Question

The author lists all of the following examples as “externalities” of major technical advances EXCEPT:

• A. extension of the phonograph to large-scale recording of music
• B. application of the Jacquard loom to modern IT programming
• C. build-up of chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere
• D. cooling and de-humidifying of factories through air-conditioning
• A. the secondary effect of past inventions mostly resulted in the creation of new inventions.
• B. inventions typically end up being used for entirely different purposes than the intended ones.
• C. despite the original intention, the unintended consequences of their inventions were largely beneficial.
• D. these inventors could not have visualised the eventual impact of their inventions on society.
• A. The by-products of leaded fuel, rather than the fuel itself, were responsible for the build-up of carbon-related gases in the atmosphere.
• B. The emissions caused by the large-scale use of leaded fuel ought to have been addressed earlier than they were.
• C. While technological advances in the past have had innocuous or beneficial outcomes, more recent advances have the potential to be more threatening globally.
• D. It has become far easier for people today to bring out innovations with dire worldwide consequences than it was earlier.
• A. The full impact of technological advances cannot be estimated in the short run as the ripple effects often extend far beyond the original intent.
• B. The secondary effects of most major technological advances in the past, especially if they were unintended, have turned out to be beneficial.
• C. It is important to judge an invention not by its immediate outcomes, but by the holistic impact of its secondary effects.
• D. The entire impact of a technological advance should be evaluated by the boost its secondary effects gives to generating further technological advances.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

The passage discusses the notion of “externalities” as secondary effects or consequences, often unintended, associated with major technological or industrial advances. These externalities can be either beneficial or detrimental. The passage provides several examples to illustrate these unintended consequences:

• Extension of the phonograph to large-scale recording of music: Initially intended for dictation, the phonograph found a surprising use in music recording, suggesting an externality beneficial to the music industry.
• Cooling and de-humidifying of factories through air-conditioning: While air-conditioning was invented to cool factories, it led to large human migrations and urban development in hot U.S. areas, another example of unintended societal externality.
• Build-up of chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere: As a by-product, CFCs emerged as a global environmental threat, highlighting negative externalities.

The application of the Jacquard loom to modern IT programming is not an externality of technological advances in the context of the passage. Instead, it created a technological foundation facilitating modern computing, representing direct technological evolution rather than an unintended consequence.

Hence, the correct answer is the non-externality example:

application of the Jacquard loom to modern IT programming

Answer 2

To solve this question, we must determine the author's intent in mentioning Carrier, Babbage, and Edison within the passage. The passage describes various inventors and their inventions, which often had unintended consequences or impacts on society. Let's analyze the key points:

• Willis Carrier: Introduced air-conditioning aimed at industrial use, but it led to significant demographic shifts and urban development in regions like Phoenix and Las Vegas. This indicates an outcome Carrier likely did not foresee.
• Thomas Edison: Thought his phonograph would be for dictation, but it found a major use in recording and playing music. This was an unforeseen utilization of his invention.
• Charles Babbage: Inspired by animatronic dolls, his work on early computing laid the groundwork for future technological advancements, far beyond his era.

The passage emphasizes that these inventors had unforeseen and unintended impacts, underscoring the difficulty, if not impossibility, of predicting the eventual effects and implications of their inventions. This is aligned with the correct option provided:

Correct Answer:

these inventors could not have visualized the eventual impact of their inventions on society.

Answer 3

The author discusses the unintended consequences of technological and industrial advances, citing examples like the printing press, air-conditioning, the phonograph, and animatronic dolls. Notably, the author highlights that some secondary effects can be beneficial, but others, like carbon emissions from leaded fuel, have global negative impacts. The passage suggests that historical technological advances often had unpredictable positive or benign consequences, such as rising literacy rates or economic surges. In contrast, recent innovations may pose more significant threats due to their global scale and impact. The mention of CFCs and biotechnology underscores this risk, suggesting smaller entities can now inadvertently create global consequences.

Among the options given:

• The view about leaded fuel by-products aligns with the text's notion of secondary effects from waste products like those emitted by Ethyl and Freon.
• The notion of addressing emissions from leaded fuel early resonates with the author's perspective on recognizing secondary effects earlier.
• The idea that innovations with dire global consequences are easier now aligns with the author's discussion about smaller groups creating new advances with potential negative effects.
• However, the view that recent technological advances are more threatening than past ones deviates from the passage’s focus on unintended consequences being initially unpredictable, rather than generationally more dangerous.

Thus, the author likely would not support the view that: While technological advances in the past have had innocuous or beneficial outcomes, more recent advances have the potential to be more threatening globally.

Answer 4

The best choice that conveys the main point of the first paragraph is: The full impact of technological advances cannot be estimated in the short run as the ripple effects often extend far beyond the original intent.

Explanation: The first paragraph of the passage highlights that major technological or industrial advancements are followed by less predictable and often unintended secondary effects, as seen in historical examples like the printing press and spectacles. This suggests that the true impact of technological progress extends beyond its initial purpose, taking time for all consequences to materialize and be understood, thus making it difficult to fully estimate the impact quickly. Therefore, the correct statement encapsulates the essence of these observations.