Self-study
The crocodiles of Lake Victoria, in East Africa, sometimes attack humans that venture into their habitat. ███ ██████ ██ ███████ ██ ██████ ██ █████ ██████████ ███ █████████ █████████████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ██████ ████ ██ ███████ ███ ████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ ██████████ ██ ███ ████ ███ ███ █████████ ██ ████ ████ ███ ███ ██████████ ████ ██ ████ ████ ██████████
Stimulus Summary
Crocodiles in Lake Victoria sometimes attack people who go into their habitat. The number of attacks on people has gone up a lot in the last 20 years. But the number of crocodiles hasn't increased, and the crocodiles have just as much food today as they had in the past.
Anticipation
For a Resolve, Reconcile, Explain question, start by articulating what's unexpected about the situation described. Here, we might think that if the number of crocodiles in the lake hasn't gone up, and there hasn't been a decrease in the food available to them, then we wouldn't expect to see an increase in the number of crocodile attacks on people. But the number of attacks has gone up significantly in the past 20 years.
Next, think about the kind of information that might explain why the unexpected situation could occur. Here, there might be something else that has happened in the past 20 years unrelated to the number of crocodiles or the amount of food that could lead to more attacks on humans. There's a textual hook we might pick up on that suggests a potential explanation—the crocodiles sometimes attack humans that "venture into their habitat." Maybe more people are venturing into their habitat? The correct answer probably won't be this specific explanation, but we have a signal that the correct answer might have something to do with the crocodiles' habitat.
11.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ ████ █████ ██ ███████ ███ ████████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ █████████ ███████ ██ ███████
a
Wildlife authorities on ████ ████████ █████████ ███████ ██████████ ████ ████ ███████ ██ ██ ███████████ ███ ███████ ██ ███████
If this answer does anything, it gives us reason to think there should be a decrease in the number of attacks on humans. So it would only deepen the mystery and make the increase in attacks more difficult to explain.
b
About 100 crocodiles ███████ ███ ████ ██ ████ ████████ █████ ████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ██████ ████ █████████
(B) could have been an explanation if we knew that the number of crocodiles that inhabit the part of the lake where humans go has increased in the past 20 years. But (B) doesn't tell us that the number of crocodiles in this area has changed. So it doesn't explain why the number of attacks on humans has increased.
c
More attacks on ██████ ██ ██████████ █████ ██ ████ ████████ ████ ██ ███ █████ ████ ██ ███████
We're trying to explain an increase in attacks on humans by "these crocodiles," which is a reference to the crocodiles of Lake Victoria. So the number of attacks outside of the lake are irrelevant.
d
Adult crocodiles in ████ ████████ ███ █████████ ████████ ██ ██████ ██ █████ ██████
(D) gives us a reason to think that the crocodiles are likely to get close to humans and potentially attack them. But it doesn't help explain why the number of attacks has increased. We're trying to explain why something is different today compared to the past. (D) arguably could have been an explanation if we knew that the crocodiles have become less afraid of humans or otherwise more likely to get close to humans over the past 20 years.
e
People now fish ██ ████ █████ ██ ████ ████████ ████ ████ ███ ██ ████████ ████████
(E) describes a change from the past that might explain the increase in crocodile attacks on humans. Since we know the crocodiles sometimes attack humans that venture into their habitat, if humans now venture into a greater part of that habitat, this could lead to more chances for crocodiles to attack humans. The number of crocodiles may have stayed the same, and the crocodiles might not be any hungrier than in the past, but if they're more likely to encounter humans today, that could explain an increase in crocodile attacks on humans.