1. (24179-!-item-!-188;#058&000705)
Although fullerenes--sphericalmolecules made entirely of carbon--were first found in the laboratory, theyhave since been found in nature, formed in fissures of the rare mineralshungite. Since laboratory synthesis offullerenes requires distinctive conditions of temperature and pressure, thisdiscovery should give geologists a test case for evaluating hypotheses aboutthe state of the Earth's crust at the time these naturally occurring fullereneswere formed.
Which of the following, if true,most seriously undermines the argument?
(A) Confirming that the shungitegenuinely contained fullerenes took careful experimentation.
(B) Some fullerenes have also beenfound on the remains of a small meteorite that collided with a spacecraft.
(C) The mineral shungite itselfcontains large amounts of carbon, from which the fullerenes apparently formed.
(D) The naturally occurringfullerenes are arranged in a previously unknown crystalline structure.
(E) Shungite itself is formed onlyunder distinctive conditions.
|