GRE Reading Comprehension
Home > GRE Test > GRE Reading Comprehension Questions
Next steps
- Use your browser's back button to return to your test results.
- Do more GRE Reading Comprehension Questions.
Source: 1996
An experiment conducted aboard Space Lab in 1983 was the first attempt to grow protein crystals in the low-gravity environment of space. That experiment is still cited as evi- dence that growing crystals in microgravity can increase crystal size: the authors reported that they grew lysozyme protein crystals 1,000 times larger than crystals grown in the same device on Earth. Unfortunately, the authors did not point out that their crystals were no larger than the average crystal grown using other, more standard tech- niques in an Earth laboratory.
No research has yet produced results that could justify the enormous costs of producing crystals on a large scale in space. To get an unbiased view of the usefulness of micro- gravity crystal growth, crystals grown in space must be compared with the best crystals that have been grown with standard techniques on Earth. Given the great expense of conducting such experiments with proper controls, and the limited promise of experiments performed thus far, it is questionable whether further experiments in this area should even be conducted.
The passage suggests that the author would most prob- ably agree with which of the following assessments ofthe results of the Space Lab experiment?
- A Although the results of the experiment areimpressive, the experiment was too limited inscope to allow for definitive conclusions.
- B The results of the experiment are impressive onthe surface, but the report is misleading.
- C The results of the experiment convincinglyconfirm what researchers have long suspected.
- D Because of design flaws, the experiment did notyield any results relevant to the issue underinvestigation.
- E The results of the experiment are too contradictoryto allow for easy interpretation.