PT142.S1.Q23

PrepTest 142 - Section 1 - Question 23

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Geologist: The dominant view that petroleum formed from the fossilized remains of plants and animals deep in the earth's crust has been challenged by scientists who hold that it formed, not from living material, but from deep carbon deposits dating from the formation of the earth. ███ █████ ██████ ██ ███████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ █████████ ██ ███████████ █████████ ██████████ ███ ████ ██ ███████ █████████ ██ █ ██████ █████████

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis

The author concludes that petroleum did not form from deep carbon deposits dating from the formation of the earth. This is based on the fact that petroleum contains biomarkers, which indicate the past or present existence of a living organism.

Notable Assumptions

The author assumes that if petroleum formed from deep carbon deposits, then we would not find biomarkers in it. This overlooks the fact that there might be reasons that biomarkers could be found in petroleum, even if the petroleum formed from deep carbon deposits (as opposed to forming from living things).

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23.

Which one of the following, ██ █████ ████ ███████ ███ ███████████ █████████

a

Fossils have been ██████████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ ███████████

b

Living organisms only ███████ ████ █████ ███ ███████ ██████████

c

It would take ████ ████████ ██ █████ ███ █████████ ██ ██████ ██████████

d

Certain strains of ████████ ██████ ████ ██████ ███ ███████ ██████

e

Some carbon deposits ████ ██████ ████ ███ ██████████ ███████ ██ ███████

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