Question

Read the excerpt from The Hot Zone.

There she met Lieutenant Colonel Trotter, a stocky,
dark-haired man whom Nancy had worked with for
many years. They put on their inner gloves and taped
their cuffs. Nancy put a pair of hearing protectors over
her ears. She had started wearing them a while back,
when people had begun to suspect that the roar of air
in your suit might be loud enough to damage your
hearing. They hauled on their space suits and sealed
the Ziploc zippers. They edged around each other as
they fiddled with their suits. People wearing biohazard
space suits tend to step around one another like two
wrestlers at the beginning of a match, watching the
other person's every move, especially watching the
hands to make sure they don't hold a sharp object. This
cringing becomes instinctive.
Which best states the central idea of this excerpt?
O It is always necessary to work with a partner when
dealing with unidentified substances.
O Extreme precautions must be taken when dealing
with potentially hazardous materials.
O Scientists are well known for being overly cautious
and for taking unnecessary safety measures.
OIt is standard procedure to wear both space suits
and hearing protectors in laboratories.

Answer 1

The central idea of the excerpt from The Hot Zone is that extreme precautions are necessary for safety when handling hazardous materials in scientific research. The correct answer is option: 2) Extreme precautions must be taken when dealing with potentially hazardous materials.

Step-by-step explanation:

• The central idea of the excerpt from The Hot Zone is that extreme precautions must be taken when dealing with potentially hazardous materials.
• This is exemplified by the detailed description of the characters suiting up in protective space suits, securing their inner gloves, and using hearing protectors to guard against potential hearing damage due to the loud air circulation in the suits.
• These measures are taken to ensure safety in environments where exposure to dangerous substances, such as pathogens or toxins, is a risk.
• The excerpt suggests that in scientific research, strict safety protocols are mandatory to protect researchers from biohazards and other risks encountered when handling deadly or unknown organisms.
• The passage demonstrates the intricate and careful steps that are necessary to safeguard one's health in such high-risk scenarios.