Reading Comprehension

PT135 · S3 · P2 · Q8 Information Archival

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While recent decades have seen more information recorded than any other era, the potential for losing this information is now greater than ever.

Topic

The risk of losing modern information due to the fragility and rapid obsolescence of recording and storage technologies.

Framework

Problem / Solution

Main Point

Although we now create and save more information than ever, the materials and technologies we use to store this information are increasingly fragile and quickly become outdated, making it very challenging for archivists to preserve important records for the future. (The key sentences summarizing this idea are in the first paragraph: )

P1: The Fragility of Modern Storage Media

We learn that even though we're recording tons of information these days, we're at greater risk than ever of losing it, mainly because modern recording materials (like acidic paper, color photos, and videotapes) are way less durable than the old stuff (like clay tablets or parchment). So, archivists are stuck dealing with this paradox of more information but less reliable media.

P2: Technology's Double-Edged Sword

It might seem like saving everything digitally would solve this problem, but rapid changes in technology can make stored information inaccessible surprisingly quickly. For example, data saved on older computer disks can become unreadable as the software and hardware change, and even new digital tapes only last about ten years. Archivists are feeling the pressure as time runs out for both old and new media.

P3: The Tough Choices Archivists Face

Even if we develop storage tech that finally lasts, archivists will still have to decide what is worth saving—fast—since things are deteriorating all the time. Figuring out the value of each item is tricky, as history has already lost some great works simply because no one realized their importance at the time. The real danger now is that there is just so much stuff, stored on media that doesn't last, that archivists might not be able to sort and save what's most important before it's too late.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the passage?

Correct
The increasing volume of information
Why this is right
This sounds like a good summary of the first three sentences of the passage, which framed the Problem that the rest of the passage unpacked in detail. The increasing volume of information being stored ... while recent decades have seen more information recorded than any other era and the decreasing durability of modern storage media while the quantity of material being saved has increased exponentially, the durability of recording media has decreased almost as rapidly are making it more and more difficult for archivists to carry out their charge this prospects is of great concern to archivists, who are charged with preserving vital records and documents.
Skill tested: Main Point · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
90% picked this
Modern data storage-and-retrieval techniques have
Too Strong
Too Strong: greater than before Unsupported Causal Relationship Wrong Emphasis This sounds way too positive and uplifting. Modern techniques have enabled archivists to filter out the important stuff more efficiently than ever before? Where has this wonderful success story been hiding? This was a passage about archivists who are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They don't have a durable medium yet on which to save this stuff, and they don't have enough time to sift through the decomposing materials to filter out the good stuff.
1% picked this
Many archivists have come to
Wrong Emphasis
While this answer says something true (because we were told that some conventional storage media like tablets / parchment / books / photographs all last longer than the 10 year lifespan of recent digital tape), this fun fact about lifespans of storage material is not the main point. The short-lived durability of modern media is one of the reasons for the Problem that is haunting archivists. It is not the Problem itself, and we want our Main Point answer to nicely distill the big problem that the passage was highlighting.
1% picked this
Given the limitations on the
Contradicted: capacity limitations Wrong Causal Relationship
The reason it would be increasingly important for archivists to save only the most important documents is that there's too much information and the durability of storage media is getting worse and worse. It's not because modern storage media has capacity limitations. We are actually told in the very first sentence of the 2nd paragraph that "computer technology allows stuff to be stored electronically on computer disks or tape, occupying very little space".
7% picked this
Modern electronic media enable us
Wrong Emphasis Never Stated
We might come to our own conclusions that the recent exponential explosion of information being recorded is mainly dominated by the dumb stuff we're all recording on our phones. But the passage never said that. And this answer doesn't convey that there's anything problematic for archivists about us recording stupid things. The answer would have to be written more like, "modern media enables us to store so much inessential information that archivists are now worried it will overwhelm the time-sensitive job they have in finding the essential information".
1% picked this

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