The most common bird in Stillwater Marsh is a species of marsh hen, yet this species is rarely seen, even by experienced bird-watchers who seek it. ██ █████ ████ ████ ██ ████ ███ ████ ██████████ ████ ███ █████ ████ ██████████ ███ ██████ █████████ █████ ████ ███ ████ ███████ ███ ████ ████ █████████
Resolve, Reconcile, or Explain questions present us two facts that seem to be in tension, then ask us to explain how they could both be true. In this stimulus, those facts are:
Fact 1: This species of marsh hen is super common.
Fact 2: This species of marsh hen is very rarely seen.
Because this is an EXCEPT question, wrong answers will provide some reason why the marsh hen is more difficult to see than its peers. The right answer will fail to do so.
Note that we aren’t holding these explanations to a Sufficient Assumption or Must Be True style standard – a good explanation doesn’t need to completely explain everything and is allowed to make some common-sense assumptions. The standard is more like Most Strongly Supported or Strengthen/Weaken, where reasonable assumptions are allowed and explanations can count as good because they help.
Each of the following, if █████ █████ ██ █████████ ███ ██████████ █████ ███████
The coloration of ███ █████ ███ ██████ ██ ████████████ ████ ████ ███ █████ █████ █████ ███ █████ ███ ██████
This provides a reason why these marsh hens are difficult to spot – they have unusually good camouflage.
The marsh hen's ████ ██ █████ ███ ███████████ ███████ ███ █████ ██ ████ █████ █████ █████ ███ ████████ ███ ██████████
(B) is right because it fails to provide an explanation for why the marsh hen is difficult to spot. If anything, a harsh and repetitive call should make the marsh hen easier to locate via sound.
Unlike many small █████ ██████ █████ ████ █████ ███ █████ ██ ███ ██████ ███ █████ ███ ███████ ██████████ █████ ███ ████ ███████ ██ █████
This provides a reason why these marsh hens are difficult to spot. It’s easier to pick things out when they’re moving against a background – other birds jump around, but marsh hens don’t.
Many marsh birds ███ ████ ██████ ██████ ████████ ██████ ███ ███ █████ ███ ██ ███████ ████ ██████ ██ ██████
This provides a reason why these marsh hens are difficult to spot. It’s easier to pick birds out when they’re being active and when there’s daylight. Those two factors coincide for the other birds, but marsh hens are hard to spot during the daytime because they’re inactive, and hard to spot while they’re active because it’s nighttime.
Although many small █████ █████ ███ ██ ██████ ██ ███████ ███████ █████ ████ ████ ███ █████ ███ █████ ██ ██ ████████ ███ █████ ████ ████ ██ ██ ██ ███████
This provides a reason why these marsh hens are difficult to spot. It’s easier to spot a flock of birds flying around than a single bird sitting still. Other birds fly around in groups, but the marsh hen mostly sits around alone.
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