PrepTest 139, Section 3, Question 23
Calvaria major is a rare but once-abundant tree(473 more words not shown)
The author indicates that Temple's(8 more words not shown)
- Awas largely concerned(7 more words not shown)
- Bfurnished him with(15 more words not shown)
- Cprovided experimental evidence(20 more words not shown)
- Dwas comprehensive in(6 more words not shown)
- Ewas originally inspired(16 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The opening gives us the relationship between Temple's two projects: his work on Calvaria major was a sidelight to his research on endangered birds. The tree investigation was secondary, and the main bird research concerned species threatened with extinction. Keep that explicit description separate from the later account of his tests on pits.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
“Endangered birds of Mauritius” directly supports this. Species facing the threat of extinction are endangered species; no additional inference about his motives is needed.
- B
The bird studies helped him estimate the force in a dodo's gizzard. Separate tests determined the pits' crush-resistant strength. This blurs those two measurements and adds an unsupported claim that his estimates were highly accurate.
- C
Using modern birds to estimate forces in an extinct bird is not experimental proof that their gizzards exerted roughly equal forces. The author does not establish that equivalence.
- D
We are told what he studied, not that the bird research was comprehensive or methodologically precise. Those broader endorsements are unsupported.
- E
The author does not say the failure of tree seeds to germinate inspired the bird research. The opening presents the tree investigation as a sidelight to an existing research focus, not the stated origin of that focus.
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