Question+31

31) This type of question tests word meaning in context. In order to answer the question correctly, one needs to have a basic idea of the definition of the word “contrarians.” One must know vocabulary words such as “unorthodox” and “complexity.” In order to answer the question, one must know how to locate a word in a text and read the context around it in order to decipher its meaning in that particular context. One must know how to substitute definitions in for words in order to see which answer option is the best fit.

**Choice A** is a distractor because it could seem correct since an “old-fashioned view” could seem contrarian, but the passage does not specifically say that the process of searching for a counterexample is dated or anachronistic. **Choice B** is incorrect because the scientists looking for counterexamples do not say the theory is not complex; if they thought it was simple, they would not be determined to find a counterexample. **Choice C** is correct because the “contrarians” do approach the topic from an unorthodox, or unconventional and irregular, perspective. Most of the other scientists, according to the passage, searched for a proof to prove the Four Color Map Theorem. The minority of scientists, however, the “contrarians,” used a different, contrary, or unorthodox approach to the complex issue by searching for a counterexample rather than a proof. **Choice D** is incorrect because the passage does not explicitly state that contrarians dislike mathematical procedures. **Choice E** is incorrect because the passage never describes cooperative or uncooperative relationships among mathematicians in detail.