PT132.S1.P1.Q3

PrepTest 132 - Section 1 - Passage 1 - Question 3

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P1

To study centuries-old earthquakes and the geologic faults that caused them, seismologists usually dig trenches along visible fault lines, looking for sediments that show evidence of having shifted. ███

Intro topic · Methods for studying causes of past earthquakes
Start by looking for buried sediments that shifted during a possible earthquake
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Explain method · Use carbon 14 to back-date when material shifted (i.e., when possible earthquake occurred)
Carbon 14 is a radioactive form of carbon that decays (i.e., turns into a different form of carbon) at a known rate, so the amount of carbon 14 left in something can tell us how old that thing is
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Application of method · Determine details of past earthquakes, predict future earthquakes
P2

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Intro new method · Lichenometry
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Explain new method · Use lichen growth to back-date rockfalls in mountain ranges
Lichens begin growing on rocks after an earthquake causes rockfalls; because they grow at a known rate, the size of a lichen patch on a rock can tell us when that rock first fell
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Application of new method · If many rockfalls occurred at the same time, that suggests an earthquake
Earthquake was strongest where the most number of rockfalls occurred
P3

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Support for lichenometry · over carbon 14 dating
Carbon 14 dating is less accurate because it can be hard to know how much carbon 14 the material started with (just knowing the rate of carbon 14 decay on its own can't tell us how old that material is)
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Limitations of lichenometry · Limited time period, complications related to site selection
Passage Style
Single position
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3.

What is the author's primary ███████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ██████ ██ █ █████ ████████ ██████ ███████ ██████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ███████████

a

to emphasize the ████████ ████ █████ ██████ ████████ ███ █████████ ██████████ ██ █████ ███████ ████ ████████

The author doesn’t emphasize the speed of lichen growth; the growth is simply presented to help us understand how measuring lichen growth can help date an earthquake.

6%
b

to offer an ███████ ██ █ ██████ ███████ ████ ███ ██ ███ ███████ █████ █████ ██ ██████

We don’t know whether the lichen mentioned has one of the slowest known rates of growth.

2%
c

to present additional ████████ ██████████ ███ █████ ████ █████████████ ██████████ ███ █████ ████████ ████ ██ ██████

The author hasn’t introduced the idea that environmental conditions can alter lichen growth rates. That idea comes in P3 and is not related to the purpose of the line we’re asked about.

2%
d

to explain why ████████████ █████ ████ ███ ██████ ███████████ ████ ████████ ██ ███ ████ ███ █████

The claim that lichenometry works best for earthquakes in the last 500 years is in P3 and isn’t related to the purpose of the line we’re asked about.

3%
e

to provide a █████ ██ ███ ████ ██ █████████ ██ █████ ██████ ██████ ██████

This is the best answer. Not exactly what we anticipated, but no other answer makes any sense. The author mentions the growth rate to give us a sense of the lichen growth rate, which helps us understand how measuring lichen growth rate can date an earthquake.

87%

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