Which one of the following most accurately represents the structure of the second paragraph?

a42 on May 13, 2018

Why E?

I don't understand why E is the correct answer. The second paragraph does not seem to present a "number" of explanatory hypotheses.

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Anita on May 15, 2018

This is a case where the test makers may have been a little liberal with their word choice. Two potential hypotheses were mentioned, which is literally "a number," although not the traditional use of the term. In this case, it's best to look at the rest of the answer, which will prove that E is correct.

E lays out the paragraph as:
- Introduce hypotheses
- Favorable comments
- Advocates for more favorable answer

Paragraph two is:
- Mention two hypotheses as potential examples
- Says they may help explain, but there is another option
- Explain for a few sentences some background
- Compare that to the author's work, say this helps explain better

That shows that E is a very good layout of paragraph 2.

Samantha-Alexis on July 10, 2019

I was also confused about "a number" in answer choice E. Thank you for the explanation, but then why is answer choice B wrong then?

Ravi on July 10, 2019

@Samantha-Alexis,

(B) says, "The author shows that two explanatory hypotheses are
incompatible with each other and gives reasons for preferring one of
them."

There is no suggestion in the second paragraph of the passage that the
hypotheses mentioned are incompatible with each other, so we can get
rid of this choice.

Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any other questions!