Question

Read the excerpt from "As Debris Piles Up, Americans Are Skeptical Enough Will Be Done to Limit Space Junk.”

But most of the orbital debris is space-age flotsam and jetsam, such as spent rocket stages, screws and lens caps. There are about 23,000 detectable objects at least 2 to 4 inches in size in low-Earth orbit (the preferred altitude for most satellites and space missions) or about 1 to 3 feet in size in geostationary orbit (the ideal altitude for surveillance and communications satellites).

What’s more, these objects can create more pieces of debris when they collide with one another or explode in orbit, due to leftover fuel or battery failures. Around 290 such "fragmentation events” are known to have occurred since 1961, creating an estimated 750,000 objects larger than about 0.5 inches in size. Circling the Earth at speeds around 10 times faster than a bullet, the kinetic energy of even miniscule objects can pack a punch strong enough to puncture the hull of a space station or damage solar panels and communication arrays.

Before reading the article, Kimi skimmed the text features and predicted that the article would claim that most space junk is tiny and poses a minimal threat. Based on information in the text, which statement best revises Kimi’s prediction?

The size of space junk varies depending on its orbit but is not dangerous in low-Earth orbit.
Most space junk is 1 to 3 feet in size and is in geostationary orbit.
Most small space junk is the result of fragmentation events and has very little kinetic energy.
A lot of space junk is very small but can still cause significant damage.

Answer 1

A lot of space junk is very small but can still cause significant damage.

Reason: The excerpt notes many tiny fragments (down to ~0.5 inches) from fragmentation events and emphasizes their high speeds and potential to puncture hulls or damage equipment, contradicting the “minimal threat” part of Kimi’s prediction.