Why is D incorrect?

Started by Shiyi-Zhang · started 2019-01-17 14:09 · last activity 2019-01-19 21:20 · 2 replies

The question stem states normally a flock will continue to occupy the same roost for several consecutive years. Since they only occupy the same roost for several consecutive years, that means they abandon a site pretty easily and quickly. So why is D incorrect?

Replies

  1. Shiyi-Zhang · 2019-01-19 17:38

    Could someone please explain to me why is D incorrect? Thanks!
  2. Ravi · 2019-01-19 21:20

    @Shiyi-Zhang, In reading the stimulus, we know that the crows have a hunting range that goes out as far as 100 to 130 km from their roost. We also know that when crows change their roost site, it's usually less than 8 km from the old one. What does this mean? It means that their hunting territory is, for the most part, the same as it was when they were at their previous roost. The easiest way to picture this is by imagining their hunting territory as a circle going out 130 km and then making another circle for the hunting territory from their new roost. The two circles will make a Venn diagram in which they mostly overlap one another, so we know that their hunting territory is largely the same. If this were a question asking us for a most strongly supported answer, then we'd expect the answer choice to say something like, "the hunting territory of the birds remains largely the same after they move roosts." However, we're looking for an answer that can be most justifiably be rejected, so we're probably looking for something that's close to the opposite of what we would expect if this question were asking for a most strongly supported answer. (A) cannot be rejected because it really could be that crows will abandon their roost site only in response to an increase in population. We have no support from the stimulus to reject this claim. (B) cannot be rejected because the stimulus says "for most flocks," and it could be the case that there are a few members of a flock hunt and scavenge outside of the 100 to 130 km radius that is mentioned in the stimulus. This can't be rejected. (C) cannot be rejected because it's plausible that the crows do most of their hunting and scavenging more than 8 km from their roost. The only info we're given is the range of their hunting territory, but we don't know where they do most of their hunting, so (C) can't be rejected. (D) can't be rejected because it could totally be true that it's very difficult to FORCE a flock of crows to abandon their site for another once the flock has settled in. In reading this choice, it appears that you assumed that since they move every several years, it must not be hard for them to relocate. However, keep in mind that the crows moving every several years on their own accord is far different from them BEING FORCED to move. The stimulus makes no mention of what happens if crows are forced to relocate, so we can't reject this choice. (E) can be rejected because, as noted above, the hunting and scavenging area of the crows after moving to a new roost is almost the same, as the Venn diagram of their old and new hunting territories would largely overlap. This answer can easily be rejected based on the information we have in the stimulus. Does this make sense? Let us know if you have more questions!

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