Questions 1 and 2 are based on this passage
Scientists have long debated the exact timing of the lunar cataclysm, a period approximately 4 billion years ago when Earth and the Moon were pummeled with asteroids. A clue to this puzzle may come from spherules, millimeter-sized droplets of molten rock formed after an asteroid collides explosively with a planet. Upon impact, the asteroid vaporizes both itself and the target rock, producing a vapor plume that condenses into spherules. These form a layer preserved in rock, whose age can be estimated using radiometric dating. Scientists know of fourteen of these spherule layers scattered across Earth, but none dates to the theorized lunar cataclysm time period. Four layers, however, are from between 3.47 and 3.24 billion years ago, indicating perhaps a slow decline in collisions.
The primary purpose of the passage is to
challenge a basic assumption underlying a theory
analyze a flaw in a novel approach to a problem
describe different processes that could have produced the same phenomenon
explain how a class of data might be useful for answering a question
outline a theory that may reconcile conflicting interpretations of a phenomenon
Select one answer choice.

