Could someone explain this question to me? Thanks!
KatherineJanuary 30, 2019
Hi @Shiyi-Zhang,
Happy to help. The questions asks to how the author would most likely describe the current understanding of neurogenesis.
In order to answer this question correctly, it is important to read the passage carefully to determine the author’s attitude about the research he is describing. It is also important to understand the exact meaning of each of our answer choices.
First let’s look at the passage. The author describes neurological research into the brains of canary birds. In their description of the research, the author speculates about “ a possible explanation†for the observed phenomenon that “may have to do with…†the canary bird’s long life span and flight (lines 40-41). In the final paragraph, the author says the idea that came out of this research is “still not generally accepted†but “might help uncover†a mechanism applicable to the human brain but ultimately it “is not known†(lines 49-50, 54). Throughout the passage, the author uses tentative, speculative language to suggest that this research is ongoing and its final contributions to science are still undetermined.
Now let’s look at each answer in turn.
Answer A is “exhaustive.†Exhaustive means something has examined all the aspects of something fully and comprehensively. This is not the case with this research. There are still many open questions. This is not the correct choice.
You are wondering why Answer B is the incorrect choice. Let’s take a look at that answer. “Progressive†means something is advancing gradually in stages. While the research described in the passage could be interpreted as a possible advancement from the old tenets of neuroscience, the author expresses far more ambiguity about the new research. The search is still not generally accepted and it is still no known whether the findings can be applied to the human brain. Because the author does not express confidence that this is a clear advancement in the scientific understanding, “progressive†is not the right choice.
Answer C is “incomplete.†This is the best description of the current state of the research. As described above, there are many open questions. The author suggests that there will need to be more studies before we can determine whether the idea of neurogenesis applies to the human brain, among other open questions. Because this answer accurately describes the author's attitudes towards the research, it is the correct choice.
Answer D is “antiquated.†The research is not old-fashioned or out-of-date. Instead, this is new evidence from recent research. Therefore, this is the wrong choice.
Answer E is “incorrect.†While the author expresses some uncertainty about whether this research will be generally accepted by the scientific community, the author does not seem to believe that this research is wrong. Instead, the author seems hopeful that this research is the future of neuroscience, but that more work needs to be done in order to determine whether or not that’s true.
