The consensus among astronomers,

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct73% picked this

   It helps explain how pulsars could have neutrons on their surface even if they were not entirely

   Why this is right

   This seems descriptively true. That final sentence is showing us how a quark-filled pulsar would still look from the outside like a ball of neutrons, because the outer crust would still be covered in neutrons.

   Skill tested: Role · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   73%
2. B

   Opposite6% picked this

   It forms part of a challenge to the claim that some pulsars may be made

   The author isn't challenging the idea that some pulsars may be made up of quarks. The author is selling us on the idea that pulsars may be made up of quarks.

   6%
3. C

   Out of Scope: not readily recognized5% picked this

   It helps explain why some pulsars would not be readily recognized as

   This argument is never saying that sometimes a pulsar is observed by astronomers but they don't realize they're looking at a pulsar. This argument is saying, when astronomers observe a pulsar, they see that it's all neutrons on the outside, and so they assume it's just a big ball of neutrons, when it's possible that it's got something different inside (like quarks) and is just covered with an exterior shell of neutrons.

   5%
4. D

   Out of Scope: new finding15% picked this

   It presents a new finding that challenges the consensus view of the

   There are no new findings here. The author is just looking at the same observational data and saying, "Are we being hasty in assuming the entire pulsar is made up of neutrons? Maybe it's just the outer shell. Here's a causal story that seems possible, wherein the center is made up of quarks but then the positive charge of the quark-core gives way to an outer shell of neutrons."

   15%
5. E

   Wrong Role2% picked this

   It points out a problem with the view that pulsars have a mass roughly equal to

   At no point is the author pushing back on the theory that pulsars have a mass roughly equivalent to that of our sun. The author is only pushing back on the idea that a pulsar is entirely made of neutrons.

   2%