Question

Can I get some help plz, I'm so confused.

“There’s a number of assumptions that you have to make to solve this problem,” says Alex Klotz. He is a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. He was not involved in the new study. To simplify the calculations, scientists have had to make many unrealistic assumptions. They assume that Earth is a sphere of uniform density (it isn’t). They assume the planet is not rotating (it is). And they assume that there is no drag from friction or air in the tunnel (there would be).

How does paragraph 6 contribute to the development of ideas in the text?
A. It reveals why the calculations about traveling through the Earth haven’t been
accurate in the past.
B. It shows how pointless the mind game is, as it doesn’t consider several
important variables.
C. It details the factors that are usually not included when thinking through the
mind game.
D. It emphasizes how difficult it is to determine what would happen to someone
who traveled through the Earth.

Answer 1

I believe the answer is C. It details the factors that are usually not included when thinking through the mind game.

Step-by-step explanation:

This is because, the mind game is the idea that a person could go straight through the earth. Paragraph 6 further develops this idea by stating just how unrealistic the mind game is. Going straight through the earth is unjustifiable by any source other than the unrealistic assumptions of scientists. The mind game doesn't consider the aspects of tunneling straight through the earth such as, the rotation of earth, density of the different layers, and the friction from wind once this hypothetical tunnel is finished.

Other than that A and D don't make any sense to me as the answer. B, although a possible answer, I don't think is right because paragraph 6 is playing into the mind game, not saying it is pointless. Paragraph 6 adds more details that aren't usually considered or listed.

(I have not read through the book/article that addresses all of these matters, nor have I taken a class specifically for the writing containing these paragraphs. But, with the context given I believe this is the answer.)