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

Question

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.

nevergiveup · Accepted Answer

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.)

MrEasy · Answer

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

ugimba · Answer

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?

mrinal2100 · Answer

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

iwillcrackgmat · Answer

(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

yash312 · Answer

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

carcass · Answer

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.

AjiteshArun · Answer

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).

KarishmaB · Answer

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)

rk0510 · Answer

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.

KarishmaB · Answer

No, normally you will not have various degrees of weakeners because which is stronger is subjective.
Yes, sometimes you have direct link and possible indirect link so the direct link will obviously be the answer.

(A) does not even give us directly that the bats interfere in people's lives. It just tells us that they have started roosting in developed areas. Perhaps they roost on building terraces where people do not go or perhaps on the tallest trees etc. We do not know. How they instil fear in people by roosting in developed areas is not known.

(E) doesn't make much sense. The question is why people fear bats. (E) says that people know a lot more about other animals that they fear. So relatively, they know a little less about this animal that they fear.
What causes them to be afraid? Apparently, knowing or not knowing about the animal is no reason to be afraid. They are afraid of animals that they know about and of animals that they know less about.

SomeOneUnique · Answer

You can clearly draw an analogy. Ants also live in developed areas, but people are not scared of ants. Thus bats coming to developed areas does not give us a reason to either strengthen or weaken the conclusion. Hope it helps!

MasteringGMAT · Answer

Argument: Yes
Main point: bats are feared and persecuted 
Basis: Bcz they are shy animals that are active only at night.

Gaps: They’re feared because they transmit virus such as Covid and spread pandemic. May be there’re other nightly animals that are not feared.

(A) Bats are steadily losing natural roosting places such as caves and hollow trees and are thus turning to more developed areas for roosting.
- doesn’t weaken. May be more bats are creating diverse habitat by attracting predator making tourist hotspot.

(B) Bats are the chief consumers of nocturnal insects and thus can help make their hunting territory more pleasant for humans.
-strengthens the argument. This action may indirectly benefit humans.

(C) Bats are regarded as frightening creatures not only in the United States but also in Europe, Africa, and South America.
-what is the cause of bat fear in other regions. Is it safe to say the comparison with other regions is legit? Doesn’t weaken the argument.

(D) Raccoons and owls are shy and active only at night; yet they are not generally feared and persecuted.
-this weakens the argument. There’re other animals/birds with similar habit but still not feared. The reason for fear must be different.

(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.
-is the knowledge of behavior the only reason for fear? If you don’t know about lion, will you not fear lion? Doesn’t weaken.

stackskillz · Answer

This is the quick solution I came up with:

Conc:  Bats are timid, night creatues => Hence, feared and persecuted.

Just a quick thing to notice, in order to prevent any mistakes on the question - The argument states a cause-effect relationship. Usually, in order to weaken a cause-effect relationship, you'll have to disprove that A leads to B. This can happen in multi-tude of ways, but just knowing we're probably looking at cause-effect helps a lot while in CR.

(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 answers the question, i.e. "Where do bats roost now?". However, this has no impact when trying to determine whether bats should or should not be feared and persecuted.  Drop

(B)  Bats are the chief consumers of nocturnal insects and thus can help make their hunting territory more pleasant for humans.  - This answers the question "Should bats be feared and persecuted?" with a no. However, this is different from the conclusion that asks "Are bats being feared and persecute because they are timid, night creatures?".  Drop.

(C)  Bats are regarded as frightening creatures not only in the United States but also in Europe, Africa, and South America.  - The opinion of people across large geographies doesn't answer the question, i.e., "Are bats being feared and persecute because they are timid, night creatures?".  Drop

(D)  Raccoons and owls are shy and active only at night; yet they are not generally feared and persecuted.  - This is a fun option. Many comparison options, usually try to compare "apples" to "oranges". However, similarity in a key aspect, does provide enough evidence for us to slightly weaken the conclusion. To put this in words here... "If bats are being feared and persecute because they are timid, night creatures, then so should racoons and owls. If that's not the case, then it stands to reason, this might not be the only reason for fear and persecution."  Keep .

