Passage Summary:
P1: Panspermia - life on Earth originated in outer space
Old - never won general acceptance
New - has found support
P2: (Support 1) Meteorite from Mars and Moon
P3: (support 2) Computer simulation -> time travelled not long as prev thought
P4: (Support 3) 2 years is possible in theory
Q1 attitude toward Panspermia
A: unqualified support (no: the author is not blindly supporting this)
B: veiled hostility (no: the author actually says that it has supports)
C: anguished doubt (do not know what this means)
D: measured skepticism (do not know what "measure" means)
E: flat rejection (no: same reason as B)
Can anyone explain vocabulary in C and D please? As far as I see official guide, this type of question will not appear in real GMAT right?
Q2 infer
A. Life did not originate on Earth. (the author says that Panspermia has supports but did not say that it is correct)
B. Most meteorites do not carry living organisms. (Yes, look at paragraph 2: lifeless ...)
C. There was once life on Mars. (the author says the environment in Mars could be more conducive, but did not say that life would originate there: sufficient vs necessary conditions)
D. Some organisms can live for millions of years in outer space. (No, look at paragraph 3)
E. No reputable scientists accepted panspermia until recently. (No, some are distinguished in paragraph 1)
Ans: B
Q3 supporters in P1 (to say that there are some distinguished scientists believe, but not general accepted by scientists)
A. prove the validity of the hypothesis (no - the author did not mention the support yet)
B. demonstrate that great minds often perceive truths that their lesser colleagues overlook (no - that is not purpose)
C. suggest that the hypothesis is not inherently unworthy of consideration (not unworthy = may be worthy: yes because even some distinguished scientists supported in old)
D. emphasize the importance of recent research (no - this is the old, not new)
E. give an example of how even good scientists can make mistakes (no - that is not purpose)
Ans: C
Q4: capable of living in space for at least ... (in last paragraph, if two years is theoretically possible, maybe luck may allow living things to be on Earth) Luck means if it is actually 2 years.
A. 2 years (yes)
B. 16,000 years (trap answer that I have done lol: the author said that 16,000 is possible for Martian meteorite to travel from Mars to Earth, but did not say that lives could survive in 16,000 years, just say that option C-E are impossible)
C. 700,000 years (no)
D. 15 million years (no)
E. 2 billion years (no)