Logical reasoning PrepTest 107 · Section 3 · Question 17

Incorrect. The estimates of the cheetah population necessary to survive a natural disaster were off—that doesn't mean the estimates of the actual cheetah population were off.

Incorrect. There's no indication that the habitat is decreasing in size—just that it can't currently support a population of the size that could survive a natural disaster. It may be stable at that too-small level. Additionally, even if we assume that this isn't a long-standing problem (since cheetahs still exist), we couldn't compare the rate of the decrease relative to the cheetah population (which we also don't know is decreasing, with the same caveat as the habitat size).

Incorrect. There's no discussion of hunting or pollution, and no superlatives used to describe the threat from natural disaster, so this answer is unsupported.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Must Be True

Stimulus Summary:
Previous estimates of how many cheetahs are needed to survive a disaster were too low
Current population levels barely meet that estimate
Current habitat can't support more cheetahs

Answer Anticipation:
There are several comparisons in this stimulus, so we should start by tracking them.

First, it's established that previous estimates of how many cheetahs are needed to survive a natural disaster in the African grasslands were too small—in other words, if the cheetah population just met the previous estimates, there wouldn't be enough to survive a natural disaster. Second, it's established that the current cheetah population barely meets that—in other words, the current cheetah population is too low to survive a natural disaster.

Finally, it's established that the current habitat of the cheetah can't support more cheetahs—in other words, it wouldn't allow the cheetah population to increase to a level that would allow it to survive a natural disaster.

Putting all the statements together, we can infer that unless the habitat increases/changes in some way to allow for more cheetahs, then cheetahs won't survive a natural disaster in the African grasslands region.

Answer Explanation:
The wild cheetah population isn't large enough to survive a natural disaster, and it can't be until their habitat gets bigger. That's not something that's likely to happen in the short-term, so this answer is very strongly supported.

Key Takeaway:
While it's not necessary that a correct answer builds off of each statement in the premise, when they all build together to allow for an inference, it's likely that the correct answer will present that complete inference. Walk through all connections in the stimulus when you can!

Incorrect. There's no discussion of the relative rate of natural disasters, so this answer is out of scope.