Read the following passage.
A. Gerhard Herzberg was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1904 and trained there as a physicist. By 1933 he was a lecturer at the university in Darmstadt, but under a new Nazi law he lost the right to teach because his wife, Luise, was Jewish. In 1935 the couple left his native Germany and arrived in Saskatoon with $2.50 and some optical equipment. John Spinks, a chemist from the University of Saskatchewan who had lived in the same Darmstadt rooming house, raised their case with the university's president, Walter Murray, who arranged a guest professorship paid for by the Carnegie Corporation. In his first four years there, Herzberg taught two classes and published 20 papers.
B. Herzberg worked in molecular spectroscopy, the study of how atoms and molecules give off or absorb light. His main tool was the spectrogram, a glass plate coated with photographic chemicals, on which each molecule leaves its own pattern of lines. By measuring the spacing of these lines and applying mathematical formulas, he could work out a molecule's energy levels and the probable locations of its electrons. He was especially interested in free radicals, short-lived molecules that form during chemical reactions. In 1959, after 18 years of study, he obtained the spectrum of methylene, a free radical made of one carbon atom and two hydrogen atoms.
C. After a decade in Saskatchewan and several years at the University of Chicago, Herzberg joined the National Research Council in Ottawa in 1948. A short time later he was made director of its Physics Division, and his spectroscopy laboratory became a Mecca for hundreds of scientists from around the world. In 1971 he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, even though he was a physicist. He was also a vigorous participant in the national debate on science policy that followed the Lamontagne report of 1970, stressing that no one can foresee the practical uses of pure research.
D. Some sides of Herzberg are less familiar. The National Research Council made him its first Distinguished Research Scientist in 1969 so that he could keep working past the retirement age of 65, and he officially retired only in 1994. As a boy in Hamburg he built a telescope with a school friend, but he turned to physics after being told that astronomy was suitable only for the wealthy. He had a strong bass-baritone voice, loved opera and took singing lessons in Saskatoon. He also protested the Soviet treatment of intellectuals, twice demonstrating outside the Soviet embassy in Ottawa.
E. Not given in any of the above paragraphs.
Decide which paragraph, A to D, has the information given in each statement below. Select E if the information is not given in any of the paragraphs.
AI explanationShows the answer. Tap to open.
Correct Answer: A
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph A: a Nazi law took away his right to teach because Luise was Jewish. The same paragraph calls the place he then left 'his native Germany'. Losing the right to teach there means he was barred from lecturing in the land where he was born.
Passage Reference: By 1933 he was a lecturer at the university in Darmstadt, but under a new Nazi law he lost the right to teach because his wife, Luise, was Jewish.
Tips: The statement joins two ideas: 'his wife's family origins' and being 'barred from lecturing'. Check that one really caused the other.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: The second paragraph explains spectrograms and the search for methylene. Germany, Luise and teaching rules play no part in it.
- C: In paragraph C, the writer follows his career in Chicago and Ottawa and a Canadian policy debate. There is no ban on teaching in Germany.
- D: Paragraph D does mention Hamburg, his birthplace, but only for the boyhood telescope and his switch from astronomy to physics.
- E: The Nazi law and its link to Luise come early in paragraph A, right after his birth. So the text does cover this point.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: As a boy in Hamburg he built a telescope with a school friend, but he turned to physics after being told that astronomy was suitable only for the wealthy.
Why this is correct: In paragraph D, he built a telescope as a boy. But he turned to physics after being told astronomy was suitable only for the wealthy. The wealthy are people with money, so his first choice was dropped for that reason.
Tips: Paragraph A also mentions money and physics. Only one paragraph gives the reason behind his change of subject.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph has a sum of money, the $2.50 the couple carried to Saskatoon. It also says he trained as a physicist, but not why he left astronomy.
- B: The second paragraph names his field, molecular spectroscopy, yet gives no account of how he came to it.
- C: You find him at the University of Chicago in paragraph C, called a physicist. The reason he gave up his first plan is missing.
- E: Look again at the third sentence of paragraph D. The telescope, the switch to physics and the remark about the wealthy are all there.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: By measuring the spacing of these lines and applying mathematical formulas, he could work out a molecule's energy levels and the probable locations of its electrons.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph B says each molecule leaves a pattern of lines on a spectrogram, a plate coated with photographic chemicals. By measuring the spacing of the lines, he found energy levels and electron locations. That is the inner make-up of the molecule.
Tips: Find where his way of studying is explained. Check what he looked at closely, and what that told him about the inside of tiny particles.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The optical equipment he carried to Saskatoon is listed in paragraph A, but it never explains what he did with it.
- C: In paragraph C, the writer praises his Ottawa laboratory and its visitors. The way he read the lines is not described there.
- D: The fourth paragraph turns to his long career, his boyhood telescope, his singing and his protests.
