Self-study
Engine noise from boats travelling through killer whales' habitats ranges in frequency from 100 hertz to 3,000 hertz, an acoustical range that overlaps that in which the whales communicate through screams and squeals. ██████ ██████ ██████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ██████ ███████████ ██████ ███████ ████ ████████ ██████ █████ ████ █████ ███ ██ ████ ██████ ██ ██████ █████ ███████ ████ █████ ██████████ ████████
Summary
Engine noise from boats traveling through killer whales’ habitats ranges from a frequency that overlaps with the acoustical range in which the whales communicate with each other. Although the whales do not act differently when the engine noise is present, the noise can be loud enough to cause hearing damage over time. Therefore… (the correct answer will be a conclusion supported by the prior statements).
Strongly Supported Conclusions
The engine noise could impact how killer whales communicate with each other after enough time.
3.
Which one of the following ████ █████████ █████████ ███ █████████
a
younger killer whales ███ ██████ ████ ██ ████████ ██████ █████ ████ █████ ████ █████ ██████ ███
Younger whales probably have been exposed to less engine noise from boats than older whales, and so probably have better hearing than older whales. So, if anything, maybe older whales can "tolerate" engine noise better than younger whales, since older whales might not be able to hear the noise as well.
b
killer whales are ████ ██████ ██ ███████ ██ ███████████ ████ ███ ███████ ████ ████ ███████ ███ █████████ ██████
The stimulus doesn't support claims about when killer whales are more or less likely to try to communicate with each other. In fact, we're told that they don't behave differently around running boat engines.
c
noise from boat ███████ ███ ██████ ██████ ███████ ███████ ██ ███████████
The stimulus says that engine noise can damage hearing loss over time. Killer whales communicate through screams and squeals. So, we have evidence that boat engines could eventually impair (harm) the whales’ ability to communicate.
d
killer whales are ████ ██████ ██ ██████ █████ █████ ████ ███████ ██ ████████ ███ █████
The stimulus doesn't support claims about what killer whales “prefer.”
e
killer whales would ████████ ██ ████ ██████████ ██ ███████ ████ ██ █████ ███ ███ ██████ ███████ █████ ████████
The stimulus doesn't support claims about finding food. We don't how whales' communication relates to finding food.