Question

read the excerpt from the hot zone and the summary that follows it.
half this biocontainment operation was going to be news containment. c. j. peters’s comments to the washington post were designed to create an impression that the situation was under control, safe, and not all that interesting. c. j. was very smooth when he wanted to be, and he used his friendly voice with the reporters, assuring them over the telephone that there really was no problem, just kind of a routine technical situation. somehow the reporters concluded that the sick monkeys had been “destroyed as a precaution” when in fact the nighttime, and the reason for troops, was that the animals hadn’t been destroyed.
summary of central idea: it was very important to keep the truth about this operation from the news.
what best describes this summary of the central idea?
○ it is a strong summary because it is subjective and provides the writer’s opinion about the paragraph’s central idea.
○ it is a strong summary because it is objective and accurately expresses the paragraph’s central idea.
○ it is a weak summary because it is subjective and does not provide the writer’s opinion about the paragraph’s central idea.
○ it is a weak summary because it is objective and does not accurately express the paragraph’s central idea.

Explanation:

To determine the correct option, we analyze the summary and the criteria for a strong/weak summary. A strong summary should be objective (not including personal opinion) and accurately reflect the central idea. The summary here is about the biocontainment operation, focusing on C.J. Peters' actions and the reporters' conclusion. Let's evaluate each option:

• Option 1: Claims the summary is strong and subjective (includes opinion) – incorrect, as a strong summary should be objective.
• Option 2: States it's strong, objective, and accurate. The summary presents facts (Peters' comments, reporters' conclusion, importance of truth) without opinion and matches the paragraph's content – this fits.
• Option 3: Says it's weak and subjective – but the summary has no opinion, so this is wrong.
• Option 4: Calls it weak and objective (but says it doesn't express the central idea) – the summary does accurately convey the operation's aspects, so this is incorrect.

Answer:

B. It is a strong summary because it is objective and accurately expresses the paragraph’s central idea.