PrepTest 145, Section 1, Question 22
The French biologist Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck (1744–1829) outlined(453 more words not shown)
The passage most strongly suggests(19 more words not shown)
- Aconfidence in its(1 more words not shown)
- Bindignation at its(3 more words not shown)
- Cdistrust of its(1 more words not shown)
- Ddoubt concerning its(1 more words not shown)
- Edismay at its(3 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The author describes an elegant but speculative account, then asks whether the process actually occurs. The ending adds other biologists' concern that the mutation pattern has less radical explanations. Those choices of emphasis suggest doubt, while stopping short of an angry or absolute rejection.
What we’re looking for
We need the author's attitude, not the strongest reaction a reader might have to the theory.
Working the answers
- A
The qualifications and unresolved alternative explanations do not support confidence that the theory is true.
- B
There is no indignation—no sense that the author is offended because Steele departs from Darwinism. A scientific reservation is different from anger at challenging an accepted view.
- C
The concern is the adequacy of the account and evidence, not simply the theory's newness. The opening actually places Steele's proposal within an old theoretical tradition. Novelty is not identified as a reason to distrust it.
- DCorrect
The speculative mechanism, question about whether it actually operates and closing doubts support doubt about its plausibility. This captures the reservations without turning them into a declaration of impossibility.
- E
The author does not express dismay over careless or insufficiently rigorous work. Describing a proposed mechanism and disputed circumstantial evidence does not itself accuse the researchers of neglecting proper scientific standards.
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