Self-study
Conclusion Some of the rare pygmy bears should be moved from their native island to the neighboring island. ███ █████ ████ ██████████ ████ ███ ████ ██ ███████ ██ █████ ██████ ███████ ███ █████ ███ ███████████ ██████ ██ ███ ████ █████ ████ ███ █ ███████ ████████ ████ ████ ██████████ ███ ████ ██████ ██████ ██ ██████ █████ ████████ ████████
Summary
The author concludes that some of the bears should be moved from their native island to the neighboring island.
Why?
Because the bears risk extinction from habitat loss on their native island.
And, the neighboring island is the only place that has a similar habitat. This is why the move is the only viable chance of saving the bears.
Notable Assumptions
The conclusion asserts that some of the bears “should” be moved. But we don’t get in the support any statement that tells us when we know that the bears should be moved. We want a principle that connects the premises to the conclusion. For example:
If moving the bears to a neighboring island is the only viable chance of saving the bears, then the bears should be moved.
Note that the correct answer could look very different from this. It might bring in other parts of the support, or it might just be phrased in an odd way. Let’s keep an open mind.
12.
Which one of the following ███████████ ██ ██████ ████ █████ ██ ███████ ███ █████████ ██████
a
Some species are ████ █████████ ██ ██████████ ████ ███ █████ ████████
(A) doesn’t help us justify the move. Sure, maybe some species are more deserving than others. But should these bears be moved?
b
Rare animals should ███ ██ █████ ████ ███ ███████ ██ ███████ ██████ █████ ████████ ███ ███████ ██ ███ ████████
Leads to wrong conclusion. (B) allows us to say that if habitats are not similar to each other, then rare animals should NOT be moved from one habitat to another. But we’re trying to prove that the bears SHOULD be moved. (Don’t make the mistake of interpreting this answer as saying that if habitats ARE similar, then the animals SHOULD be moved. You’re confusing sufficient and necessary conditions if you think it means that.)
c
If a species ██ ██ ██████ ██ ███████████ ████████ ██ ████ ██████ ██ ███████ ███ ██████████ ██████ ██ ███████████
(C) gets us from the support to the conclusion. We know that the bears “risk extinction.” (C), then, would justify “whatever is most likely to prevent the extinction.” And we know the move to the neighboring island is the most likely to prevent extinction, because it’s “the only viable chance of saving” the bears.
d
The rarer a ███████ ██ █████ ██ ██████ ███ ███ ████ ████ ██████ ██ ████ ██ ███████ ████ ████████
(D) might allow us to say that we should do more to protect the bears than some other species. But what about this particular solution — moving the bears to the neighboring islands. Is that justified? (D) doesn’t help us support that specific action.
e
If an animal's ████████ ███████ ██ ██ ██████ ██ █████ █████ ██ ██ ███████████ ██ ███ ██ ████ █ ███ ███████ ███ ███ ███████
Leads to wrong conclusion. We’re trying to prove that we SHOULD move the bears. Learning that it’s “permissible” doesn’t establish that we SHOULD do it.