PrepTest 128, Section 2, Question 25
Although Stillwater Pond has been polluted by farm(86 more words not shown)
The argument above is most(8 more words not shown)
- Atakes for granted(17 more words not shown)
- Bfails to take(20 more words not shown)
- Cfails to take(16 more words not shown)
- Dfails to take(29 more words not shown)
- Etakes for granted(12 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Fish still living in a polluted pond doesn't tell us that they are healthy or unchanged. But the argument soon turns to a different question: what does the fishing guide believe about those fish?
The guide says the most populous species is the best adapted to polluted water. Then studies identify the bullhead catfish as the most populous species, and the author attributes the corresponding belief about adaptation to the guide.
Does the guide agree with the studies? Perhaps the guide mostly catches trout and mistakenly thinks trout are the most numerous. Or perhaps the guide thinks bluegills dominate the pond. Either way, the guide could apply the stated rule to that other species instead.
What we’re looking for
Knowing what the studies report doesn't establish what the guide believes. The guide might not have heard of them, or might know about them but reject their finding. For the flaw question, I want the missing connection between the species identified by the studies and the species the guide thinks is most populous.
Working the answers
- A
The origin and duration of the pollution aren't what connects the studies to the guide's ranking of fish species. The pond could have been polluted by farm runoff for years without the guide knowing those details. That would not settle which species the guide believes is most populous or best adapted. The key missing belief concerns the fish population.
- B
Adapting best doesn't mean undergoing the greatest amount of change. Catfish might need little adjustment because they are already well suited to polluted water. More fundamentally, the conclusion is about which species the guide believes has adapted best. The amount of actual adaptation doesn't supply the missing information about the guide's population belief.
- C
The conclusion is conditional: if bullhead catfish are the most populous species, then the guide must hold the stated belief about them. Questioning whether the studies establish that starting condition doesn't identify why the inference fails even when the condition is true. Bullheads could really be most populous while the guide mistakenly believed otherwise.
- DCorrect
The guide might mistakenly think another species is most populous. If the guide thinks trout are most numerous, the guide's rule would point to trout as best adapted, even if the studies correctly identify bullhead catfish. Facts about the pond don't automatically become the guide's beliefs. D exposes that missing connection.
- E
Several catfish species could live in the pond while bullhead catfish were the single most populous fish species. Nothing in the reasoning requires all catfish to belong to one species. The issue is the guide's belief about which species is most numerous, not how many catfish species exist there.
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