Engineer1 wrote:
Can anyone please review my thought process here? Thank you.
This is a strengthen and inference mixture question in my opinion.
It's really just a Conclusion question since the correct answer does not support a conclusion stated in the passage.
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Optimal body temp --> Effective flight
But if external temp drops, body temp is impacted and hence, any species of moth's effectiveness of flight / ability to fly, leading to inactivity which further leads to vulnerability to predators. Small moths are impacted more than larger moths.
The passage does not say that small moths are "impacted more than larger moths" by the temperature.
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Larger moths fly faster and avoid predators comparatively better. However, they are still moths and their ability to fly is still impacted (more or less) due to lower external temperature. Since they have warmer body temp, the underlying assumption is that the drop in external temp has lower impact on larger moths.
The passage doesn't really say what you said. Rather it says the following:
In general, larger moths can fly faster than smaller ones ..., but they also have higher optimal body temperatures
We see that the point is not that larger moths generally have higher body temperatures than smaller moths. The point is the optimal body temperature for larger moths is higher than the optimal body temperature for smaller moths.
So, what we can take away is, basically, that larger moths do better in warmer conditions.
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What if the temp drops so low that it impairs the larger moths flight ability and throw them into inactive state of vegetation? Something has to explain that this does not happen. How?
- Probably they have separate internal mechanism to keep their body temp at an optimal level irrespective of the external environment (a quality that smaller moths do not posses)?
I only had the above as a reason when I was analyzing the answer choices for some similar reasons.
So, because you misunderstood the passage, you went through the choices looking for the wrong thing.
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A. If it impacts "maneuvering", the effectiveness is still impacted and they may still fall prey of predators. Eliminate
The real issue with this choice is that it's not clearly related to optimal body temperature.
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B. Still not an internal mechanism as I thought, but kept is aside for now
- Probably low external temp is still optimal for them (potentially warmer climate); an external factor that helps keep their body temp to optimal and they can fly faster, thereby saving themselves from predators. CORRECT
You ended up choosing this answer for basically the right reason even though your understanding of the passage was not correct.
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C. The question is asking about larger moths, not smaller ones. Eliminate.
Notice that this choice compares the larger moths with the smaller ones. So, it's about both types, meaning that your reason for eliminating it is incorrect.
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D. I actually got stuck in this choice and took me a while to eliminate.
Yes, kind of internal mechanism and yes it may actually help them fly faster than smaller moths. But this has got nothing to do with body temperature. The answer choice has to prove that their body temp somehow stays optimal (or higher). Eliminate
Makes sense.
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E. This simply restates the first sentence of the argument. Eliminate
Not exactly, but this choice doesn't provide new information related to body temperature.
Takeaway: Getting CR questions correct requires understanding the impacts of factors and constraints. In this case, it's key to understand what the passage is saying about "optimal body temperature" and what the implications of that information are.
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