Self-study
Delta green ground beetles sometimes remain motionless for hours at a stretch, although they are more active in wet years than in dry years. ██ ████ ██ ████████ ███████ ███ █████ █████ ██████ ███████ ██ ████ ██████ ██ ████ ███ ████ ████████ ██ ███ ████ ████████ ███ ███████ ██ ██ █████ ███ ██████ ████ ██████████ ████████ ████ ███ ███████ █ ████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██ █████ ████ ███████ ████ ████ ███████ ████████ ███████ ████ ███ █ ███ ████ ███ ████ ███ ██████████ ████
Anticipating The Alternative Cause
This stimulus exhibits textbook phenomenon-hypothesis reasoning, although its conclusion is that [such and such] is probably not the cause:
Fact 1: These beetles stay hella still.
Fact 2: They move more when it’s wet.
Fact 3: Dude saw way fewer beetles in 1989 than in 1985.
Fact 4: 1989 was dry; 1985 was wet.
________
Hypothesis: Even though dude saw fewer beetles in 1989, that’s probably not because there were fewer beetles. [It was for some other reason.]
It’s helpful to remember that most of the time we weaken causal conclusions by proposing alternative causes. If you’re familiar with this pattern, you can suspect that the author’s position is that something about these facts suggests an alternate explanation for why the observer spotted fewer beetles in 1989.
From there, anticipating (A) is pretty doable: these beetles are easier to spot when they move around. This proactive anticipation is highly beneficial. It’s often pretty difficult to dismiss wrong answer choices to Strengthen questions on their own merits – firmly recognizing the correct answer can save precious minutes.
Analysis by MichaelWright
8.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ ████ ████████ ████████ ███ ██████████ █████ ██████
a
Because of their █████████ ███████████ █████ █████ ██████ ███████ ███ ██████ ██████████ ██ ███ ██ ████ ███ ███ ███████
b
The only habitat ██ █████ █████ ██████ ███████ ██ ██████ █████ ██████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██ ██████ █████ ██ █████████ ██████
c
Delta green ground ███████ ████ █████ ████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ████ ██ █████ ██████ ████ ███ █████ ██ ███████ ██ ███████ ██ █████ ████████████ █████████
d
Delta green ground ███████ ███ ██ ████ █████ ████████ ███ █████ ████████ ███ █████ ██ █████ █ ██████ ███ ███ █████ █████ █████
e
No predator relies ██ ███ █████ █████ ██████ ██████ ███ █ █████ ███████ ██ ███ ████ ███████