Explanation
Correct answer: A.
Choice A is the best answer because it accurately uses data from the table to complete the statement about the fibers of three types of sheep. The text discusses some qualities of outer and inner fibers of mouflons, Spanish Merino sheep, and Navajo-Churro sheep and indicates that sheep fibers with finer, or smaller, diameters are softer than fibers with larger diameters. The text then sets up a conclusion that can be made by comparing the fibers of all three sheep types. The table shows that the minimum diameter of the Navajo-Churro’s inner fibers is 10 microns, which is smaller than the minimum diameters of the inner fibers of both the mouflon (15 microns) and the Spanish Merino (17 microns). Thus, comparing the fiber characteristics of all three sheep reveals that at its softest, the inner fiber of the Navajo-Churro is softer than either the mouflon’s or the Merino’s inner fiber.
Why the other choices are wrong
Choice B
Choice B is incorrect because it doesn’t accurately describe the data in the table. The table shows that the softness of Navajo-Churro inner fiber isn’t uniform (since the diameter of Navajo-Churro inner fiber ranges from 10 microns to 35 microns) and that the diameter of the outer fiber of the mouflon isn’t variable (rather, it is a uniform 150 microns).
Choice C
Choice C is incorrect because it doesn’t accurately describe the data in the table. The text indicates that both Spanish Merino sheep and Navajo-Churro sheep were domesticated from mouflon sheep. The table doesn’t show that domestication increased the minimum diameter of inner fibers for both Spanish Merino sheep and Navajo-Churro sheep from the 15-micron diameter of mouflon inner fibers: the minimum diameter of Spanish Merino increased to 17 microns, but the minimum diameter of Navajo-Churro inner fibers decreased to 10 microns.
Choice D
Choice D is incorrect because it doesn’t accurately describe the data in the table. The text explains that sheep fibers with finer, or smaller, diameters are softer than fibers with larger diameters. The table does show that Spanish Merino outer fibers are finer, and thus softer, than mouflon outer fibers and that at their finest, Navajo-Churro outer fibers are softer than mouflon outer fibers, but it also shows that Spanish Merino inner fibers are less soft than mouflon inner fibers, since their minimum diameter is greater than 15 microns, and that Navajo-Churro inner fibers can be less soft than mouflon inner fibers, since the diameter ranges up to 35 microns.