A conservation group in the United States is trying to change the long

For weaken or strengthen question, you need to focus on the conclusion of the argument. The correct answer choice should impact the conclusion. The conclusion of this argument said the bat is feared solely because it is shy and active only at night. Answer D shows there might be other reasons the bat is feared. The question's focus is not whether the bat is shy or not shy. The focus is whether the bat is feared only because it is shy. (Pay attention to the word solely.)

the people who picked D.. is D not out side of the argument? because, in the argument description, author talking about bats only right? for Raccoons and Owls that may be the case but for bats, that may not be the case?

I thought A makes more sense because, they are coming closer to developed areas (means they will involve with crowd) says that they are not shy...

where am I missing the point?

Clearly D
weaken Question
conclusion is
bats are feared and persecuted solely because they are shy animals that are active only at night.

we have to found some shy and active nocturnal (Bat type) who are not feared and prosecuted...

D for me by process of elimination.

A) certainly offers an alternative theory to why bats may be persecuted - because they come into contact with humans since they are losing their roosting places and moving into human territory. However the main argument is that humans persecute bats because they are shy so this choice does not do anything to cast doubt on that argument

B) - same as A. Good alternative theory that does nothing to address the main reason the group thinks bats are persecuted.

C) Is irrelevant. So they're frightening in Europe, Africa and S.America - so what? It does not address the theory posed in the question (people persecute bats because they are shy)

D) Now this to me seems to offer a counter argument to the theory. Why don't people persecute racoons and owls yet they exhibit the same characteristics as bats?

E) Actually strengthens the argument posed. That people persecute bats because they do not understand them.

My pick: D

after reading the cause and affect reasoning chapter in Powerscore Bible i came to the conclusion that if there is an alternate cause for the effect then it should weaken the argument.
here
Bats are shy animal(cause)->bats are persecuted(effect)

choice A gives an alternate cause they come to developed areas.I conder D as an Answer but when i approach the problem after reading Powerscore Bible i choose A.What's the mistake in this approach

(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

+ 1 kudos if U like this post

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

Shy & Active at night(Cause) ->> Fear(Effect)

To weaken this relation we will show that cause is there but no effect.

D is correctly expressing this with the example of Raccoons and owls

nightblade354 , GMATNinja , VeritasKarishma , carcass , AjiteshArun , Gladiator59

A conservation group in the United States is trying to change the long-standing image of bats as frightening creatures. The group contends that bats are feared and persecuted solely because they are shy animals that are active only at night.

Reasoning in argument: Cause( Bats are shy animals that are active only at night)-----> Effect (bats are feared and persecuted)

Potential weakner Prethink : Cause -------> Does not lead to---> Effect takes place (1)
Cause does not occur--------------->Effect takes place (2)
Some other Cause-----Leads to----> Effect takes place (3)

(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.

I think option E complies with (3), because it clearly show that " Since People now very less about the behaviour of bats as compared to other feared animals------> hence Bats are feared more than any other animal"

Please explain and guide where I am getting wrong

You process is fine, it is right and ............. a waste of time.

I have never been a fan of all this stuff: pre-thinking, cumbersome/wacky/fancy strategies, over analyze.

This test is tough and if we start to make the thing more difficult instead of easier we end in a loophole. Especially in the mid-low range questions in which we should gain time for the tougher ones, being less stressed out. I.E question like this must be solved in 20 seconds.

The stem is short and the question is asking us to weaken the conclusion. These are the only tools I do need to crack it. (and a good grasp of English)



A conservation group in the United States is trying to change the long-standing image of bats as frightening creatures.

- Someone says that the bats are notorious. They do not deserve this.

The group contends that bats are feared and persecuted solely because they are shy animals that are active only at night.

- The act at nite and for this reason they are hunted, high and low.


Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the accuracy of the group’s contention?

(A) Bats are steadily losing natural roosting places such as caves and hollow trees and are thus turning to more developed areas for roosting.

bats are losing some habit. I didn't read anything like that in the stem. OFF

(B) Bats are the chief consumers of nocturnal insects and thus can help make their hunting territory more pleasant for humans.

What they eat I do not care. move on in 3 seconds. OFF


(C) Bats are regarded as frightening creatures not only in the United States but also in Europe, Africa, and South America.

- We care if they are notorious or not. IF they are so in other countries is another question. OFF


(D) Raccoons and owls are shy and active only at night, yet they are not generally feared and persecuted.

- Limpid; clear. Why do other animals are NOT haunted like bats ?? Because they eat and feed and haunt at nite without creating any possible problem or fear. Conclusion: the bats deserve what they deserve. (of course, this is just a question that tests your logic and has nothing to do with the bats.)

(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.

- This comparison IS NOT my concern. Moreover, what people know more or less is already out of my radar. OFF

That's it.

Hope this helps.

PS: leave aside tips tricks, anything. Read carefully the stem and move from there.
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The question asks us to weaken the group's position, which is that (bats) are (feared and persecuted) solely because (they are shy animals that are active only at night).

Firstly, let's take a look at what the correct option does:

1. Bs (bats) receive Y (fear and persecution), solely because Z (shy and active only at night).
The solely because means that Z is sufficient to lead to Y.

The correct answer says
2. Rs and Os satisfy condition Z (shy and active only at night) but do not generally receive Y (fear and persecution).
That is, Z is not sufficient to lead to Y. Hence, the group's position that Z is the only reason is not correct.

