A merge sort is used to sort an array of 1,000 test scores in descending order. Which of the following statements is true? 

1. The sort is fastest if the original test scores are sorted from smallest to largest. 

2. The sort is fastest if the original test scores are in completely random order. 

3. The sort is fastest if the original test scores are sorted from largest to smallest. 

4. The sort is the same, no matter what the order of the original elements.