- E: Paragraph B walks through the method in two sentences: the lines on the plate, then the measured spacing and the formulas.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: In 1959, after 18 years of study, he obtained the spectrum of methylene, a free radical made of one carbon atom and two hydrogen atoms.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph B: free radicals are short-lived molecules. In 1959, after 18 years of study, he obtained the spectrum of methylene, a free radical. Eighteen years is nearly two decades, and a spectrum is a light signature.
Tips: The statement is about one long piece of research on a single chemical. Check how many years it took, and whether that is close to two decades.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Four years of teaching and 20 papers in Saskatoon are counted in paragraph A. No single long search is described.
- C: His Nobel Prize in Chemistry comes up in paragraph C. But the molecule is not named, and we are not told how long the work took.
- D: The fourth paragraph has long time spans too, such as working past 65 until 1994. But they concern his career, not a molecule.
- E: Methylene and the 18 years of study close paragraph B, in one sentence with the year 1959.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: The National Research Council made him its first Distinguished Research Scientist in 1969 so that he could keep working past the retirement age of 65, and he officially retired only in 1994.
Why this is correct: In paragraph D, the National Research Council made him its first Distinguished Research Scientist in 1969. This let him keep working past the retirement age of 65. A first title of that kind is a new title made for him.
Tips: His employer in Ottawa comes up twice. Ask which place explains how he kept working after most people stop.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A describes the guest professorship arranged in 1935. That was his first post in Canada, not a way to delay retirement.
- B: The second paragraph keeps to his research method and methylene. No job title or age limit comes up.
- C: Paragraph C also names the National Research Council. But the title there, director of the Physics Division, came soon after 1948.
- E: Paragraph D names the new title, gives the year 1969 and gives the reason, the retirement age of 65.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: He was also a vigorous participant in the national debate on science policy that followed the Lamontagne report of 1970, stressing that no one can foresee the practical uses of pure research.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph C: he was a vigorous participant in the 1970 debate on science policy. His point about pure research is explained. It never compares him with other scientists or mentions newspapers. So this is not given.
Tips: Paragraph C gives his role in the debate. Check whether it ever compares him with anyone else.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: A government law appears in paragraph A, the Nazi one, but only as the reason he lost his teaching post.
- B: The second paragraph is about spectrograms and free radicals. There is no public debate in it.
- C: Paragraph C tells us he took a strong part in the debate and what he argued. But it measures no press coverage and ranks no one.
- D: In paragraph D, he protests outside the Soviet embassy, which is public action of another kind. There is no comparison to other scientists.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: A short time later he was made director of its Physics Division, and his spectroscopy laboratory became a Mecca for hundreds of scientists from around the world.
Why this is correct: In paragraph C, he joined the National Research Council in Ottawa. His spectroscopy laboratory became a Mecca for hundreds of scientists from around the world. A Mecca is a place many people travel to.
Tips: Paragraph A also has someone arriving from another country. Check who is coming and to which laboratory.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph shows Herzberg himself arriving in Saskatoon from Germany. Other scientists coming to work with him are not described.
- B: The second paragraph explains what spectroscopy measures, not who came to his laboratory.
- D: In paragraph D, he is in Ottawa at the Soviet embassy and at work until 1994. But visitors to his laboratory from around the world are absent.
- E: Scientists from around the world coming to his Ottawa laboratory is the second sentence of paragraph C.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: In his first four years there, Herzberg taught two classes and published 20 papers.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph A names Luise and says the couple arrived in Saskatoon together. There he taught two classes and published 20 papers. It never says what work Luise did, so her part in the research is not given.
Tips: Luise appears in one paragraph only. Check what that paragraph says she actually did.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A mentions Luise and the 20 papers. But it gives the teaching and writing to Herzberg and says nothing about her own work.
- B: The second paragraph explains his spectroscopy but names no one who worked beside him.
- C: In paragraph C, he moves to Chicago and Ottawa. Luise does not appear there.
- D: His late career, his singing lessons in Saskatoon and his protests fill paragraph D, with no word about his wife.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: John Spinks, a chemist from the University of Saskatchewan who had lived in the same Darmstadt rooming house, raised their case with the university's president, Walter Murray, who arranged a guest professorship paid for by the Carnegie Corporation.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph A: John Spinks had lived in the same rooming house in Darmstadt. He raised their case with the president, who arranged a professorship paid for by the Carnegie Corporation. So a contact from Europe helped get outside money for the post.
Tips: His first job in Canada is not in Ottawa. Look for an old friend from Europe who helped, and money that came from somewhere else.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Paragraph B covers his method and methylene. No helper and no source of money is named.
- C: In paragraph C, he moves to the National Research Council in 1948. That came after a decade in Saskatchewan and was not his first post.
- D: The fourth paragraph names a title created in 1969 and a school friend from Hamburg. But it does not say how his first job in Canada was paid for.
- E: Spinks, Walter Murray and the Carnegie Corporation are all named in the fourth sentence of paragraph A.
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