Option E basically puts us in a position where we have to say that (4) is wrong because of (5):
4. X has been incorrectly assigned property Y only because ~people lack knowledge about X.
5. People ~do not lack knowledge about other things with property Y.

(5) says that there is a difference between the level of knowledge about other things with Y and the level of knowledge about bats. This doesn't mean that people are right to fear bats. If anything, this would slightly weaken an attempt to connect bats to Y. In effect, (5) seems to suggest that lack of knowledge could absolutely be the reason that people have got the wrong idea about (incorrectly assigned property Y to) bats.

As for your approach, although I agree with carcass, I think it's okay if you continue using the tactic(s) you've become comfortable with (as long as they aren't holding you back in any significant way).
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(B) change image of bats as frightening creatures
(P) Bats are shy animals, only active at night
=> Bat are feared and persecuted (treated in a cruel & unfair way)

Back ground: A conservation group in the United States is trying to change the long-standing image of bats as frightening creatures.
Conclusion: The group contends that bats are feared and persecuted solely
Premise: because they are shy animals that are active only at night.

Solution: D

To weaken this argument one must see for the option that says bats are feared for something else but not because as they are active at nights and shy

A. They may move to developed areas , but there is no connection between the fear of people and moving , so irrelevant.
B. This say a positive point about bats , but we are talking about the fear of people here , so irrelevant.
C. It talks about different area where bats are feared but no reason for why is given.
D. This options considers two more animals which have the same lifestyle as bats but not feared , so this option says that there is something else. CORRECT
E. Knowing behaviour of other animals than to bats , is irrelevant as its not related to the topic.

A conservation group in the United States is trying to change the long-standing image of bats as frightening creatures. The group contends that bats are feared and persecuted solely because they are shy animals that are active only at night.

Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the accuracy of the group’s contention?


(A) Bats are steadily losing natural roosting places such as caves and hollow trees and are thus turning to more developed areas for roosting.

(B) Bats are the chief consumers of nocturnal insects and thus can help make their hunting territory more pleasant for humans.

(C) Bats are regarded as frightening creatures not only in the United States but also in Europe, Africa, and South America.

(D) Raccoons and owls are shy and active only at night; yet they are not generally feared and persecuted.

(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.






For anyone who is confused why A is not the answer:

Argument mentions "A conservation group in the United States is trying to change the long-standing image of bats as frightening creatures."

Long-standing which means that the fear for bats is not new.

Now let's look at answer choice A -

"Bats are steadily losing natural roosting places such as caves and hollow trees and are thus turning to more developed areas for roosting."

Steadily losing - This means that this is happening now...slowly and steadily. This can't be the reason why bats were feared for so long.

Hope it helps.

Thanks!

VeritasKarishma
pls explain why A is wrong?

Contention - Bats are feared and persecuted SOLELY because they are shy animals that are active only at night

We need to cast doubt on this. What if we were to say that there are other animals that are shy and active only at night but people don't fear them? Then could 'shy and active only at night' be a valid reason? No. The contention says that it is the only reason people fear bats. If there are other animals with the same reason but people do not fear them, then it becomes illogical. Then this reason wouldn't be why people fear bats. Option (D) does just that. It gives us two other such animals. Hence (D) weakens the contention.

(A) Bats are steadily losing natural roosting places such as caves and hollow trees and are thus turning to more developed areas for roosting.

Irrelevant to our contention and argument. Contention claims that the only reason is that they are shy and active only at night. Whether they are interfering in people's living spaces or not is irrelevant.

(B) Bats are the chief consumers of nocturnal insects and thus can help make their hunting territory more pleasant for humans.

Again, irrelevant. We need to say why people are afraid of bats, not how they help us.

(C) Bats are regarded as frightening creatures not only in the United States but also in Europe, Africa, and South America.

Irrelevant

(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.

Again irrelevant. It doesn't help us say whether the only reason people fear bats is because they are shy and active only at night.

Answer (D)
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A conservation group in the United States is trying to change the long-standing image of bats as frightening creatures. The group contends that bats are feared and persecuted solely because they are shy animals that are active only at night.

Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the accuracy of the group’s contention?


(A) Bats are steadily losing natural roosting places such as caves and hollow trees and are thus turning to more developed areas for roosting. X
Irrelevant

(B) Bats are the chief consumers of nocturnal insects and thus can help make their hunting territory more pleasant for humans.
-‘making the hunting territory more pleasant does not weaken.

(C) Bats are regarded as frightening creatures not only in the United States but also in Europe, Africa, and South America. X
Strengthens the argument

(D) Raccoons and owls are shy and active only at night; yet they are not generally feared and persecuted.
Correct. This choice tells us that shyness and activity at night isn’t necessarily the reason bats are feared and persecuted. Why? There are other animals (e.g. raccoons and owls) that exihibt the same characteristics and yet they aren’t feared.

(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. X
Irrelevant
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VeritasKarishma GMATNinja

Can we say that option A and option E are weak weakeners also. In the absence of D, they could be potential weakners as they are giving us potential alternative explanation for why bats may be feared and therefore casting doubt on the accuracy of the contention by saying that No, bats could also be feared because they interfere in peoples living spaces as pointed out in Option A or bats could also be feared because a lot of the information is unknown. Please clarify.