Rabbits are not native to Australia, which lacks predators capable of

VeritasKarishma / GMATNinja

Please provide further clarification as all answer choices seem correct.

Thanks

We are looking for "not an assumption". So other 4 options will be assumptions.

Australia lacks predators of rabbits.
The rabbit population, left unchecked, destroys large areas of pastoral land.
Scientists have recently isolated a virus which has devastated rabbit populations in Central Asia and is harmless to humans.

Plan &Aim: Release this virus so that they can reclaim pastoral land currently lost to rabbits.

The plan is to release the virus to reclaim lost land.

(A) the number of natural predators will not significantly increase in Australia in the near future

The farmers want the scientists to intervene because they expect that naturally the rabbit population will not decrease. Correct.

(B) the virus will not be harmful to livestock that graze on the pastoral land

Since the farmers are asking to release the virus, they must be assuming that their livestock will not be harmed.

(C) the virus will have the same effect on rabbits in Australia as on rabbits in central Asia

They expect the virus to reduce rabbit population here too so they are assuming the same effect.

(D) the release of the virus is the only means of reducing the rabbit population in Australia

Not correct. The farmers are not assuming that this is the only way. It might seem to be a convenient way to them but other means of reducing the rabbit population can certainly be possible such as hunting.

(E) if the rabbit population fell in Australia, land that had been damaged by rabbits would return to a state useful for farming

Farmers aim to reclaim their land so they must be assuming that the land damaged will return to useful state.

Answer (D)

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