Botanist: On the remote island of Tropica, it is known that early settlers brought a special variety of sunflower plant to cultivate on their arrival over 10,000 years ago. All of the sunflowers on the island today, both wild and farmed, have descended from that original variety. By studying today’s wild sunflower plants on the island of Tropica, we can learn much more about that original variety of sunflower because the wild plants have not been selectively cultivated over the years as the farmed plants have.

The botanist’s argument depends on which of the following assumptions?


(A) There were not other varieties of sunflowers on Tropica when the settlers first arrived on the island.

(B) The wild sunflower plants on the island of Tropica today are more similar to the original variety than today’s farmed plants.

(C) The climate on the island of Tropica has not changed significantly over the past 10,000 years.

(D) The selective cultivation of farmed plants over the past 10,000 years has led to few if any significant changes from the original variety.

(E) Some wild plants have mutated dramatically over the past 10,000 years.


OA B

Source: Veritas Prep