Summary
Primatologist Suzuki found that monkeys often roam out of their mountain habitat to feed in apple orchards. After studying this behavior for a decade, Suzuki began feeding the monkeys in the mountains with soybeans, after which the monkeys no longer ate from the orchards. When Suzuki started, 23 monkeys lived in the region, which has grown to 270 today.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
Feeding monkeys in their natural habitat led them to stop leaving their habitat for other sources of food.
A
Snow monkeys do not feed outside of their mountain habitat when food is readily available within it.
This is strongly supported because although the snow monkeys left their habitat to get apples at one point, they stopped doing this when Suzuki fed them soybeans in their natural habitat.
B
For snow monkeys, soybeans provide more complete nutrition than other beans.
This is unsupported because we don’t have any way of comparing soybeans to a different type of bean.
C
In feeding soybeans to the monkeys, Suzuki did not intend to provoke the phenomenal population growth that resulted.
This is unsupported because we don’t know what Suzuki’s intentions were when beginning this experiment.
D
Snow monkeys eat apples only if there is no other fruit to eat.
This is unsupported because we don’t know whether or not the monkeys would choose an apple or another fruit if they had equal access to both.
E
Feeding soybeans to snow monkeys has proved to be an environmentally unsound policy.
This is unsupported because we don’t know if the impact on the environment was negative due to feeding the monkeys soybeans.
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This page shows a recording of a live class. We're working hard to create our standard, concise explanation videos for the questions in this PrepTest. Thank you for your patience!
This page shows a recording of a live class. We're working hard to create our standard, concise explanation videos for the questions in this PrepTest. Thank you for your patience!
This page shows a recording of a live class. We're working hard to create our standard, concise explanation videos for the questions in this PrepTest. Thank you for your patience!
This page shows a recording of a live class. We're working hard to create our standard, concise explanation videos for the questions in this PrepTest. Thank you for your patience!
Greenwall: But many of those customers could easily be lying because they are too embarrassed to admit that they don’t exercise anymore.
Faden: You have no way of showing that customers were lying. Your objection is absurd.
Summarize Argument
Faden concludes that Greenwall’s objection, that many of Faden’s customers could be lying about still using their year-old exercise machines, is absurd because Greenwall doesn’t have a way to prove the objection.
Identify and Describe Flaw
Faden asserts that since a survey shows most of his customers claim to still use their year-old exercise equipment, most of their machines are still in use after a year. Greenwall points out that many of those customers could be lying, and Faden argues that Greenwall’s objection is absurd because Greenwall has no way to prove the objection.
A flaw in Faden’s reasoning is that Greenwall’s objection isn’t necessarily absurd just because Greenwall can’t prove the objection. An objection can lack evidence and still have merit.
A flaw in Faden’s reasoning is that Greenwall’s objection isn’t necessarily absurd just because Greenwall can’t prove the objection. An objection can lack evidence and still have merit.
A
Greenwall takes for granted that many customers have stopped using the equipment but are too embarrassed to admit it.
Greenwall doesn’t argue or imply that the customers have stopped using the equipment. He just points out that many of the customers could be lying about using the equipment.
B
Greenwall presumes, without giving justification, that most people are dishonest about their personal habits.
Greenwall doesn’t make a claim about most people’s personal habits. His statement only addresses the possibility that customers could be lying about using their equipment.
C
Faden presumes, without providing justification, that the more conclusive the evidence is for a claim, the less believable the claim becomes.
Faden doesn’t make the case that people are less likely to believe a claim as stronger evidence is presented to support that claim.
D
Faden presumes, without providing justification, that the evidence for a claim has not been undermined unless that evidence has been proven false.
This is a flaw in Faden’s reasoning. Faden presumes that his argument hasn’t been undermined because Greenwall hasn’t definitively disproved that argument. However, an objection to an argument can hold weight even if that objection doesn’t totally disprove the argument.
E
Greenwall ignores the possibility that some people stopped using the equipment but were not embarrassed about it.
Greenwall isn’t concerned with the possibility that some people stopped using their equipment but aren’t embarrassed about it. Greenwall only makes the case that some people may be lying about still using their equipment because they’re embarrassed to admit they stopped.