Q9

[coco.wu1993]

I chose E instead of D. I kind of understand why E is wrong: The fact that the crisis ended the age of the dinosaurs does not mean the dinosaurs comprised the majority of species perished.

However, the fact that Cretaceous crisis was minor comparing to Permian doesn't mean Cretaceous's rate of extinction among marine animals is definitely smaller than Permian's. Maybe it actually approaches 77 percent. Maybe Cretaceous's rate of extinction among other animals, like amphibian, is much smaller than Permian. That's what makes it minor.

Would like to hear others' thoughts! Thanks!

[maryadkins]

I see your point, and I agree it's a bit of a stretch. But because the percentage of marine life lost in the Permian is told to us as the supporting clause of the sentence in which we learn that Cretaceous crisis was "minor compared with the Permian," we can infer that the comparison of marine life in particular favors the Cretaceous crisis. (Logically speaking however, I agree with your point about amphibians.)

It's also the best answer of the 5.

(A) is unsupported because we don't know that it's the second worst of all 5 extinction episodes (line 21); we just know it wasn't as bad as the Permian.

(B) is contradicted. The Permian was worse.

(C) is unsupported. We don't know how bad the current crisis is ("beyond calculation," line 7)

(E) you're right about:

The fact that the crisis ended the age of the dinosaurs does not mean the dinosaurs comprised the majority of species perished.

Good thinking on this.