Carcass wrote:
infopro wrote:
TrevorKleeTutor wrote:
Yeah, let me answer this one.
"Astrophysicists are (i) _________ the fact that the Milky Way is a totally unremarkable galaxy, since this very ordinariness affords them a template with which to make viable extrapolations concerning the structure and dynamics of many other galaxies—both known and unknown."
So they're actually pretty happy about the fact that it's unremarkable. This unremarkability means that they can figure out other galaxies, an opportunity they are now "afforded" to do (they couldn't before).
They're happy. Or, as one might say, it makes their hearts happy (they're heartened).
Surprised doesn't work here, as "since" means because. If they were surprised, we'd want something like "since they expected it to actually be remarkable."
What evidence do we have
from the sentence that suggests that they are happy?
Actually nowhere in the sentence
The "ordinariness [of the Milky Way galaxy]
AFFORDS them a template with which to make
viable extrapolations". This should explain why the astrophysicists would be happy about an unremarkable/ordinary galaxy.
If the Milky Way was the only galaxy in the entire universe that behaved how it did, you would not be able to extrapolate how the milky way behaves onto others galaxies. But because the Milky Way is ordinary you can make extrapolations/predictions based on it.