PT89.S2.Q7 - Dire Wolf Fossils

jacob.elser2

The question itself is rather easy - (D) is pretty clearly something the argument is assuming, and necessarily so. Negating it makes a mockery of the argument.

However, I did spend quite a bit of time on this one, because I've always learned that "most" answers are virtually never correct on necessary assumption questions, because negating a "most" statement just takes you from 51% (or more) to 50% (or less), so negating a "most" assumption does virtually nothing to the argument. I'm hoping someone can clarify the guidance on "most" statements on necessary assumption questions. Thanks in advance!

Ashley2018-1

Yeah, that's the problem with "rules of thumb" like that. You follow it to the letter and then you just have to get an "exception" lol.

I didn't pick this answer on the first go precisely because of the "most" but I looked at the content of the answer and it just had to work. It brought up that connection between the presence of these direwolf pups at these tar pits and scavenging and hunting, which just randomly came up in the conclusion when it made no appearance in the premises. In order for the argument to hold up and the conclusion to follow, the author of the stimulus has to assume that there is a connection between these two things because it otherwise wouldn't make sense. If these pups had been at the pits for some other reason than scavenging and hunting, the conclusion wouldn't follow.