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Practice Reading: Multiple Choice, Single Answer ID: #39464 Cetaceans
Instructions ›
Read the text and answer the multiple-choice question by selecting the correct response. Only one response is correct.
It should be obvious that cetaceans—whales, porpoises, and dolphins—are mammals. They breathe through lungs, not through gills, and give birth to live young. Their streamlined bodies, the absence of hind legs, and the presence of a fluke and blowhole cannot disguise their affinities with land-dwelling mammals. However, unlike the cases of sea otters and pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses, whose limbs are functional both on land and at sea), it is not easy to envision what the first whales looked like. Extinct but already fully marine cetaceans are known from the fossil record. How was the gap between a walking mammal and a swimming whale bridged? Missing until recently were fossils clearly intermediate, or transitional, between land mammals and cetaceans.

Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph about early sea otters?

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Result:

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Option 1: "It is not difficult to imagine what they looked like."

Explanation: The text contrasts the ease of envisioning sea otters with the difficulty of imagining the first whales. It states that while it is challenging to picture early whales, it is not as difficult for sea otters, implying that their appearance is more recognizable. This aligns with the main idea of the text, which discusses the differences in understanding the physical characteristics of these marine mammals.

Option 2: "There were great numbers of them."

Explanation: The text does not provide any information regarding the population size of sea otters. Therefore, this statement cannot be inferred and is not supported by the text.

Option 3: "They lived in the sea only."

Explanation: The text mentions that sea otters, like pinnipeds, have limbs functional both on land and at sea. This indicates that they do not live exclusively in the sea, making this statement incorrect.

Option 4: "They did not leave many fossil remains."

Explanation: The text does not discuss the fossil record of sea otters specifically. It focuses on the transitional fossils of cetaceans, so this statement cannot be inferred from the provided information.

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