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Information and IdeasMediumEvidence that moths changed colour with cleaner air

Information and Ideas practice question

A scientist claims that a local moth population has shifted from dark to pale colouring in response to cleaner air.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the claim?

  1. A. Since the area's air pollution fell, the proportion of pale moths has risen from 10 to 80 percent, and birds now catch mostly dark moths, which no longer blend into the cleaner bark.Correct
  2. B. Moths are active at night.
  3. C. The area has many species of moth.
  4. D. Air pollution in the area fell after 1990.

Answer: A. Since the area's air pollution fell, the proportion of pale moths has risen from 10 to 80 percent, and birds now catch mostly dark moths, which no longer blend into the cleaner bark.

A shift in proportions, and the reason birds drive it.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. Moths are active at night.
Irrelevant.
C. The area has many species of moth.
Number of species is not colour change.
D. Air pollution in the area fell after 1990.
The change in air alone is not a change in moths.

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