Self-study
The peppered moth avoids predators by blending into its background, typically the bark of trees. ██ ███ ████ ██████████ ████████ █████ ████████ █████ ████ ███ ████████ ████████████ ███ ███ ████████ ████████ ████ █████ ████████████ ███ █████████ ████ ███ ████ ██████ ██ ██ ████ ███ █████ ██ ██████████ ██ ████████ █████ ████ ███ ███████ ████████ █████ ████ ███ █████ ██████ ██ ██ ████ ███ ██████
Summarize Argument
The argument concludes that for peppered moths, which avoid predators by camouflaging themselves against trees, the darkest moths are the least likely to be spotted and eaten by predators. This is backed up with an observation that the lightest moths are the most visible against trees, so are most likely to be eaten.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The argument uses observations about the lightest moths being the most visible to support a conclusion about the darkest moths being the least visible. However, knowing which color is most visible doesn’t actually tell us which color is least visible.
For example, if trees are usually an intermediate shade between dark and light, the darkest moths may be more visible than average-colored moths.
20.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ █ ████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ███ █████████
a
The argument overlooks ███ ███████████ ████ █████ ████████ █████ ███ ████ █████████ ████ ████ ████████ ██████
The number of predators a moth has is irrelevant to the likelihood of a given predator noticing that moth when it tries to blend into its background, so this isn’t something the argument had to account for.
b
The argument takes ███ ███████ ████ ████████ █████ ███ ████ ██ ███████ ███ ██████ ██ █████ ████ █████ ████ █████ ████████████
The argument does not take this for granted—the whole point is that how different moths are colored affects their ability to blend into their backgrounds.
c
The argument presumes, ███████ █████████ ██████████████ ████ ███ ████████ █████ ████ ███ ████ ████████ ███ ███ ████ ██████████ ██ █████ ████ ███ █████ ██ █ █████████
The argument does not make this presumption. The entire argument is about the overall likelihood of moths being eaten based on their color, not the odds for any individual moth.
d
The argument overlooks ███ ███████████ ████ █████ ████ ████████ █████ ██ ████████████ █████ ████ ██████████ ████ ████ █████ ███████████ ████ ███ ███████ ████████ █████ ████
The argument jumps straight from the lightest moths being the most visible to conclude that the darkest moths are the least visible, without considering that intermediate-colored moths might be even less visible. This means the conclusion relies on a baseless assumption.
e
The argument presumes, ███████ █████████ ██████████████ ████ ███ ████ ███████ █████████ █████████ ██ ████████ █████ ███ ██ █████ ████ █████ ████████████
The argument is focused on how effective the moths’ camouflage is based on color, so any other defense mechanisms they may have are irrelevant.