Self-study
Lydia: Red squirrels are known to make holes in the bark of sugar maple trees and to consume the trees' sap. █████ █████ █████ ███ ██ ███████████ █████ ████ █ █████ █████████████ ██ ██████ ███ █████████ ██████ █████████ ███ █████ ██████ █████ ██ ██████ █████ ██ ██████ █████████ ████ █████ ███████ ██ ██████ █████ █████ █████ █████ ██ ███ █████████ █████ ███ ██ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ███████ █████ ██ █████ ████ ██ ███ ██████ ██████████ ████ ███ ████████ █████ ███ ██████
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Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
Lydia starts by describing a phenomenon: red squirrels make holes in the bark of sugar maple trees and consume their sap. She lays out two alternative explanations for this phenomenon: the squirrels are seeking either water or sugar, which are the two main components of sugar maple sap. Lydia then rules out the possibility that they are seeking water, since water is more easily available from other sources. Thus, Lydia concludes the explanation for this behavior is that the squirrels are seeking sugar.
Describe Method of Reasoning
Lydia reaches her conclusion by a process of elimination. She states two alternative explanations for the squirrels' behavior, then eliminates one of them — the idea that the squirrels are seeking water — which leaves the other one, the sugar hypothesis, remaining.
10.
Lydia's argument proceeds by
a
dismissing potentially disconfirming ████
Lydia's argument doesn't mention any specific data, let alone data that would disconfirm her conclusion that the squirrels are seeking sugar.
b
citing a general ████ ██ █████ ███ ██████████ ██ █ ████████ ████████
Remember that Lydia's conclusion is that the red squirrels engage in this behavior to seek sugar. For this conclusion to be a specific instance of a general rule, we would need a rule like "small mammals always seek sugar." No such rule is stated.
c
presenting an observed ██████ ██ ████ ██ █ ██████ ███████ ██ ████████
This answer choice might seem tricky because of how vague it is. For answer choices like these, it's important to try to "map on" the relevant parts of the answer choice to the stimulus. Clearly, the "observed action" is the squirrels making holes in sugar maple bark to drink the sap.
But what is the "larger pattern of behavior"? Lydia never claims, say, that other squirrel species also engage in this kind of behavior, or that red squirrels are known to seek sugar from other sources, too. So there is no "larger pattern" that Lydia claims this specific behavior belongs to. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.
d
drawing an analogy ███████ ███████████████ █████████ ███ ██ ███████████ ██████████
Lydia does not draw any analogies.
e
rejecting a possible ███████████ ███████████ ███ ██ ████████ ██████████
This is correct. The observed phenomenon is the squirrels chewing holes to consume sugar maple sap. The alternative explanation Lydia rejects is the explanation that the squirrels are after the water content of the sap, which leaves her with the hypothesis that they are seeking the sugar contained in the sap.