|Question 2Verbal

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Text
In a 2022 study, Nicolás M. Morato and colleagues attempted to resolve a long-standing paradox: although water is critical to most reactions that enable life, during the earliest stages of Earth's history—when most of the planet's surface was covered by oceans—the presence of water likely ______ the formation of proteins and other biomolecules that are found in all living organisms.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
exploited
A
imitated
B
hampered
C
reflected
D