PrepTest 157, Section 4, Question 19
Political arguments about biodiversity and the preservation of(443 more words not shown)
If valid, Charles G. Sibley's(21 more words not shown)
- AA stork population(15 more words not shown)
- BA stork population(15 more words not shown)
- CA vulture population(15 more words not shown)
- DA vulture population(15 more words not shown)
- EA vulture population(16 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We need a claim the findings challenge. Sibley says American vultures are more closely related to storks than to European vultures. That undermines grouping American and European vultures together just because both are called vultures.
What we’re looking for
Keep the comparisons precise. The findings distinguish American from European vultures; they don't compare European storks with American storks or settle whether North and South American vultures are one species.
Working the answers
- A
We aren't given a comparison between European and North American stork populations. A finding about American vultures' relationship to storks doesn't establish the relationship among those stork populations.
- B
The same problem applies here. No South American-versus-European stork comparison is reported, so we cannot identify this claim as the one Sibley's findings undermine.
- CCorrect
If North American vultures are closer to storks than to European vultures, the assumption that the two vulture populations likely belong to one species becomes harder to sustain. The genetic findings challenge the grouping suggested by their shared name.
- D
This is consistent with distinguishing American and European vultures. The question asks what the findings challenge, so a claim pointing in the same direction isn't the answer.
- E
The account groups North and South American vultures together when comparing them with other birds. It doesn't tell us whether the two American populations themselves belong to the same species. An unsettled claim isn't necessarily a challenged one.
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