PrepTest 145, Section 1, Question 20
The French biologist Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck (1744–1829) outlined(453 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- AThe long-derided Lamarckian(27 more words not shown)
- BSteele and his(34 more words not shown)
- CAlthough Steele and(32 more words not shown)
- DIn contrast to(31 more words not shown)
- EBy showing that(32 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We've already predicted the main point: Steele proposes a mechanism through which acquired immune-system changes could become hereditary, and his team claims a mutation pattern supports it. The author describes that effort without declaring the theory proved.
What we’re looking for
Look for both the proposed process and its claimed evidence. A summary that turns a possibility into an established result changes the status of the whole argument.
Working the answers
- A
Steele's team claims support; the theory has not been proven correct. The final paragraph explicitly leaves room for other explanations of the mutation pattern.
- BCorrect
This captures the proposed mechanism and the claim to have evidence that it operates. Could and claim preserve the distinction between an account that may work and an established demonstration that it does.
- C
The first part assumes that inheritance has already been demonstrated, which it has not. The answer also adds a conclusion about the mechanism being unlikely elsewhere in the body. That comparison is never developed.
- D
The author does call the story speculative and the evidence circumstantial. But the account is not organized around contrasting its evidentiary basis with that of standard evolutionary theory. This emphasizes a critical comparison the author does not make instead of the proposed mechanism and claimed support.
- E
Reverse transcription has been observed in other contexts. That does not remove the further problem of transferring altered DNA into reproductive cells, and the author never identifies reverse transcription alone as the main obstacle to general acceptance.
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