Logical reasoning PrepTest 104 · Section 1 · Question 8

Question prompt

The gray squirrel, introduced Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: B

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Argument or Facts

Argument

Valid or Flawed

Flawed

Question Type

Weaken Questions

Stimulus Summary

Problem - Gray squirrels are threatening some endangered owls by destroying nesting trees
Solution - Put squirrel poison out
Why it’s safe - It’ll be put in places where only squirrels and rodents can get at it, so the owls will be safe

Answer Anticipation

This argument falls into a Problem/Solution pattern. The problem? Gray squirrels are killing off the trees that endangered owls live in, thus threatening their survival. The solution? Put some poison out to kill the gray squirrels.
From here, the argument goes in an interesting direction. While no one argues that the solution has its own problem, the officials address a potential problem with it - that the owls might eat the poison and die. How do they address this? By saying that the poison will be placed in areas that only the squirrels and other rodents can get to it, so it’s safe for the owls. Since this is the officials’ argument, it’s what we’re trying to weaken.
Since the officials are arguing that a certain solution they’re putting forward poses no threat to the owls, we can weaken that by establishing any threat to the owls from the poison. Here, the poison can’t directly threaten the owls, but what if it indirectly does? If the squirrels and other rodents being exposed to the poison somehow puts the owls at risk, then that would weaken the argument to use it as a solution. For example, if the poison kills the rodents, but then the owls eat them and get poisoned, that would argue against the solution here. Let’s find that - or a similar - answer.

Answer choices

  1. A
    One of the species Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    This answer might be tempting! After all, it brings up a potential downside to the poison - it’ll hurt the red squirrel, which isn’t noted as threatening the owls. However, two issues there. First, it doesn’t bring up a threat to the owls, which is what the official’s argument is meant to address (“would pose no threat to the owl population”). Second, it doesn’t actually establish that killing off some red squirrels would be bad. Maybe they’re also creating problems in the woodlands!

  2. B
    The owls whose nesting Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    This answer brings up a way that the poison could indirectly threaten the owls. If rodents can get into the poison, and the owls primarily eat rodents, then that’s a threat to the owls. Either they’ll eat these rodents and potentially get poisoned, or the rodent population will drop and the owls will go hungry. Since this answer suggests a way that the proposed solution actually does threaten the owls, it weakens the argument that it poses no threat to them.

  3. C
    No indigenous population of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    The officials’ argument is limited to the threat this solution poses to the owls, so other birds are out of scope.

  4. D
    The owls that are Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    The stripping of the trees results in their destruction, regardless of where it happens relative to nests, so this answer doesn’t change anything.

  5. E
    The officials' plan entails Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    The plan already involved putting the poison in containers that only rodents could access, so this is essentially redundant. Even if we assume that the redundant protection here does provide some protection, that plays into the officials’ argument by making the poison safer to use!

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 7%
  2. B Credited 84%
  3. C 1%
  4. D 6%
  5. E 2%

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