Questions 49 to 52 are based on the following passage:Antarctica is a very large area of the earth’s surface, but--until recent years--was the least studied.More knowledge of it is important for all mankind.Antarctica seems a vast basin of rock, filled and overflowing with a load of ice. In all thisbarrenness and cold, what is there of valueFirst, Antarctica is bound to have mineral resources comparable to those of other great continents.Coal--much of it of poor quality--has been found at many points along the 2,000 mile mountainsystem known as the Great Antarctica Horst. A writer has found a small deposit of manganese oreand rock specimens flecked with uranium or stained green by copper. These finds are importantonly as indications that further exploration would be worthwhile, and such a systematic effort hasbegun under SCAR (the Special Committee on Antarctic Research). This group is an outgrowth ofthe International Geophysical Year (I.G.Y.); but its program has broadened from geophysics toinclude mapping and biology.of Antarctica. Strange antibiotics have been found in the drifting plants of the Antarctic seas; theRussians are reported to be carrying in live herring to be dumped overboard in an attempt at sea"farming."But for the immediate future the great value of Antarctica may lie in other lines of researchfrom the common cold to problems of outer space. The former is under scrutiny at a biologicallaboratory at McMurdo Sound, where clues to certain viruses are being sought in the study ofepidemics among the utterly isolated members of scientific parties.As to space research, there is no place on earth better suited than the South Pole for certain kindsof observation. Here is a firmly fixed point, in contrast to the drifting floes that cover the North Pole;from it all directions are north, and during the six months of darkness the stars circle around a pointdirectly overhead. The United States established an observatory there in 1957 for the I.G.Y. and hasmaintained it ever since.Now it is an ideal space tracking station. Any vehicle on a mission in the southern half of theheavens remains continuously "visible" to an antenna at the pole. Such a station is also able to playa unique role in interrogating earth satellites in orbit over both poles.Such satellites---maintaining their steady sweeps as the earth revolves beneath them---cover nilparts of the globe and hence are ideal for weather observation, communications and other tasks. TheSouth Pole would be the chock point on each circuit, snatching the data from space, processingthem in computers within seconds and relaying them to the rest of the world.On all these counts, the scientists justify their voyages to Antarctica and the vast sums needed.But essentially their argument is a simple one. The great continent to the south is still largelyunknown. In the quest for fundamental knowledge, which is the heart and soul of all science, itcannot be ignored. Antarctic’s mineral resources are best described as

A. of low quniity
B. uncertain but potentially important
C. vital to world energy needs
D. non-existent