Self-study
Although Stillwater Pond has been polluted by farm runoff for years, several species of fish still live there. ███ █████ ███████ █████ ████ ████ ████ ████ ████████ ████ ███████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ████ ███ ███ ████ ███ ███████ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ████████ ███████ ██ ███ ██ ██████ ███████ ████████ ███ ████ ████████ ████ ███████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ███ ████████ ████████ ████ ██ ████ ██ ████ ███ █████ ███████ █████ ████████ ████ ███ ███████ ██ ████ ██ ███ ████ ████ ███ ███████ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ████████ █████ ██ ███ ████████ ████████
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that if the most populous species in the pond is the bullhead catfish, then the fishing guide must believe that the species of fish in the pond that has adapted best to living in polluted water is the bullhead catfish. This is based on the fact that the fishing guide says that the most populous fish species in the pond is also the one that has adapted best to living in polluted water.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author assumes that the fishing guide would be aware of the fact that the most populous fish species in the pond is the bullhead catfish, if that is indeed the most populous fish species in the pond. This overlooks the possibility that the fishing guide might have some other species in mind when he says that the most populous fish species is the one that has adapted best.
25.
The argument above is most ██████████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ██
a
takes for granted ████ ███ █████ ███████ █████ ████████ ████ ██████████ ████ ███ ████ ████████ ██ ████ ██████ ███ █████
This is not an assumption, because the guide’s belief about how long the water has been polluted doesn’t affect the relationship between the most populous species and being the best adapted.
b
fails to take ████ ███████ ███ ███████████ ████ ███ ███████ ██ ██████████ ████ ███ ██ █████ ████ ██████ ██ ███████ ██ ████████ █████
Whether the catfish had to adapt very little doesn’t affect the possibility that it’s still the most adapted. A fish can be the most adapted even if it hasn’t adapted much. Also, the argument only concerns belief about what’s most adapted, not what is actually the most adapted.
c
fails to take ████ ███████ ███ ███████████ ████ ███ ██████ ███████ ██ ████ ███████████ ██ ██████████ ████ ███ ██████████
The conclusion begins by saying “if” the studies are accurate. This conditions the rest of the conclusion on the hypothetical situation in which the studies are accurate. Whether they are actually accurate is irrelevant to this hypothetical situation.
d
fails to take ████ ███████ ███ ███████████ ████ ███ █████ ███████ █████ ██████████ ████████ ████ ████ ████ ███████ █████ ████ ███ ████████ ███████ ██ ███ ████ ████████ ████ ███████ ██ ██████████ ████
If this possibility were true, then even if the catfish is the most populous species, the guide might not believe that the catfish is the most adapted. The guide might simply have a different species in mind, even if that species isn’t actually the most populous or most adapted.
e
takes for granted ████ ██████████ ████ ███ ████ ███ ███████ ██ ███████ ██████ ██ ██
The author doesn’t assume there’s only one species of catfish in the pond. The recent studies happen to identify the bullheat catfish as the most numerous species, but there can be other catfish species that are not as numerous.