Self-study
Researcher: Dinosaur fossils come in various forms, including mineralized bones and tracks in dried mud flats. ████████ ███████████ ████████ █████ ███ ████████ ██████ ██ █████ ███ █████ ███ ██████ █████ █████████ ████ █████ ███████████ ███████ █████████ ████ █████████ ████████ █████████ ████ ██████ ██████████ ███ █████ ██ ████ █████
Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The researcher concludes that it isn’t surprising that dinosaur bone fossils are rarely found near fossilized dinosaur tracks in mud flats. This observation is explained with the hypothesis that animals that scavenged dinosaur carcasses often searched for food in mud flats.
Notable Assumptions
The researcher assumes that dinosaur bones could have been moved away from the dinosaur tracks by the activity of creatures that scavenge dinosaur bones in mud flats. The researcher also assumes that there isn’t an alternate explanation for dinosaur bones and tracks often being separated in mud flats.
3.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ █████ ████ ██████████ ███ ████████████ █████████
a
Dinosaur tracks are ████ █████ ██ █████████ █████ ████ ███ ██████
This is irrelevant, since the the researcher’s hypothesis only aims at explaining dinosaur tracks that are in mud flats; no conclusions are being drawn about other types of locations.
b
Scavengers commonly drag █ ███████ ████ ████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ███ ██████
This strengthens the argument by providing a mechanism for the separation of dinosaur bones from tracks by scavenger activity. This affirms the researcher’s assumption that scavenger activity can lead to tracks and bones being separated.
Causal mechanism
Causal mechanism
Answers that strengthen by shedding light on the "how?" of the cause and effect relationship. For example, high altitude training causes better aerobic performance. How? The causal mechanism could be that the thin air at high altitudes cause physiological changes that support better oxygenation.
c
Researchers have found ████ ██████ ████████ ██████ ████ ██████ ████████ ██████
This is irrelevant, since the hypothesis doesn’t depend on the relative frequency of tracks and bones, only the observation that they are rarely found together in mud flats.
d
Dinosaur fossils other ████ ███████████ ████ ██ ██████ ██ █████ ███ █████ ███ █████ ███████
This is irrelevant, since the researcher doesn’t make any claims about other types of dinosaur fossils, and only seeks to explain why bones and tracks are rarely found together in mud flats.
e
It takes longer ███ ████ ██ ██████████ ████ ██ █████ ███ ██████ ██ ███ ██ ███ ██████
This is irrelevant, because how long bones take to mineralize has no bearing on whether or how those bones can be moved away from their original location by scavengers.