16Hit1600
Information and IdeasHardInference from relatedness

Information and Ideas practice question

The island's lizards are found nowhere else, yet they are most closely related to a species on the mainland 300 kilometres away — not to any of the lizards on the neighbouring islands. This suggests that ____

Which choice most logically completes the text?

  1. A. the island lizards' ancestors arrived from the mainland rather than from the nearby islands.Correct
  2. B. the island lizards regularly swim 300 kilometres.
  3. C. the neighbouring islands have no lizards at all.
  4. D. the island lizards are identical to the mainland species.

Answer: A. the island lizards' ancestors arrived from the mainland rather than from the nearby islands.

Closest kin on the distant mainland, not on nearby islands: the line came from the mainland.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. the island lizards regularly swim 300 kilometres.
Ancestral arrival doesn't require present-day lizards to swim anywhere.
C. the neighbouring islands have no lizards at all.
The text mentions lizards on the neighbouring islands.
D. the island lizards are identical to the mainland species.
The island lizards are 'found nowhere else', so they aren't the same species.

More Information and Ideas questions

Not affiliated with the College Board. SAT is a trademark of the College Board.