Self-study
Conclusion It is a mistake to think, as ecologists once did, that natural selection will eventually result in organisms that will be perfectly adapted to their environments. █████ ████ ███████ ██████████ ██ ██ ██████████ ██ ███ ███████████ ██ ███████████ ███ ██ ████████████ ███████████ ███ ████ █████████████ ██ ██████ ███ ██ ██████████ █████ ████████ ███████ ██ ████████ ██ ████ ████ ███ ███ ██████████ ████ ██ █████ █████
Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
The author refutes a claim made previously by some ecologists: The author argues that it is a mistake to think that natural selection will eventually result in organisms that are perfectly adapted to their environments. This is because perfect adaptation is impossible. It is impossible because environments vary a great deal, and no single set of characteristics could cause an organism to be adapted to all the conditions it might face.
Identify Conclusion
The conclusion is the author’s refutation of a once held claim: “It is a mistake to think, as ecologists once did, that natural selection will eventually result in organisms that will be perfectly adapted to their environments.”
13.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ ███ ████ ██████████ ██ ███ █████████
a
It is not ████████ ███ ██ ██████████ ██ ██ █████████ ███████ ██ ███ ████████████
This is a sub-conclusion, not the ultimate conclusion. The fact that perfect adaptation is impossible supports that natural selection will never result in perfect adaptation.
b
Natural selection will █████ ██████ ██ ███████████ ████ ████ ██ █████████ ███████ ██ █████ █████████████
This accurately rephrases the conclusion. The author says it is a mistake to think that natural selection will ever result in perfect adaptation, which means natural selection will never result in perfect adaptation.
c
No single set ██ ██████████ █████ ██████ ██ ██████████ ████████ ██ ████ ████ ███ ██ ███ ██████████ ████ ██ █████ █████
This is a premise that supports the sub-conclusion that perfect adaptation is impossible.
d
Because an individual's ███████████ ███ ████ █████████████ ██ ██████████ ███ ██ █████████ ███████ ██ ███ ████████████
This encapsulates the sub-conclusion and its support. Both ultimately support the argument that natural selection will never result in perfect adaptation.
e
Ecologists once believed ████ ███████ █████████ █████ ██████████ ██████ ██ ███████████ ████ ████ ██ █████████ ███████ ██ █████ █████████████
This is the position provided in the context that the argument refutes.