Separate an explanation from a conclusion
Read for meaning first. Select a highlighted word if you want a closer look.
A campus print team noticed that one poster had emerged with a narrow stripe. Their first hypothesis was that the uploaded image contained the stripe, but the original file looked clean. The result was anomalous because the other posters from the same session had no such mark. Rather than immediately ascribe the problem to the designer, Nia asked the team to compare the files, settings, and order of printing, keeping several possible explanations open until the records could distinguish them.
The team treated its hypothesis as something to examine, not as a fact established by being suggested first. A second anomalous print appeared when a different image was sent through the same setting, which weakened the claim that the first designer alone had caused the problem. Nia still would not ascribe the stripe to a particular component without another comparison. Her notes separated the unusual observation, the proposed explanation, and the evidence needed before assigning a cause.
Before you move on
Look away from the passage. Can you explain each focus word in your own words?
Original fictional passages for vocabulary practice.