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PrepTest 73, Passage 1, Question 2

Transcript

Question two says, according to the authors, mammals were able to survive. So when they're asked what something the author actually said in the passage then we're dealing with a detail question. And a detail question is just an Easter egg hunt. Somewhere in the passage, the author said something about why mammals were able to survive the catastrophic environmental changes that occurred roughly 65 million years ago.

Why did they do that? If we look at our notes, we don't see mammals anywhere. But we do see the cretaceous extinctions, which was what happened 65 million years ago. So we're gonna go back to that part of the passage, do a little bit of research, one of the answers will be what they said.

So answer choice A, they had adapted previously to similar changes. The author never says this. We know that mammals adapted during the cretaceous, we don't know that they had adapted before that. Though answer choice A is not our answer. Answer choice B, we're relatively small.

This is our answer. This is something that was directly said. They said smaller animal species are generally better able to survive. Mammals in the cretaceous were quite small. And this scenario explains why the mammals fared relatively well. So they did better because they were small.

So answer choice B is something that they say directly, that means it is our answer. The correct answer to a detailed question will always be said directly. And that means that the other answers weren't. Answer choice C, mammals were highly intelligent. As mammals, we probably think this is true, but the author never said that. Sure, intelligence might help you survive, but this isn't in the passage.

Answer choice D, lived in a wide range of environments. That also would help you survive in the real world, but it wasn't said in the passage. And then answer choice E, were able to reproduce quickly. I'm going to sound like a broken record, but that is something that, sure it makes sense as a way to adapt, but it's not what the passage said.

The correct answer to a detailed question is always what the passage said, and here the passage said answer choice B.

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