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Question

Difficulty: MediumOpening and Concluding Sentences

The following passage is about the discovery of the coelacanth, a prehistoric fish.

[1]
In December 1938, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, a South African museum curator, was inspecting a catch of fish brought in by a local trawler captain. Among the pile of common marine life lay a bizarre, five-foot-long creature with heavy, armor-like scales and unusual, limb-like lobed fins. Courtenay-Latimer, unable to identify the striking blue fish, dragged it back to her museum and sent a detailed sketch to J.L.B. Smith, an ichthyologist at Rhodes University. Smith immediately recognized the fish's prehistoric anatomy, identifying it as a coelacanth—a member of a primitive lineage believed to have gone extinct 66 million years ago.

[2]
This monumental find sent shockwaves through the global scientific community because it directly challenged established timelines of vertebrate evolution. Scientists were eager to study the coelacanth's unique anatomy, which seemed to represent a transitional link between ocean-dwelling fish and the first land-dwelling tetrapods. However, locating a second specimen to verify the species' survival proved to be an agonizingly slow endeavor. Smith launched an exhaustive fourteen-year search, distributing bilingual leaflets along the southeastern coast of Africa offering a reward for another specimen. In December 1952, a second coelacanth was finally caught near the Comoro Islands, proving that the 1938 specimen was not an isolated anomaly. _______

Which of the following choices, if added at the blank, provides the most effective and logical concluding sentence for the passage?

  1. This second catch confirmed the existence of a viable, surviving population of a prehistoric species that had managed to evade modern science.Answer
  2. B
    Because this second catch proved that a breeding population existed in the deep waters of the Indian Ocean.
  3. C
    Furthermore, the Comoro Islands are a volcanic archipelago known for their steep underwater slopes and strong currents.
  4. D
    Smith is thrilled by the news and immediately flies to the Comoro Islands to claim the fish.

Answer

The sentence that states that the second catch confirmed the existence of a viable, surviving population of a prehistoric species that had managed to evade modern science.
The correct option provides a strong conclusion by explaining the biological and historical significance of the second specimen, effectively wrapping up the search narrative. It maintains the academic, narrative tone of the passage and is grammatically correct.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the passage's main idea and structure.
The passage details the discovery of a coelacanth in 1938 and the subsequent fourteen-year search to find a second specimen to prove that the species was not extinct.
Understanding the context allows the reader to identify what information a concluding sentence must wrap up.
2
Evaluate the choices for logical flow, relevance, and tone.
The correct option must conclude the narrative of the search by stating what the second catch proved, without shifting tenses or introducing off-topic geographical facts.
This step eliminates options that are off-topic or disrupt the narrative's resolution.
3
Check the remaining options for grammatical correctness.
The option beginning with 'Because' is a fragment, and the option using present tense verbs shifts tenses inconsistently. Only the correct option is both grammatically correct and contextually appropriate.
ACT English questions require sentences to be free of grammatical errors like fragments and improper tense shifts.

Key Concept

Selecting the most effective concluding sentence by ensuring it maintains paragraph unity, aligns with the passage's tone, and is grammatically correct.
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Opening and Concluding Sentences

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