According to astronomer S.A. Phinney, kicking a rock hard enough to free it from Earth's gravity would require a meteorite capable of making a crater more than 60 miles across. Moreover, even if Earth rocks were freed by meteorite impact, Mars's orbit is much larger than Earth's, so Phinney estimates that the probability of these rocks hitting Mars is about one-tenth as great as that of Mars's rocks hitting Earth. To demonstrate this estimate, Phinney used a computer to calculate where 1,000 hypothetical particles would go if ejected from Earth in random directions. He found that 17 of the 1,000 particles would hit Mars.
4. Which of the following, if true, would cast most
doubt on Phinney's estimate of the probability of
Earth rocks hitting Mars?
○A Rather than going in random directions, about
25 percent of all particles ejected from Earth
go in the same direction into space.
○B Approximately 100 meteorites large enough to
make a noticeable crater hit the Earth each year.
○C No rocks of Earth origin have been detected
on Mars.
○D The velocity of rocks escaping from Earth's gravity is
lower than the velocity of meteorites hitting the Earth.
○E No craters more than 60 miles across have
been found on Mars.
这道题我错选了C。因为C是很显然的一个反例。但是官方答案是A。想知道有那位同学一眼看出了A,并请教为什么。