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Difficulty: MediumEvaluating Relevance for Adding or Deleting Content

In 1957, engineers Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes sealed two plastic shower curtains together, trapping a grid of air bubbles in between. Initially, they attempted to market this textured material as a new type of wallpaper. [1] When that venture failed, they pitched the material as greenhouse insulation, which also met with little success. The breakthrough came in 1960, when IBM needed a reliable packaging material to protect its new computer during transit, prompting the inventors to brand their creation as Bubble Wrap.

The writer is considering adding the following sentence at Point [1]:

"Fielding and Chavannes both held advanced degrees in engineering."

Should the writer make this addition?

  1. A
    Yes, because it provides necessary background information regarding the inventors' professional credentials.
  2. B
    Yes, because it explains how the engineers acquired the technical skills needed to seal the plastic sheets.
  3. No, because it interrupts the paragraph's focus on the various marketing attempts for the new material.Answer
  4. D
    No, because it repeats information about the invention of the material that is already established in the first sentence.

Answer

The writer should not make the addition because the sentence about the inventors' academic degrees interrupts the paragraph's focus on the marketing and applications of the invention.
The correct option is the one stating that the writer should not add the sentence because it interrupts the paragraph's focus on the various marketing attempts. The paragraph describes the sequence of marketing attempts for Bubble Wrap (as wallpaper, greenhouse insulation, and packaging). Details about the inventors' academic degrees are biographical and irrelevant to this specific narrative flow.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the main focus of the paragraph.
The paragraph describes the development of a textured plastic material (Bubble Wrap) and the chronological sequence of attempts to market it (as wallpaper, then greenhouse insulation, and finally as packaging material).
Understanding the paragraph's theme is necessary to evaluate if the proposed sentence contributes to that theme.
2
Analyze the content of the proposed sentence.
The proposed sentence ("Fielding and Chavannes both held advanced degrees in engineering.") introduces biographical details about the inventors' educational qualifications.
Determining what information the new sentence introduces helps assess its relevance to the surrounding context.
3
Evaluate whether the biographical details support or disrupt the focus of the paragraph.
The biographical details about their degrees do not contribute to the narrative of how the material was marketed. Therefore, the sentence should not be added because it interrupts the paragraph's focus.
We must select the choice that correctly states the decision to omit the sentence and provides the correct rhetorical reason.

Key Concept

Evaluating Relevance for Adding or Deleting Content
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Topics

Evaluating Relevance for Adding or Deleting Content

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