Based on historical records, we can say that many ancient societies devised symbols to represent numbers and solutions to mathematical problems. Although thinkers began to take the first steps towards mathematics early on, it can be asserted that only with Greek civilisation did this discipline acquire the abstract and general characteristics that render it distinct and render it a unique science. It is noteworthy that mathematics evolved into an abstract and general science at a deliberate pace. Documents from pre-Greek civilisations indicate that solutions to mathematical problems were confined to specific, tangible cases. These documents convey the impression that mathematical concepts were communicated sporadically and non-methodically (occasionally even fortuitously), and were treated as useful information geared towards practical outcomes.
MANARA, LUCCHINI, Momenti del pensiero matematico, Mursia
Which of the following CANNOT be inferred from the text?
A) Since antiquity, mathematics has been characterized by abstractness and generality.
B) In antiquity, mathematical notions were not communicated in a methodical manner.
C) Symbols representing numbers had already been adopted in antiquity.
D) In antiquity, mathematical notions were geared towards practical outcomes.
E) The evolution of mathematics has been an extremely slow process.
IMAT 2024 · Question 2
Q2 - Reading skills
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The correct answer is A) Since antiquity, mathematics has been characterized by abstractness and generality.
You're looking for the statement the text contradicts. The passage says maths only became abstract and general with the Greeks, and that before them it dealt with specific, practical cases. So "since antiquity, mathematics has been abstract and general" is exactly what the text denies.
Everything else is stated in the passage: ancient societies used number symbols, ideas were passed on unsystematically and for practical ends, and the change to an abstract science was slow.
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