Critical Reasoning

Light is registered in the retina when photons hit
molecules of the pigment rhodopsin and change the
molecules’ shape. Even when they have not been
struck by photons of light, rhodopsin molecules
sometimes change shape because of normal
molecular motion, thereby introducing error into the
visual system. The amount of this molecular motion
is directly proportional to the temperature of the
retina.


Which one of the following conclusions is most
strongly supported by the information above?

(A) The temperature of an animal’s retina depends
on the amount of light the retina is
absorbing.
(B) The visual systems of animals whose body
temperature matches that of their
surroundings are more error-prone in hot
surroundings than in cold ones.
(C) As the temperature of the retina rises, rhodopsin
molecules react more slowly to being struck
by photons.
(D) Rhodopsin molecules are more sensitive to
photons in animals whose retinas have large
surface areas than in animals whose retinas
have small surface areas.
(E) Molecules of rhodopsin are the only pigment
molecules that occur naturally in the retina.