast abyss largely abstract to human perception. The advent of crewed submersibles altered this paradigm by placing human observers directly inside the benthic environment. There is an irreplaceable cognitive advantage to direct human sight and real-time sensory processing. A researcher gazing through a pressure hull can perceive subtle shifts in bioluminescence, micro-topography, and organismal behavior that video feeds invariably flatten. Human presence allows for spontaneous decision-making—shifting a dive plan instantly when an unpredicted hydrothermal structure appears. While robotic probes have expanded data collection metrics, reducing ocean exploration to automated data points strips marine biology of the serendipitous discoveries that only an observant human mind, experiencing the deep environment firsthand, can achieve.

Passage B
The argument that deep-ocean science requires human presence inside submersibles is increasingly anachronistic and financially inefficient. Modern Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and remotely operated robotics can remain submerged for weeks, sampling environmental DNA, mapping bathymetry with high-resolution sonar, and collecting delicate biological specimens with sub-millimeter precision. Crewed dives, by contrast, consume exorbitant budgets, risk human lives, and restrict operational time to mere hours due to oxygen and power constraints. Furthermore, human sensory observation is inherently subjective and prone to observational bias, whereas calibrated sensors generate standardized, reproducible datasets essential for modern ecological modeling. Oceanography must transition away from romanticized human expeditions and allocate its limited funding toward scalable, long-duration robotic fleets that yield far greater empirical value.

Which statement best describes the difference in perspective between the author of Passage A and the author of Passage B regarding human presence in deep-sea exploration?

  1. The author of Passage A regards direct human observation as essential for spontaneous discovery, whereas the author of Passage B views human presence as inefficient and secondary to standardized robotic data collection.Answer
  2. B
    The author of Passage A advocates for abandoning robotic probes entirely, whereas the author of Passage B claims that robotic probes cannot collect delicate biological specimens.
  3. C
    Both authors agree that human submersibles are overly expensive, but the author of Passage A urges private funding while the author of Passage B supports public grants.
  4. D
    The author of Passage A dismisses technological instrumentation as useless, whereas the author of Passage B adopts a purely neutral, uncritical stance toward crewed submersibles.

Answer

The author of Passage A regards direct human observation as essential for spontaneous discovery, whereas the author of Passage B views human presence as inefficient and secondary to standardized robotic data collection.
The correct answer accurately synthesizes the main viewpoints of both passages. Passage A praises crewed submersibles for enabling real-time, spontaneous observation, whereas Passage B rejects crewed missions as inefficient, subjective, and inferior to calibrated, long-duration robotic vehicles.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze Passage A's perspective on human presence.
Passage A highlights the 'irreplaceable cognitive advantage' of human sight and how human presence fosters 'spontaneous decision-making' and 'serendipitous discoveries'.
Establishing Passage A's primary stance is required before comparing it with Passage B.
2
Analyze Passage B's perspective on human presence.
Passage B characterizes human presence as 'financially inefficient', 'anachronistic', and 'subjective', preferring scalable, long-duration robotic fleets.
Identifying Passage B's opposing core argument allows for an accurate comparative synthesis.
3
Compare the two perspectives to evaluate the option choices.
The correct response accurately captures Passage A's focus on spontaneous human discovery versus Passage B's critique of human dives as inefficient compared to standardized robotic fleets.
Direct alignment with textual evidence ensures selecting the correct comparative summary.

Key Concept

Comparing Author Perspectives, Tones, and Bias
Rate this question

Topics

Comparing Author Perspectives, Tones, and Bias

More questions from this topic