All,
Please see the question below:
Although fullerenes – spherical molecules made entirely of carbon – were first found in the laboratory, they have since been found in nature, formed in fissures of the rare mineral shungite. Since laboratory synthesis of fullerenes requires distinctive conditions of temperature and pressure, this discovery should give geologists a test case for evaluating hypotheses about the state of the Earth’s crust at the time these naturally occurring fullerenes were formed.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the argument?
(A) Confirming that the shungite genuinely contained fullerenes took careful experimentation.
(B) Some fullerenes have also been found on the remains of a small meteorite that collided with a spacecraft.
(C) The mineral shungite itself contains large amounts of carbon, from which the fullerenes apparently formed
(D) The naturally occurring fullerenes are arranged in a previously unknown crystalline structure
(E) Shungite itself is formed only under distinctive conditions.
[spoiler]OA: D
I was able to get to the correct answer by process of elimination, but I'm still sitting on the fence on answer choice D. It seems like the other ACs (A, B, C and E) are irrelevant, so D must be the answer, but how exactly does D undermine the argument? If anyone can shed light on this, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.[/spoiler]
Please see the question below:
Although fullerenes – spherical molecules made entirely of carbon – were first found in the laboratory, they have since been found in nature, formed in fissures of the rare mineral shungite. Since laboratory synthesis of fullerenes requires distinctive conditions of temperature and pressure, this discovery should give geologists a test case for evaluating hypotheses about the state of the Earth’s crust at the time these naturally occurring fullerenes were formed.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the argument?
(A) Confirming that the shungite genuinely contained fullerenes took careful experimentation.
(B) Some fullerenes have also been found on the remains of a small meteorite that collided with a spacecraft.
(C) The mineral shungite itself contains large amounts of carbon, from which the fullerenes apparently formed
(D) The naturally occurring fullerenes are arranged in a previously unknown crystalline structure
(E) Shungite itself is formed only under distinctive conditions.
[spoiler]OA: D
I was able to get to the correct answer by process of elimination, but I'm still sitting on the fence on answer choice D. It seems like the other ACs (A, B, C and E) are irrelevant, so D must be the answer, but how exactly does D undermine the argument? If anyone can shed light on this, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.[/spoiler]
