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- Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:00 am
#24520
Complete Question Explanation
Resolve the Paradox. The correct answer choice is (E)
The paradox in this stimulus is that scientists accept that a flood of water cut the channels very quickly, even though scientists do not know of a process that can melt ice quickly enough to produce a large flood from a melted glacier. To resolve this paradox then, look for an answer choice that supports the idea of a large flood of water cutting the channels, essentially providing a cause for that large volume of water.
Answer choice (A): The paradox is not about whether the channels were cut by water (it is accepted that they were), but rather it is based on the fact that a rapid flood is presumed to have produced the channels despite the fact that scientists don’t know how a large glacier can melt quickly. Further proof that water caused the channels (ripples) does not address the flood component.
Answer choice (B): Again, the similarity of the Gulches to other volcanic rock formations does not address the flood hypothesis at the heart of this paradox.
Answer choice (C): Even if multiple glaciers were present this answer does not explain how a large flood of water could have caused The Gulches. Without a method to explain glacial melting even multiple glaciers would not provide a way in which the channels could be cut by a rapid flood.
Answer choice (D): Once again, the paradox revolves around the idea of the rock being cut by a rapid flood of water. So even if volcanic rock is easily cut, this answer does not provide an explanation for the flood idea.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. Answer choice (E) provides a way in which a large flood of water could have caused the channels without requiring ice to melt quickly: slowly melting ice eventually freed up a huge lake of water that could have then rapidly cut the channels.
Resolve the Paradox. The correct answer choice is (E)
The paradox in this stimulus is that scientists accept that a flood of water cut the channels very quickly, even though scientists do not know of a process that can melt ice quickly enough to produce a large flood from a melted glacier. To resolve this paradox then, look for an answer choice that supports the idea of a large flood of water cutting the channels, essentially providing a cause for that large volume of water.
Answer choice (A): The paradox is not about whether the channels were cut by water (it is accepted that they were), but rather it is based on the fact that a rapid flood is presumed to have produced the channels despite the fact that scientists don’t know how a large glacier can melt quickly. Further proof that water caused the channels (ripples) does not address the flood component.
Answer choice (B): Again, the similarity of the Gulches to other volcanic rock formations does not address the flood hypothesis at the heart of this paradox.
Answer choice (C): Even if multiple glaciers were present this answer does not explain how a large flood of water could have caused The Gulches. Without a method to explain glacial melting even multiple glaciers would not provide a way in which the channels could be cut by a rapid flood.
Answer choice (D): Once again, the paradox revolves around the idea of the rock being cut by a rapid flood of water. So even if volcanic rock is easily cut, this answer does not provide an explanation for the flood idea.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. Answer choice (E) provides a way in which a large flood of water could have caused the channels without requiring ice to melt quickly: slowly melting ice eventually freed up a huge lake of water that could have then rapidly cut the channels.