Single correct option
Read the paragraph and the sentence that has been left out. Choose the option that indicates the most logical place to insert the sentence.
Paragraph: (1) Lichens are not single organisms but stable partnerships between a fungus and a photosynthetic partner, usually an alga or cyanobacterium. (2) The fungal partner provides structure and protection, while the photosynthetic partner supplies sugars produced through photosynthesis. (3) __________ (4) This tolerance allows lichens to colonise bare rock, tree bark and even Arctic tundra, environments where few other organisms can establish themselves. (5) Their slow, steady growth has made certain lichen species useful to scientists as a way of estimating how long an exposed rock surface has been undisturbed.
Sentence to insert: Because the partnership allows both organisms to share resources and withstand desiccation, lichens can survive extremes of temperature and moisture that would kill either partner alone.
Paragraph: (1) Lichens are not single organisms but stable partnerships between a fungus and a photosynthetic partner, usually an alga or cyanobacterium. (2) The fungal partner provides structure and protection, while the photosynthetic partner supplies sugars produced through photosynthesis. (3) __________ (4) This tolerance allows lichens to colonise bare rock, tree bark and even Arctic tundra, environments where few other organisms can establish themselves. (5) Their slow, steady growth has made certain lichen species useful to scientists as a way of estimating how long an exposed rock surface has been undisturbed.
Sentence to insert: Because the partnership allows both organisms to share resources and withstand desiccation, lichens can survive extremes of temperature and moisture that would kill either partner alone.
- A. Between sentences (1) and (2)
- B. Between sentences (2) and (3)
- C. Between sentences (4) and (5)
- D. Before sentence (1)
Show answer and solution
Answer: (B) Between sentences (2) and (3)
The inserted sentence explains the resilience ('withstand desiccation... survive extremes') that sentence 4 then refers to as 'this tolerance.' It must therefore come after sentence 2, which describes the partnership's division of labour, and before sentence 4, which builds on the resilience just introduced. That is, between (2) and (3), so it becomes the new sentence 3.
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