Astronomy current events question: 'monster' sized star origins

Astronomy 210L, fall semester 2012
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Robert Massey, "Astronomers Crack Mystery of the 'Monster Stars,'" August 7, 2012
http://www.ras.org.uk/news-and-press/219-news-2012/2158-astronomers-crack-mystery-of-the-monster-starsq

University of Bonn researchers have proposed that monster-sized stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud were created by:
(A) nearby supernova explosions.
(B) merging stars in binary systems.
(C) production of superheavy elements.
(D) gravitational perturbations from supermassive black holes.
(E) decaying dark matter.

Correct answer: (B)

Student responses
Sections 70178, 70186, 70200
(A) : 8 students
(B) : 49 students
(C) : 1 student
(D) : 4 students
(E) : 2 students