What is Language

Answer choices

1. A

   Wrong Emphasis20% picked this

   Although scientists must rely on both language and mathematics in their pursuit of scientific knowledge, each is an imperfect tool for perceiving and

   The main clause here is that "language and math are each imperfect tools for perceiving and interpreting the physical world". The author's main point was not that "language and math both kinda suck". We want an answer that's presenting a debate about the role played by language/math in the pursuit of knowledge.

   20%
2. B

   Too Strong: depends Wrong Emphasis7% picked this

   The acquisition of scientific knowledge depends on an agreement among scientists to accept some mathematical statements as more precise than others while

   The passage never said that we can't acquire any scientific knowledge unless scientists agree to acknowledge that all mathematics is inexact. This answer also doesn't mention "language" anywhere, which is a curious omission, since language is sort of the main character of this passage.

   7%
3. C

   Too Strong: must abandon1% picked this

   If science is truly to progress, scientists must temporarily abandon the pursuit of new knowledge in favor of a systematic analysis of how the

   The author never laid our some harsh rule that said "Progress depends on scientists abandoning new knowledge until they've conducted a systematic analysis of how the knowledge they already possess counts as 'true'. The final paragraph is definitely calling for scientists to think more about what function language performs in the acquisition of scientific knowledge, but it doesn't say to halt all other science in the meantime.

   1%
4. D

   Correct70% picked this

   In order to better understand the acquisition of scientific knowledge, scientists must investigate mathematical statements’ relationship to the world just as linguists

   Why this is right

   The strong language of "must" is a turn-off at first, but this answer ultimately is our best available and sounds a lot like the final paragraph, where our author's voice weighed in on this debate. Linguists are increasingly thinking that language is tenuous, inexact, and a matter of agreed-upon conventions. In the final paragraph, the author is saying, "Linguists have reached the point at which they must ask: what do words/sentences tell us about the world." And then she says, "In science and math, then, it would seem equally necessary to ask, what function does language perform in the acquisition of scientific knowledge?" If E = mc2 doesn't correspond essentially to the physical world, then what relationship does it have?

   Skill tested: Main Point · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

   70%
5. E

   Wrong Emphasis Unsupported Causal Relationship1% picked this

   Without the debates among linguists that preceded them, it is unlikely that scientists would ever have begun to explore the essential role played by

   This answer is basically saying, "We all owe a debt of gratitude linguists. Without them, scientists would not have begun exploring the role of math in the acquisition of scientific knowledge". The passage never indicates any causal relationship between linguists debating the role of language and scientists exploring the role of math. In fact, the final sentence of the passage makes it seem like scientists haven't really begun to explore this yet. The author is presenting the debate among linguists and suggesting to science, "Pssst -- hey, maybe y'all should have this conversation too."

   1%