PrepTest 150, Section 3, Question 6
The waters surrounding Shooter's Island have long been(74 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(10 more words not shown)
- AThe ruined ships(10 more words not shown)
- BThe number of(21 more words not shown)
- CWaterbirds use still(7 more words not shown)
- DThe waters around(14 more words not shown)
- EWaterbirds are typically(18 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The young birds are gathering there. Are they being raised there?
The nursery explanation sounds plausible. Shooter's Island has especially still water because of the wrecked ships and boats, and juveniles are unusually abundant there. Perhaps that sheltered setting is useful for raising young birds.
But gathering in a place doesn't automatically make it a nursery. Teenagers might gather at a mall without the mall being where they are raised. Likewise, perhaps the young birds use the island for some other activity. I don't yet have evidence for a particular alternative; I'm questioning what the concentration tells us about the birds' use of the area.
What we’re looking for
To strengthen the conclusion, I'd look for a connection between what we know about this island and nursery use. Does still water make a place useful as a nursery? Does this concentration of juveniles indicate that role? Either connection would help turn a plausible story into a better-supported explanation.
Working the answers
- A
We already know the area has long been a dumping ground for wrecked vessels. Their having been there for decades doesn't tell us why the juvenile birds are there now. The missing link concerns how the birds use the area, not the precise age of the wreckage.
- B
A stable number of juveniles throughout the year could fit a nursery, but it could also fit a place juveniles regularly visit for another reason. Nothing tells us that lack of seasonal fluctuation identifies a nursery. B describes the pattern without connecting it to the proposed activity.
- CCorrect
This supplies the connection to still water. The birds use still waters as nurseries whenever possible, and the wreckage has made these waters exceptionally still. That behavior gives us a reason to interpret the juvenile concentration as nursery use, rather than just an unexplained gathering. It connects a known feature of the site directly to the conclusion.
- D
Rougher water elsewhere sharpens the contrast between the islands, but we still need to know what that contrast means for nursery use. Even if young birds preferred calmer water, that wouldn't by itself establish what they do there. C directly tells us that birds use still water for nurseries; D leaves that behavioral link unstated.
- E
This concerns total waterbird abundance, not just the number of juveniles. Yet the total around Shooter's Island is similar to the totals around the neighboring islands. E would lead us to expect more birds overall at nursery sites, so it doesn't identify the observed juvenile-heavy but equally abundant population as a nursery. We shouldn't substitute the juvenile comparison for the different comparison E describes.
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