Some scientists believe that 65 million years ago an asteroid struck

(E) Dinosaurs were susceptible to fatal respiratory problems cause by contamination of the air by asteroid debris.

susceptible: likely or liable to be influenced or harmed by a particular thing.

Likely to have fatal consequence. But not 100%. So how can we say its definitely going to result in extinction?

Simply put, AnirudhaS, we cannot. But it is not our job to reconcile any differences by introducing proof; rather, the question stem asks us to choose the answer choice that most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy. To that end, I think several responses above hit the mark. (People run into the same trouble when they interpret most weakens/strengthens as something that demands unassailable opposition or support. A must-be-true question stem will not use most.) If you have further questions, though, feel free to ask.

- Andrew

AnirudhaS AndrewN

Honestly, we can choose E even if we don't rely on the "most" language in the question stem. When we resolve a discrepancy, we are just trying to understand how two things can both be true. E gives us a reason.

As a parallel, imagine that I tell you this: "I don't know Japanese. But I got an A on a Japanese language test." How is this possible? Perhaps I cheated. Perhaps the test was misgraded. Perhaps the test was so easy that one could get an A without knowing the language. Perhaps I got lucky and the answers just happened to be ABCDEABCDE. If ANY of those things were true, we would no longer be puzzled about my grade. However, would any of them PROVE that I got an A? Not at all. One can cheat or get lucky or take any easy test and still not get an A. The one about the answers only helps if I actually guessed ABCDEABCDE. But our job is not to prove that I got an A--that's given. Our job is to find a reason WHY I got an A. Any of the possibilities I listed would work.

Back to the dinosaurs, we're trying to figure out why scientists THINK that the strike caused the extinction of the dinosaurs despite the short duration of the aftereffects. E gives us a good reason. We don't need to prove that the dinosaurs are gone--they really are!--and we don't need to prove that the phenomenon in E would kill them. We just need to understand why the scientists have the belief that they do, and E is great for that.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy between the scientists’ beliefs and the scientists’ results, as described above?


(A) Loss of the herbivorous dinosaurs would have deprived the carnivorous dinosaurs of their food source.
Since the plants are not killed immediately by the asteroid , the absence of the dinosaur cannot be resolved therefore out

(B) Dinosaurs inhabited most landmasses on the planet but were not especially abundant in the area of the asteroid strike.
We are looking for a solution in which the dinosaur is killed due to the asteroid in spite of evidence showing otherwise therefore out

(C) A cloud of debris capable of diminishing sunlight by 20 percent would have cooled the earth’s surface by 7 to 10 degrees Celsius.
Stating facts doesn't help to resolve the same therefore out

(D) The asteroid was at least 9.6 km in diameter, large enough for many dinosaurs to be killed by the strike itself and by subsequent tidal waves.
Many dinosaur is still close to the entire dinosaur however we are looking for an answer that leads to the extinction of the dinosaur if no other option helps , we will stick to it

(E) Dinosaurs were susceptible to fatal respiratory problems cause by contamination of the air by asteroid debris.[/quote]
This one does the trick exactly the reason that might lead to the extinction therefore our option

THerefore IMO E

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