#24 - Specific Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (D).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[dragonfly]

Hi there!

I'm having trouble understanding how D ("not merely as a general substitute for polyacrylates") is similar at all to the meaning of "on its own merits." I can see how, if plugged into the sentence, D makes sense in context and fits with the rest fo the passage, but it seems dissimilar from the meaning of the phrase "on its own merits." I'm just beginning to study, so maybe I'm misinterpreting the overall function of meaning in context questions. Any help would be appreciated!

[Luke Haqq]

Hi dragonfly!

For this type of question, you'll want to look at a phrase like "on its own merits" as it occurs within the passage, rather than removed from its context. Taken out of that context, you're right that the two phrases don't really substitute for each other.

However, within the context of the third paragraph, "on its own merits" does function similar to the language in answer choice (D). In particular, look a couple sentences before where that language occurs. We're told there that, "Unfortunately, as with many emerging technologies that lack a supporting infrastructure, polyaspartate’s price was estimated to be four to five times that of the high-volume-production alternative [i.e., polyacrylates]." So in that context, polyaspartate is being considered as an alternative to polyacrylates. The quoted sentence then contrasts with that--Koshkan believed that polyaspartate could still "be market competitive on its own merits," that is, it could still have uses and be marketable beyond its substitutability for polyacrylates.

[jona_zx]

How can we eliminate E?

[Jeff Wren]

Hi jona,

To correctly answer this question, it's critical to carefully read the sentences before and after the phrase being cited in the question in order to provide the correct context for this phrase.

A few lines above the phrase in question, the passage mentions that leading chemical companies began researching polyaspartate as an alternative to polyacrylates, but they determined that polyaspartate was too expensive and would therefore not be a good alternative to polyacrylates.

The passage then states that Koskan's company, "believing that polyaspartate could be market-competitive on its own merits," kept researching and looking for specialty uses. The next sentence continues "polyaspartate has since shown unparalleled success at eliminating scale" (my emphasis). This success happened after Koskan's company decided to keep researching and looking for specialty uses. In other words, while polyaspartate's success at eliminating scale appears to be an example of it being market-competitive on its own merits, it is not identical in meaning to that phrase. Notice that the passage also mentions that polyaspartate was also "used by the farming industry to keep chemical fertilizers in the ground longer." This would appear to be another example of polyaspartate being market-competitive on its own merits.

In other words, Koskan's company believed that polyaspartate could be market-competitive in other areas (besides just as an alternative to polyacrylates), even if the company wasn't entirely sure yet what specific areas polyaspartate could be market-competitive in. This usage is best reflected in Answer D.