PrepTest 103, Section 4, Question 21
Between June 1987 and May 1988, the bodies(454 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(17 more words not shown)
- Athe dolphins'(1 more words not shown)
- Bthe presence of(7 more words not shown)
- Cthe wide variety(11 more words not shown)
- Dthe presence of(6 more words not shown)
- Ethe bacterial infection(10 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Both explanations involve synthetic pollutants. In the research team's account, PCBs released from blubber make the dolphins worse. In the writer's alternative, increased pollutant exposure starts the disaster. That's the shared factor I'd predict.
What we’re looking for
The question says “explicitly cited,” so we need direct support in both accounts, not a step we could reasonably add ourselves.
Working the answers
- A
Fish provide a route of exposure to brevetoxin in the research team's account. The alternative doesn't specify diet as the route by which increased pollution reached the dolphins.
- B
Algae in the Gulf are comparative evidence against the first explanation, not a factor causing these Atlantic dolphins' deaths.
- C
The bloom's identified toxin is brevetoxin; we aren't given a “wide variety.” Neither account cites that supposed variety as a contributing factor.
- DCorrect
The research team says released synthetic pollutants “such as PCBs” worsened the dolphins' condition. The alternative describes dolphins already “heavily laden with pollutants” suffering increased exposure. Pollutants within the dolphins have an explicit role in both accounts, even though the proposed starting causes differ.
- E
Tempting: the research team expressly identifies bacterial infection as the ultimate cause of death. The final paragraph also mentions impaired immunity. But it doesn't explicitly describe generalized immune-system failure leading to bacterial infection as part of its alternative account. We could supply that connection; the question asks for something actually cited in both theories. D meets that requirement directly.
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