Industrial activity is often assumed to be a threat to wildlife, but that isn’t always so. Consider the silver-studded blue butterfly (Plebejus argus): as forest growth has reduced grasslands in northern Germany, many of these butterflies have left meadow habitats and are now thriving in active limestone quarries. In a survey of multiple active quarries and patches of maintained grassland, an ecologist found silver-studded blue butterflies in 100% of the quarries but only 57% of the grassland patches. Moreover, butterfly populations in the quarries were four times larger than those in the meadows.
","stem_html":"Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
","rationale_html":"Choice B is the best answer because it most accurately describes how the underlined portion functions in the text as a whole. The first sentence presents the general claim that industrial activity is not always a threat to wildlife. The underlined portion of the sentence that follows suggests that the silver-studded blue butterfly is an example of wildlife thriving in areas of industrial activity: active limestone quarries. Thus, the function of the underlined portion is to introduce a specific example in support of the general claim in the previous sentence.
Choice A is incorrect. Although the first sentence indicates that “industrial activity is often assumed” to harm wildlife, in the case of the silver-studded blue butterfly the text mentions neither an assumption about this species nor any challenge to such an assumption. Choice C is incorrect because the text mentions only one study: the “survey.” Additional studies are not mentioned in the text. Choice D is incorrect because neither the underlined portion nor any other portion of the text provides a definition for any of the terms used in the text’s argument.
","correct_answer":["B"],"has_media":false,"has_mathml":false,"has_table":false,"source_created_at":"2023-08-02T20:25:59.313000+00:00","source_updated_at":"2023-08-02T20:25:59.313000+00:00","options":[{"label":"A","content_html":"It challenges a common assumption about the species under investigation in the research referred to in the text.
","ord":0},{"label":"B","content_html":"It introduces discussion of a specific example that supports the general claim made in the previous sentence.
","ord":1},{"label":"C","content_html":"It suggests that a certain species should be included in additional studies like the one mentioned later in the text.
","ord":2},{"label":"D","content_html":"It provides a definition for an unfamiliar term that is central to the main argument in the text.
","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}}