Read the paragraph and choose the statement that is best supported by the information given in it.
“The images of Mars taken by the Mariner 9 probe indicate the presence of valleys that look like the stream beds on Earth. The images also show that Mars once had an atmosphere that was thick enough to trap the Sun’s heat. If this is true, something must have happened to Mars billions of years ago that stripped away its atmosphere.”
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Mars has little or no atmosphere.
A statement is supported by a paragraph when the paragraph says it or leads directly to it. The paragraph says Mars once had a thick atmosphere and that something stripped away its atmosphere billions of years ago. A planet whose atmosphere has been stripped away now has little or none of it, which is Option (1).
Why the other options are incorrect
Option (2) Mars once had an atmosphere thicker than Earth’s atmosphere. — Incorrect. The paragraph says only that it was thick enough to trap the Sun’s heat; it makes no comparison with Earth.
Option (3) Mariner 9 probe took the first picture of Mars. — Incorrect. The paragraph does not say whether these were the first pictures of Mars.
Option (4) Mars is closer to the Sun than Earth. — Incorrect. The paragraph gives no distances from the Sun; in fact Mars is farther from the Sun than Earth.