Scientists studying Mars long thought the history of its crust was relatively simple. One reason for this is that geologic and climate data collected by a spacecraft showed that the crust was largely composed of basalt, likely as a result of intense volcanic activity that brought about a magma ocean, which then cooled to form the planet’s surface. A study led by Valerie Payré focused on additional information—further analysis of data collected by the spacecraft and infrared wavelengths detected from Mars’s surface—that revealed the presence of surprisingly high concentrations of silica in certain regions on Mars. Since a planetary surface that formed in a mostly basaltic environment would be unlikely to contain large amounts of silica, Payré concluded that ______blank
","stem_html":"Which choice most logically completes the text?
","rationale_html":"Choice D is the best answer. Cooling magma would create basalt, but “a planetary surface that formed in a mostly basaltic environment would be unlikely to contain large amounts of silica.” Since Mars’s crust does contain large amounts of silica, it is unlikely that Mars’s crust was formed exclusively by cooling magma. Therefore, there were likely other major geological events that created the high silica concentrations.
Choice A is incorrect. Although the passage discusses these two methods of collecting data about Mars’s crust, it never compares their reliability, so there’s no basis for this inference. Choice B is incorrect. The passage never mentions anything about the crusts of other planets, so there’s no basis for this inference. Choice C is incorrect. The passage never mentions Earth’s crust, so there’s no basis for this inference.
","correct_answer":["D"],"has_media":false,"has_mathml":false,"has_table":false,"source_created_at":"2023-08-02T20:25:59.368000+00:00","source_updated_at":"2023-08-02T20:25:59.368000+00:00","options":[{"label":"A","content_html":"the information about silica concentrations collected by the spacecraft is likely more reliable than the silica information gleaned from infrared wavelengths detected from Mars’s surface.
","ord":0},{"label":"B","content_html":"high silica concentrations on Mars likely formed from a different process than that which formed the crusts of other planets.
","ord":1},{"label":"C","content_html":"having a clearer understanding of the composition of Mars’s crust and the processes by which it formed will provide more insight into how Earth’s crust formed.
","ord":2},{"label":"D","content_html":"Mars’s crust likely formed as a result of other major geological events in addition to the cooling of a magma ocean.
","ord":3}],"attribution":{"source_id":"cb_question_bank","source_name":"College Board digital SAT question bank (community dump)","rights_holder":"College Board","canonical_url":"https://satsuitequestionbank.collegeboard.org/","retrieved_from":"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mdn522/sat-question-bank/main/data/cb-digital-questions.json","attribution":"SAT practice questions © College Board, from the official SAT Suite Question Bank. Retrieved via the community dump at github.com/mdn522/sat-question-bank.","disclaimer":"SAT® and PSAT/NMSQT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, does not sponsor, and does not endorse this project.","license":"College Board copyright; source repository carries no licence. Local use only.","redistributable":false,"item_count":2017}}