A
Australia has considerably fewer species of carnivorous mammals than any other continent does but about as many carnivorous reptile species as other continents do.
B
In ecosystems in which there is relatively little food carnivorous mammals are at a disadvantage relative to carnivorous reptiles.
C
The unusual sparseness of Australia’s ecosystems is probably the reason Australia has considerably fewer carnivorous mammal species than other continents do but about as many carnivorous reptile species.
D
The reason that carnivorous mammals are at a disadvantage in ecosystems in which there is relatively little food is that they must eat much more in order to survive than carnivorous reptiles need to.
E
Because Australia’s ecosystems are unusually sparse, carnivorous mammals there are at a disadvantage relative to carnivorous reptiles.
Linguist: The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that a society’s world view is influenced by the language or languages its members speak. But this hypothesis does not have the verifiability of hypotheses of physical science, since it is not clear that the hypothesis could be tested.
Summary
According to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, how a society thinks about the world is influenced by the language that society speaks. However, it is not clear that this hypothesis could be tested. Therefore, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis does not have a similar verifiability compared to the hypotheses of physical science.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
It is unclear whether the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is true or false.
A
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is probably false.
This answer is unsupported. It is too strong to say the hypothesis is “probably false.” We only know from the stimulus that the hypothesis cannot be verified. An absence of verification does not necessarily mean that something is false.
B
Only the hypotheses of physical science are verifiable.
This answer is unsupported. Physical sciences were given as an example of types of hypotheses that are verifiable. It is too strong to say that only these hypotheses are verifiable.
C
Only verifiable hypotheses should be seriously considered.
This answer is unsupported. The Linguist never discusses what types of hypotheses should be seriously considered.
D
We do not know whether the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is true or false.
This answer is strongly supported. Since we know the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is not able to be verified, then we cannot know whether it is true or false.
E
Only the hypotheses of physical science should be taken seriously.
This answer is unsupported. The Linguist never discusses what types of hypotheses should be taken seriously.