(A) Bats are steadily losing natural roosting places such as caves and hollow trees and are thus turning to more developed areas for roosting. --- this doenst state anything against the intention
(B) Bats are the chief consumers of nocturnal insects and thus can help make their hunting territory more pleasant for humans. --- supporting the idea
(C) Bats are regarded as frightening creatures not only in the United States but also in Europe, Africa, and South America. --- supporting the idea
(D) Raccoons and owls are shy and active only at night; yet they are not generally feared and persecuted. --- against the idea
(E) People know more about the behavior of other greatly feared animal species, such as lions, alligators, and snakes, than they do about the behavior of bats. ---- irrelevant

so D is the answer

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The conclusion in this case is "bats are feared and persecuted" and the support for "why the reason they are feared" is provided by the keyword "because" and its following statement "they are shy animals that are active only at night."

Since its a weaken question lets try and find out an answer choice that dismantles the support structure on which the conclusion is drawn. Lets evaluate each of the answer choices

(A) Bats are steadily losing natural roosting places such as caves and hollow trees and are thus turning to more developed areas for roosting.
# Loosing natural habitat doesnt make bats less shy or nocturnal and thats the prime reason for people to fear them. So this choice doesnt do enough or for that matter any damage to the support statement
(B) Bats are the chief consumers of nocturnal insects and thus can help make their hunting territory more pleasant for humans.
# This shows an advantage of bats living in the vicnity of humans, so doesnt weaken the support structure
(C) Bats are regarded as frightening creatures not only in the United States but also in Europe, Africa, and South America.
# This only restates the conclusion by giving some more inforation that other countries also have the same phenomena
(D) Raccoons and owls are shy and active only at night; yet they are not generally feared and persecuted.
# This contradicts the supporting statements saying that only because an animal is shy and nocturnal doesnt mean people are afraid of it - This is the correct answer
(E) People know more about the behavior of other greatly feared animal species, such as lions, alligators, and snakes, than they do about the behavior of bats.
#Goes out of the scope of the argumnet, irrelevant

d
its easy as the words used in the conclusion are used directly
feared and persecuted
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just one more month for exam...

surely D
Classic cause effect relationship
the question was pretty easy.
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