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Consider these lines: "In our example, we can see that as a carrier, Luwi's mutation is highly adaptive in her African homeland; however, if she resided in the United States, where malaria is much less common, her mutation could prove costly." As used in the quoted lines, "adaptive" most nearly means:
Aable to change quickly
Binherited from parents
Ccommon in populations
Dbeneficial in that place
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. beneficial in that place
1. The quoted lines contrast two settings: in her homeland the mutation is adaptive, in the United States it could prove costly.
2. Since costly is the opposite pole, adaptive must mean the opposite of costly: it helps her where malaria is common.
3. So adaptive most nearly means beneficial in that particular environment, option D.
4. Option A takes adaptive as flexible or changeable, but the mutation itself never changes between the two places; only its value does.
_Source: OpenStax Psychology 1e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 3 "Biopsychology", section 3.1 Human Genetics_
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