Self-study
Even though trading in ivory has been outlawed by international agreement, some piano makers still use ivory, often obtained illegally, to cover piano keys. █████████ ███████ ████ ███████ █ █████████ █████ █████ ██████ ███████ █████ ████████████ ███ █████ █████ ████ ███████ ████████ ██████████ ███ ██████ ███ ███████ █████ ██████ ████ █████ ████ █████ █████████ ██ ██████ ███ ███████████ ██ ███ █████████ █████ ████ █████████ ████████ ██ ██████ ██ ████ ████ ███ ███████ ██ ██████████ ████ █████ █████ ████ ███████ █████ ██ █████████
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that a new synthetic ivory, which is the first substitute to make high-quality piano keys, won’t do much to stop the killing of elephants for their ivory. This is because piano makers have never been major consumers of ivory.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that the synthetic ivory won't replace real ivory for purposes other than piano-making. Otherwise, there's no reason to think that its impact is dependent on piano makers alone.
3.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ ████ █████ ██ ██████████ ███ █████████
a
Most people who ████ ███ █████ ███ ███ ███ ███████ ████████ ███ ███████████ ██████ ███████████ ███████ ███ ███ █████████ █████ ███ ████████ █████ ████████████
We already know the new synthetic ivory is superior for pianists, and that piano making isn't a major consumer of ivory. This doesn't tell us anything new or useful.
b
The new synthetic █████ ███ ██ ████████████ ██ ████████ ██ █████ ███ ███████ ███████ ███ ██ ███ ███████ █████ ██ ███████ █████ ████ ████ ██████████ █████
This suggests the synthetic ivory could in fact make a difference in the global ivory trade, because it's suitable for many uses. This weakens the author's argument rather than strengthening.
c
Other natural products ████ ██ ████ ██ ████████ █████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ ██ ██████████ ███████████ ███ ███████ █████ ██ █████ █████
We already know that other ivory replacements haven't been well-received by pianists. Like (A), this doesn't add any new information; it's just redundant.
d
The most common ███ ███ ███████ █████ ██ ██ ██████████ █████████ █████ ███ ██████ ███ ████ ███ ███ ███████ ██ █████ ███████████ ███ ████ ███ ███ ████████████ ██ █████ ██████████
No matter how good the synthetic, it can never replace ivory for its most common use, because it will never be authentic. This strengthens the argument by affirming that the synthetic ivory won't have a broader impact.
e
It costs significantly ████ ██ ███████ ███ ███ █████████ █████ ████ ██ ████ ██ ███████ ███ ██ ███ █████ ███████████ ████ ██████████ ███ █████████ ███████████
Comparing the cost of ivory substitutes isn't useful, because we need to know how this synthetic compares to real ivory. Without that information, this is irrelevant.