VeritasKarishma wrote:
@Onell: Here goes...
'Useful to evaluate' questions are generally hard. You focus on the conclusion and ask yourself, "What is the gap in the logic? What more do I need to figure whether the conclusion is valid?"
Here is the argument:
Many rhinoceroses wear radio collars.
Often, collars slip.
When a collar slips, the animal is shot with a tranquilizer to re-collar.
Fertility of frequently recollared females <<< fertility of uncollared females. (Mind you, it doesn't compare collared females with uncollared)
Conclusion: tranquilizer inhibits fertility
The assumption here is that only frequently re-collared females get tranquilizer shots. Hence, only their fertility is low. Therefore, tranquilizer is the culprit.
I would like to know the following: Do uncollared females also get many tranquilizer shots? If yes, then the tranquilizer does not explain the low fertility. If they do not get many tranquilizer shots, then the tranquilizer could explain the low fertility.
Option C asks this question: How many times are tranquilizers used for other reasons? Those reasons would be common to collared and uncollared females. If, for other reasons, the tranquilizers are used very often, the effect on only the frequently collared females can not be explained by tranquilizers.
Hi Karishma,
During my attempt of the free mock I got the same questions with different options, could you also help provide appropriate reasons to reject options and select the correct option for the below options:
In a certain wildlife park, park rangers are able to track the movements of many rhinoceroses because those animals wear radio collars. When, as often happens, a collar slips off, it is put back on. Putting a collar on a rhinoceros involves immobilizing the animal by shooting it with a tranquilizer dart. Female rhinoceroses that have been frequently recollared have significantly lower fertility rates than uncollared females. Probably, therefore, some substance in the tranquilizer inhibits fertility.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
a.The dose of tranquilizer delivered by a tranquilizer dart is large enough to give the rangers putting collars on rhinoceroses a generous margin of safety.
b.The fertility rate of uncollared female rhinoceroses in the park has been increasing in the past few decades.
c.Any stress that female rhinoceroses may suffer as a result of being immobilized and handled has little or no negative effect on their fertility.
d.The male rhinoceroses in the wildlife park do not lose their collars as often as the park’s female rhinoceroses do.
e.The tranquilizer used in immobilizing rhinoceroses is the same as the tranquilizer used in working with other large mammals.