PrepTest 134, Section 3, Question 1
"Hot spot" is a term that ecologists use(66 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(5 more words not shown)
- Atry to help(12 more words not shown)
- Bconcentrate their resources(5 more words not shown)
- Ctreat all endemic(10 more words not shown)
- Daccept that most(5 more words not shown)
- Eexpand the definition(16 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Where can a limited amount of protection do the most good?
A hot spot packs many species found nowhere else into one habitat. Think of an island that is the only home of a particular kind of tortoise. If development destroys that habitat, the species doesn't have another population somewhere else to fall back on. Houses and shopping centers can threaten far more than a patch of scenery.
What we’re looking for
Now put the argument's reasons together. Many hot spots are vulnerable to development, endemic species account for most recent extinctions, and conservation groups can fight only so many battles. I'd finish the sentence by telling those groups to focus their resources on hot spots. A place with many unique species at risk is a sensible priority. That calls for choosing where to concentrate protection, without giving up on every other environmental concern.
Working the answers
- A
Only is too restrictive. Focusing on hot spots doesn't require refusing to help every species threatened by something other than habitat loss. A species threatened by hunting could still deserve help. This also groups species by the cause of their danger, while the argument points us toward habitats with a concentration of unique species.
- BCorrect
This puts the limited resources where the argument directs us: protecting hot spot habitats. These places contain many species found nowhere else, and many face habitat loss. Concentrating protection there responds to both the risk and the limited ability to fight every environmental battle.
- C
Why must all endemic species receive equal priority? We haven't compared their needs or their value. Some could face greater immediate danger than others. The argument recommends a focus for conservation; it doesn't establish that every species within that focus must be treated identically.
- D
Having limited resources doesn't mean giving up. The argument is working out where protection would be useful, not concluding that most losses are unavoidable. The fact that endemic species account for most extinctions also doesn't mean that most endemic species will become extinct.
- E
Changing a definition doesn't protect a habitat. We need an action directed at the vulnerable places containing concentrations of unique species. Expanding the label to other places introduces a new proposal without showing how it follows from the reasons given.
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