SAT Reading & Writing · Command of Evidence (textual)
When a snapping shrimp closes its specialized claw, it does so fast enough to form a rapidly collapsing cavitation bubble in the…
When a snapping shrimp closes its specialized claw, it does so fast enough to form a rapidly collapsing cavitation bubble in the surrounding water, and this collapse produces both a loud shock wave and a brief flash of light. A student claims the light is a form of bioluminescence similar to that produced by fireflies or deep-sea fish. Which finding would most directly undermine the student's claim?
Answer and explanation
Answer: D: The flash of light is a physical byproduct of the extreme temperature and pressure conditions generated during bubble collapse, a process with no connection to the light-producing chemical reactions…
Bioluminescence specifically refers to light produced through a biochemical reaction inside an organism. D directly rules that out here by identifying an entirely different, purely physical cause, extreme conditions from bubble collapse, with no biochemical light-producing process involved at all. A describes the sound effect, not the light's origin. C provides true but unrelated background about bioluminescence in other species. B describes the claw's primary hunting function, not the light phenomenon.
More Command of Evidence (textual) questions
- Question 1A team analyzing an iridescent glass fragment recovered from a first-century Roman burial proposed…
- Question 2A curator claims that a museum's newly acquired painting was created by a specific well-known…
- Question 26A popular claim holds that the QWERTY keyboard layout was deliberately designed to slow typists…
- Question 28A theater historian claims that a controversial ending added to a classic play during a famous…
- Question 29A stream ecologist claims that the isotopic signature of marine-derived nitrogen found in forest…
- Question 52Cleaner wrasse fish sometimes "cheat" by biting a client fish's protective mucus instead of…
Learn the method behind questions like this one
The SAT Reading & Writing course teaches each tested skill through lessons, step-by-step solutions to sample problems, the complete study guide and full-length practice tests.