Question

A student is writing an article discussing the development of genetically altered mice for space travel. Read the draft of the article and complete the task that follows.

NASA has been breeding super-mice to launch into space. Researchers have been worried about the dangers of space travel since we first started launching people and animals into the void in the 1950s. The United States was in a "space race" with the USSR throughout the 1950s and 1960s when competing nations developed competing technologies in an attempt to show their technological superiority to the world. Some of the dangers that astronauts face include loss of muscle mass and bone density due to the lack of gravity in space.

To avoid issues like this, scientists have genetically altered mice to have stronger bones and greater muscle mass in hopes that they will not be as affected by the lack of gravity as normal mice. Researchers believe that the genetic re-sequencing of these mice could lead to other breakthroughs, like the ability for people to heal much faster after complex surgeries like hip replacement. These super-mice just might hold the key to long-term space travel as well as paving the way for a stronger breed of human beings.

Which of these sentences does not support the central idea of the article?

A.
Researchers have been worried about the dangers of space since we first started launching people and animals into the void in the 1950s.

B.
The United States was in a "space race" with the USSR throughout the 1950s and 1960s when competing nations developed competing technologies in an attempt to show their technological superiority to the world.

C.
To avoid issues like this, scientists have genetically altered mice to have stronger bones and greater muscle mass in hopes that they will not be as affected by the lack of gravity as normal mice.

D.
Researchers believe that the genetic re-sequencing of these mice could lead to other breakthroughs, like the ability for people to heal much faster after complex surgeries like hip replacement.

Answer 1

B. The sentence about the Cold War "space race" is historical context but doesn't support the article's main idea about genetically altering mice for space travel.