PrepTest 101, Section 4, Question 15
When the same habitat types (forests, oceans, grasslands,(450 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- AAt present, no(17 more words not shown)
- BThe tropical climate(13 more words not shown)
- CSeveral explanations have(18 more words not shown)
- DDespite their differences,(21 more words not shown)
- EIn distinguishing among(24 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We've already predicted the main point: differences in how new species form best explain why there are more species toward the tropics. The author considers four explanations, raises objections to the first three, and calls the fourth the most plausible. Now we're looking for some version of that judgment, not merely a restatement of the pattern that needs explaining.
Working the answers
- A
We know which hypothesis the author favors, not which is most widely accepted by researchers. Their relative popularity isn't the point.
- B
Tropical conditions favoring diversity is the broad idea behind the discussion. But this leaves out what most of the discussion does: evaluate competing explanations and favor the rate-of-speciation hypothesis.
- CCorrect
Paragraph 5 calls the fourth explanation “most plausible,” and the final paragraph explains how isolated groups survive long enough to become new species. This captures both the competing explanations and the author's preference.
- D
The fourth hypothesis predicts an increasingly steep gradient. The other three aren't said to make that prediction, and agreement about the future isn't the central claim.
- E
The untested mechanism is one objection to the species-energy hypothesis. The author doesn't declare testability the most important criterion for judging all four explanations.
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