Q21

[skapur777]

Successfully ruled out A, B, and C. I was stuck between D and E and honestly, I had no idea at the time so I guessed incorrectly.

Looking back on it now, perhaps D is incorrect because fossils in the upland found together with products of an arid landscape would go against his hypothesis because it would give some credibility to the idea that the uplands also turned desert-like?

As for E, i have no idea what they are talking about really...is E correct because it gives proof that the lowlands were desert-like during the ice age, yet not as desert-like as they are now?

[giladedelman]

Yep, you've pretty much got it.

So, we're looking for some proof, i.e., some support, for Haffer's hypothesis, which is that during the ice age, Amazon lowlands became deserts while the uplands stayed fertile and hospitable, and that this led to increased diversity of species.

(E) is correct because it supports the idea that, during the ice age, the Amazon lowlands turned into deserts -- whereas nowadays they support rain forests.

(A) is incorrect because this doesn't help us at all with the uplands-lowlands thing; if anything, it could only hurt the hypothesis if the lake turned out to be in the lowlands.

(B) hurts the hypothesis, which maintains that the uplands continued to support rain forests.

(C) sort of hurts the hypothesis, but then again, we don't really know the connection between monsoon rains and desertification.

(D) is incorrect because, like you said, it clearly goes against the hypothesis by suggesting that the uplands became deserts.

Does that answer your question?