Question

Difficulty: MediumIdentifying Explicit Details

Read the following passage adapted from an essay on early nineteenth-century paleontology:

In the winter of 1811, twelve-year-old Mary Anning and her brother Joseph uncovered a remarkable fossil embedded in the Blue Lias cliffs of Lyme Regis along England’s Dorset coast. Joseph initially located a skull measuring over four feet in length, which he mistook for a monster crocodile. Months later, Mary painstakingly excavated the remainder of the skeleton, exposing a seventeen-foot creature with paddle-like limbs and an elongated snout. Unlike the crocodile skulls familiar to local collectors, this specimen possessed distinctively large eye sockets framed by bony sclerotic rings, an adaptation that allowed the creature to see in deep ocean waters. In 1818, British anatomist Sir Everard Home named the specimen Ichthyosaurus, or 'fish-lizard,' though Anning herself received no formal credit in his published description. Despite her lack of scientific training, Anning’s careful excavation techniques and detailed anatomical sketches laid key foundations for early nineteenth-century paleontology.

Statement: According to the passage, Mary Anning's brother Joseph mistook the four-foot fossil skull he discovered in 1811 for the remains of a crocodile.

Answer: Answer

Answer

True. The text explicitly states that Joseph Anning mistook the fossil skull he located for a monster crocodile.
The passage explicitly states in the second sentence that Joseph Anning located a four-foot skull and 'mistook [it] for a monster crocodile.' Therefore, the statement accurately represents an explicitly stated detail from the text.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Scan the passage for mentions of Joseph Anning and the initial fossil skull discovery.
The second sentence of the passage describes Joseph locating a skull measuring over four feet in length.
Direct reference to Joseph's action is required to verify the statement.
2
Identify the explicit detail regarding what Joseph believed the fossil to be.
The text directly confirms that he 'mistook [it] for a monster crocodile.'
This explicitly verifies that the statement matches the text.

Key Concept

Literal comprehension of explicitly stated facts and details in a text
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