Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardEvaluating Relevance for Adding or Deleting Content

[1] In 1910, French engineer Georges Claude introduced the neon lamp to the public at the Paris Motor Show, capitalizing on a byproduct of his air liquefaction business. [2] Claude had been searching for a way to utilize the abundant neon gas left over from producing pure oxygen for industrial applications. [3] He discovered that passing an electric current through the gas in a sealed glass tube produced a brilliant, luminous red light. [4] Under normal atmospheric conditions, neon is a colorless, odorless, and chemically inert monatomic gas. [5] Recognizing the advertising potential of his discovery, Claude soon sold the first commercial neon signs to a Parisian barber, launching a global industry that would permanently transform the nighttime aesthetics of modern cities.

The writer is considering deleting Sentence 4 from the paragraph. Should the sentence be kept or deleted?

  1. A
    Kept, because it provides scientific definition that is necessary for the reader to understand how neon gas is liquefied.
  2. B
    Kept, because it establishes the chemical properties that explain why the electric current was able to produce a red light.
  3. Deleted, because it shifts the paragraph's focus from the development and commercialization of Claude's invention to basic scientific facts about neon.Answer
  4. D
    Deleted, because it contradicts the earlier statement that Claude's neon lamps produced a brilliant and luminous red light.

Answer

The sentence should be deleted because it shifts the paragraph's focus from the development and commercialization of Claude's invention to basic scientific facts about neon.
The correct option correctly identifies that Sentence 4 should be deleted because its focus on basic scientific facts about neon gas deviates from the paragraph's primary narrative about Georges Claude's invention and commercialization of the neon lamp.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the main focus of the paragraph.
The paragraph details the historical narrative of Georges Claude's development of the neon lamp and its commercial application as signage.
Understanding the paragraph's core purpose allows you to evaluate whether individual sentences contribute to or distract from that purpose.
2
Evaluate the function of Sentence 4 within the paragraph.
Sentence 4 provides basic chemical description of neon gas (colorless, odorless, inert, monatomic).
This determines if the sentence directly supports the narrative of invention and commercialization or if it introduces tangential information.
3
Compare the sentence's function with the paragraph's focus to make a keep/delete decision.
The sentence is tangential and interrupts the narrative flow, so it should be deleted.
Information that is superficially related to the topic (neon) but does not support the specific focus of the paragraph (Claude's business and invention) should be removed to maintain unity.
4
Select the option that matches the deletion decision and provides the correct rhetorical reason.
The option recommending deletion because the sentence shifts focus to basic scientific facts is the correct choice.
The other options either advocate keeping irrelevant information or provide incorrect justifications for deleting it.

Key Concept

Evaluating Relevance for Adding or Deleting Content
Estimated Time:1m 15s
Rate this question

Topics

Evaluating Relevance for Adding or Deleting Content

More questions from this topic