The passage tells us that scientists have been scanning the skies hoping to find life on other planets for many years. However, despite the fact that the equipment being used is becoming increasingly more sophisticated and expensive, no evidence has been found. The passage states that there is no reason to think that these scientists will be anymore successful in the future, and that this hope of finding extraterrestrial life will remain unattainable, as science's experience to this point has indicated.
It's important to note that the passage is saying that there is no reason that the scientists will be successful in finding life on other planets. This is not the same thing as saying there is no reason to believe that life does not exist on other planets. Just because the author of the passage is saying she doesn't think the scientists will find extraterrestrials does not mean that she is saying there are no extraterrestrials.
Similarly, one can say they will not see any cats today, but that doesn't mean cats do not exist. Do you see the difference?
The point of the passage is to state that scientists will not be successful in finding extraterrestrial life. All the information in the passage leads us to this one point: as experience has shown, no matter what equipment or how much money is put into the search for extraterrestrial life, scientist's will not find life on other planets.
Hope that clears things up! Please let us know if you have any other questions.
jacaroeJune 16, 2017
This is a really good explanation! Thank you!
justicelong94October 11, 2017
Why not A?
Isn't the point of the passage to prove that there is no reason to believe that life exist on any other planet due to the scientist findings. The passage states "the dream of finding extraterrestrial life is destined to remain a dream, as science's experience up to this point should indicate." In other words, if finding extraterrestrial life is a dream as science has proven then there is no reason to believe that extraterrestrial life exist.
