Passage (Michael Faraday, *The Chemical History of a Candle*, Lecture I, 1860–61): "I purpose, in return for the honour you do us by coming to see what are our proceedings here, to bring before you, in the course of these lectures, the Chemical History of a Candle. I have taken this subject on a former occasion; and were it left to my own will, I should prefer to repeat it almost every year — so abundant is the interest that attaches itself to the subject, so wonderful are the varieties of outlet which it offers into the various departments of philosophy. There is not a law under which any part of this universe is governed which does not come into play, and is touched upon in these phenomena. There is no better, there is no more open door by which you can enter into the study of natural philosophy, than by considering the physical phenomena of a candle. And before proceeding, let me say this also — that though our subject be so great, and our intention that of treating it honestly, seriously, and philosophically, yet I mean to pass away from all those who are seniors amongst us. I claim the privilege of speaking to juveniles as a juvenile myself." The clauses "so abundant is the interest that attaches itself to the subject, so wonderful are the varieties of outlet which it offers" serve principally to:
Aconcede that the audience may have heard the material before.
Banticipate objections from senior scientists in attendance.
Cjustify the lecturer's decision to take the same subject repeatedly.
Dsummarise the technical content of the lectures to come.
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. justify the lecturer's decision to take the same subject repeatedly.
The two *so X is/are* clauses are appended directly to the sentence "I should prefer to repeat it almost every year." They function as a justification for that surprising preference — why would anyone want to give the same lecture series again and again? Faraday's answer: because the subject is endlessly *abundant* in interest and *wonderful* in its connections to the whole of philosophy.
- **A** misreads the function as one of concession.
- **B** introduces senior scientists too early — they are the audience the *next* paragraph turns *away* from, but the *so X is/are* clauses do not address them.
- **D** would describe a forecast of the technical content, which Faraday is not yet giving.
Related questions
An argument states 'the village bus service is unreliable, so it should be banned'. The unA 'strengthen' CR question asks which option, if true, would:In a GMAT Critical Reasoning question, the FIRST step to take is:In formal GMAT register, which idiom is correct? 'Her findings are _____ those of the earlWhich uses correct parallel structure? 'On weekends she enjoys _____.'Choose the option with correct subject-verb agreement: 'The collection of old coins _____ On GMAT Sentence Correction, the recommended elimination strategy is to:In a GMAT Sentence Correction question, option (A) ALWAYS represents: