PARAGRAPH COMPLETION:- What happens to our brains as we age is of crucial…
2024
PARAGRAPH COMPLETION:-
What happens to our brains as we age is of crucial importance not just to science but to public policy. By 2030, for example, 72 million people in the US will be over 65, double the figure in 2000 and their average life expectancy will likely have edged above 20 years. However, this demographic time-bomb would be much less threatening if the elderly were looked upon as intelligent contributors to society rather than as dependents in long-term decline.
- A.
The idea that we get dumber as we grow older is just a myth, according
to brain research that will encourage anyone old enough to know better.
- B.
It is time we rethink what we mean by the ageing mind before our false
assumptions result in decisions and policies that marginalize the old or
waste precious public resources to re-mediate problems that do not
exist.
- C.
Many of the assumptions scientists currently make about ‘cognitive
decline’ are seriously flawed and, for the most part, formally invalid.
- D.
Using computer models to simulate young and old brains, Ramscar and his colleagues found they could account for the decline in test scores simply by factoring in experience
Attempted by 5 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Answer: The best completion is the sentence that calls for rethinking what we mean by the ageing mind to avoid marginalizing older people or wasting public resources.
Fits the paragraph’s flow: The passage moves from demographic facts about an ageing population to the implications for society and policy. This sentence continues that progression by shifting the discussion toward how society should reinterpret ageing.
Focuses on policy and social attitude: It explicitly warns that false assumptions could lead to marginalizing older people or to wasting public resources—issues that directly follow from concern over a large elderly population.
Why the other completions are less suitable:
The sentence asserting that ageing-related decline is a myth restates a premise and would be better placed earlier; it does not advance the paragraph toward policy implications.
The sentence claiming that scientists’ assumptions are formally invalid is a technical critique with an academic tone, and it does not directly lead to the societal or policy recommendations implied by the paragraph.
The sentence describing computer models and a decline in test scores introduces specific research detail that is neither prepared for nor aligned with the paragraph’s broader argument about societal attitudes and policy.
Overall, the chosen sentence best continues the paragraph by linking demographic concerns to the need for revised attitudes and policies toward the elderly.