PrepTest 118, Section 2, Question 18
A lichen consists of a fungus living in(450 more words not shown)
According to the passage, the(18 more words not shown)
- AThe DNA of(13 more words not shown)
- BLichen-forming fungi are(13 more words not shown)
- CLichen-forming fungi were(10 more words not shown)
- DLichen-forming fungi are(10 more words not shown)
- EThe DNA of(11 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
What finally let scientists place these fungi on the family tree? They could isolate the fungal DNA from the DNA of the accompanying alga. The second paragraph says the new tools allow researchers to “isolate the DNA of fungi.” We're looking for the difficulty those tools overcame.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
The two organisms were so closely intertwined that separating their DNA was difficult. Once researchers could isolate the fungal DNA, they could analyze it and establish relationships to other fungi.
- B
The relevant confusion was between a fungus's DNA and its algal partner's DNA, not between the fungus and its familiar fungal relatives.
- C
They were indeed grouped separately. But that was a result of not knowing where they belonged, not the technical obstacle that prevented researchers from figuring it out.
- D
We aren't told that these fungi are less common, or that scarcity prevented the research.
- E
Difficult to isolate doesn't mean more complex. The problem was obtaining the fungal DNA separately from the partner's DNA.
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