Question

landmass had broken into pieces that slowly moved apart, forming the continents.
2 wegeners continental drift theory was revolutionary. however, his idea was greeted with hostility and ridicule by most researchers. geologists viewed wegener as an outsider intruding on their academic territory. more importantly, the closed - minded scientists were already wedded to a rival explanation for the similarities in species on continents separated by oceans. scholars at the time explained such similarities by arguing that land bridges had once linked distant continents. resistant researchers also pointed out that wegener did not have a full explanation for how the continents had moved. did they simply plow through the oceanic crust?
3 wegeners idea did not gain wide acceptance until the 1950s. when scientists analyzed the magnetic minerals in ancient
click the underlined sentence below that best supports the answer to part a.
2 wegeners continental drift theory was revolutionary. however, his idea was greeted with hostility and ridicule by most researchers. geologists viewed wegener as an outsider intruding on their academic territory. more importantly, the closed - minded scientists were already wedded to a rival explanation for the similarities in species on continents separated by oceans. scholars at the time explained such similarities by arguing that land bridges had once linked distant continents. resistant researchers also pointed out that wegener did not have a full explanation for how the continents had moved. did they simply plow through the oceanic crust?

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze the context. Part A likely relates to why Wegener's theory was not accepted initially. The sentence "More importantly, the closed - minded scientists were already wedded to a rival explanation for the similarities in species on continents separated by oceans" explains that scientists had a different (rival) explanation they favored, which is a key reason for rejecting Wegener's theory. Other sentences: the first underlined is about hostility/ridicule (less about the core reason of having a rival explanation), and the last is about lack of full explanation (also a reason but the "rival explanation" sentence is more about the scientific community's attachment to another idea, which is a stronger support for rejection).

To determine the sentence supporting Part A (likely about why Wegener’s theory was rejected), we analyze: The sentence "More importantly, the closed - minded scientists were already wedded to a rival explanation for the similarities in species on continents separated by oceans" shows scientists favored a different explanation, a key rejection reason. Other sentences focus on hostility/ridicule or lack of full explanation, while this focuses on the scientific community’s attachment to a rival idea, a stronger support.

Answer:

More importantly, the closed - minded scientists were already wedded to a rival explanation for the similarities in species on continents separated by oceans.