Question

passage 1: can computers think? why this is proving so hard to answer by avery elizabeth hurt
1
back in 1950, british mathematician and computer scientist alan turing came up with a way to test whether a machine was truly intelligent. he called it the \imitation game.\ today, we call it the turing test.
2
the game goes like this: someone—lets call this person player a—sits alone in a room and types messages to two other players. lets call them b and c. one of those players is human, the other is a computer. player as job is to determine whether b or c is the human.
3
turing debuted his game idea in a 1950 paper in the journal mind. he began the paper with these words: \i propose to consider the question, can machines think?\
4
it was a bold question, considering computers as we now know them did not yet
16
how does the logical appeal in paragraph 8 support the author’s purpose in passage 1?
a by explaining the underlying theory of the turing test
b by demonstrating how the turing test can be confusing
c by suggesting what turing might think of modern computers
d by showing why turing was considered an expert in the field

Explanation:

To solve this question, we analyze each option based on the passage's context (though paragraph 8 isn't fully visible, we use the given passage and logical reasoning):

• Option A: The passage introduces the Turing test (imitation game) and its theory (testing machine intelligence by distinguishing human/computer). A logical appeal in paragraph 8 likely explains this underlying theory to support the author’s purpose of exploring "Can computers think?".
• Option B: The passage describes the Turing test’s process, not its confusion. No indication the test is confusing. Eliminate.
• Option C: The passage focuses on the Turing test, not Turing’s opinion on modern computers (modern computers didn’t exist in 1950). Eliminate.
• Option D: The passage highlights Turing’s idea for the test, not why he’s an expert. Eliminate.

Answer:

A. by explaining the underlying theory of the Turing test