A
The ruined ships and boats around Shooter’s Island have been there for decades.
B
The number of juvenile waterbirds around Shooter’s Island, as well as the number around each neighboring island, does not fluctuate dramatically throughout the year.
C
Waterbirds use still waters as nurseries for juveniles whenever possible.
D
The waters around the islands neighboring Shooter’s Island are much rougher than the waters around Shooter’s Island.
E
Waterbirds are typically much more abundant in areas that serve as nurseries for juvenile waterbirds than in areas that do not.
Further Explanation
Pretty hard question.
Premises tell us that Shooter Island's waters are exceptionally still and that there are lots of juvenile birds gathered around its waters. There aren't very many juvenile birds in waters in neighboring islands. We have to catch on that we are not told WHY the juveniles are gathering in still waters/Shooter Island. It could be for any number of reasons. The conclusion says that it's because it's their nursery. Okay, that makes sense I guess baby birds like still waters. They're probably using it as a nursery and that's why there are so many juvenile birds there.
If you thought that, then you likely overlooked (C). (C) tells us that whenever possible, waterbirds use still water as nurseries. We think... don't we already know that? Nope, we don't. This is a really powerful assumption that if established, would do wonders for the argument.
(C) tells us waterbird's preference is to use still waters for nurseries whenever it's possible. The stimulus tells us that there are in fact an overabundance of juveniles in still waters. You put the two statements together and now we're pretty sure that they're actually there because they're using it as a nursery and not for some other reason. Our argument is made much better.
(D) is an attractive trap. It says that the waters around the other islands are MUCH rougher. This seems like new information but it hardly is. We already knew from the premises that Shooter Island water is EXCEPTIONALLY still. Not just kind of still. It's exceptionally still. So even if the neighboring waters are a little bit rough, they're MUCH rougher than exceptionally still.
But let's just say that the waters in the neighboring islands are truly objectively rough. Okay, we still don't know why juvenile birds are gathering in still waters/Shooter Island. Is it as the conclusion says that it's because this is their nursery? Maybe. Or maybe it's for some other reason. That means the argument was as strong/weak as it ever was. We didn't do our job of strengthening the argument.
Most of the reading public are not literature professors.
A
John’s literature professor can judge the greatness of works of literature accurately.
B
Anyone who is not a literature professor cannot judge the greatness of works of literature accurately.
C
Specialized training like that received by John’s literature professor should be more broadly available to members of the reading public.
D
Literature professors do not belong to the reading public.
E
The vast majority of the reading public is unable to judge the greatness of works of literature accurately.
A
It is offered as support for the contention that the Forestry Department is not doing its job properly if it does not extinguish forest fires as quickly as possible.
B
It is used as evidence against the contention that the Forestry Department is not doing its job properly if it does not extinguish forest fires as quickly as possible.
C
It is used to show what the consequences would be if the Forestry Department based its policies on the ideas most people have about how it should do its job.
D
It is an example used to illustrate the claim that most people believe the Forestry Department should quickly extinguish all forest fires.
E
It is a conclusion based on the premise in the argument that it is best to let small forest fires burn.
Researchers studying athletes found that those who played mainly for the love of their sport actually had sharper vision during athletic competitions than those whose main goal was winning a trophy or championship. The vision of the first group of athletes was sharper because the concentration necessary for acute vision during an activity is typically possessed to a greater degree by those whose attention is focused on the activity itself.
Summary
Researchers found that athletes who played mainly for the love of their sport had sharper vision during competitions compared to athletes whose main goal was winning a trophy or championship. The first group had sharper vision because those whose attention is focused on an activity itself usually have more of the concentration necessary for acute vision.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
Athletes who play mainly for the love of their sport focus more on the activity itself than athletes whose main goal is winning a trophy or championship.
A
Winning a trophy or championship is not important to athletes who play mainly for the love of their sport.
This answer is unsupported. To say that winning a trophy or championship is not important at all is too extreme. We know that these athletes play mainly for the love of their sport, but this does not have to be the only reason they play.
B
If an athlete’s main goal during an athletic competition is winning a trophy or championship, that athlete will lack the concentration necessary for adequate vision during that competition.
This answer is unsupported. To say that these athletes will not have the concentration necessary is too extreme. We only know from the stimulus that these athletes possess this concentration to a lesser degree, not that they don’t possess it at all.
C
Athletes who play mainly for the love of their sport concentrate more on the sport itself during athletic competitions than do athletes whose main goal is winning a trophy or championship.
This answer is strongly supported. We know from the stimulus that the athletes who play for the love of their sport had sharper vision, and we know that this sharper vision comes from concentrating on the sport itself.
D
It is impossible for an athlete to concentrate on more than one thing at a time during an athletic competition.
This answer is unsupported. To say that it is impossible is too extreme. We know from the stimulus that athletes either mainly play for the love of their sport or wining a trophy. We can’t assume that having a main objective means that there are no other objectives.
E
During athletic competitions, an athlete whose attention is focused on the sport itself will perform better than any athlete whose attention is focused elsewhere.
This answer is unsupported. We don’t know anything about an athlete’s performance from the stimulus.