The correct answer, 'dig @dns-server-ip service.example.com +noall +answer', is used to query a specific DNS server directly for the hostname 'service.example.com' and show only the answer section of the query, providing a clear and concise response without caching. 'nslookup service.example.com' does not specify a DNS server and may use cached results from the default server. 'dig service.example.com +trace' traces the path of the query through the DNS infrastructure, which is useful but might provide unnecessary detailed information for this scenario. 'ping service.example.com' tests reachability, not DNS resolution, making it incorrect for the stated objective.