(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.  - Now it might be easy to make a mistake here by creating an unsupported story, i.e., people know less about bats, therefore they're being feared and persecuted. If they knew more, they might not be feared and persecuted, i.e., cause of persecution is lack of knowledge. The issue here is that this reason can co-exist with the conclusion that bats are timid and night creature (and also that people don't know much about their behaviour). Another issue is that we're not told whether knowing more about the species, would reduce or impact persecution, i.e., the animals species such as lions, alligators or snakes are feared and persecuted any less because people know more about their behaviour. This just sounds like a fact.  Drop

agrasan · Answer

We can approach this problem using the 'Cause and Effect' concept.
Let's say we describe two variables X and Y as cause and effect respectively,

The argument says that bats are feared and persecuted solely because they are shy animals that are active only at night.
Here in the argument X = "They are shy animals that are active only at night" and Y = "Bats are feared and persecuted solely"

We can weaken this relationship by adding another observation that X as a cause doesn't lead to Y as an effect.
Therefore, if we observe that X as a cause for other animals doesn't lead to Y as an effect, we can reduce the confidence in the argument.

Option D says - raccoons and owls also are shy animals that are active only at night but they are NOT generally feared and persecuted, this reduces our confidence that bats might not be feared and persecuted due to their shyness and there could be another reason for them being feared and persecuted.

Maan1997 · Answer

Hi KarishmaB, GMAT Ninja!As per the question stem we need to find an option which gives us some other reason (than solely shy and active at night) for bats to be feared and persecuted. Option (E) states thatpeople know more about the behaviour of some greatly feared animals species than they do about the bats. Doesn't it kind of present a reason that "it could be the lesser known behaviour of bats which is why they are feared and persecuted".
Please help me understand better about this option, how is it not undermining the conclusion?

LamboWalker · Answer

Oh boy, the conservation group is surely gonna have a hard time putting bats in good light after the events 3-4 years ago.

Posted from my mobile device

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi Maan1997,

Let's start with the task, and then move on to D and E.

1.  The question tells us that the conservation group believes  bats are feared and persecuted solely because they are shy animals that are active only at night . This is what we need to weaken.

2.  Option D is pretty good! It tells us that there are things that share the same attributes but are not generally feared and persecuted.

3.  Option E gives us a difference between some greatly feared animal species and bats. So far so good. The problem with E, however, is that it doesn't really tell us that the group is wrong. For example, someone could say "I don't know much about the behavior of bats", and the  same  person could also say "I know only that they are shy and active only at night". This doesn't hurt the conservation group's conclusion.

bronaugust · Answer

To solve this question, let us deploy    IMS's four-step technique   .

STEP #1  ->   IDENTIFY THE QUESTION TYPE

Let us read the question stem to identify the question type. The stem states, 'Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the accuracy of the group’s contention?' What we have is a weakening question.

Now that the question type is identified, let us proceed to the second step.

STEP #2  ->   DECONSTRUCT THE ARGUMENT

In a weakening question, it is a must to deconstruct the argument. Let us therefore read the argument and figure out the conclusion and the premise.

CONCLUSION:   Bats are feared and persecuted.
  PREMISE:   They are shy animals that are active only at night.

Now that the argument is deconstructed, let us proceed to the third step.

STEP #3  ->   FRAME A SHADOW ANSWER

To frame a shadow answer, we need to know what the right answer option is supposed to do. The right answer should cast doubt on the group's contention. The group contends that bats are feared and persecuted solely because of being shy animals that are active only at night. To come up with such a contention, the group must be assuming that animals that are shy and active only at night are feared and persecuted. A good way to cast doubt on the contention will be to attack the premise or the underlying assumption.

SHADOW ANSWER:   A situation that attacks the group's assumption by introducing a situation that indicates shy animals that are active only at night may not necessarily be feared and persecuted solely because of their being shy and active at night.

STEP #4  ->   ELIMINATE INCORRECT OPTIONS

Answer options that do not match the shadow answer can be eliminated.

(A) Bats are steadily losing natural roosting places such as caves and hollow trees and are thus turning to more developed areas for roosting. -   NOT A MATCH   - Bats steadily losing natural roosting places such as caves and hollow trees and turning to more developed areas for roosting will not impact the group's assumption that animals that are shy and active only at night are feared and persecuted.  -   ELIMINATE

(B) Bats are the chief consumers of nocturnal insects and thus can help make their hunting territory more pleasant for humans. -   NOT A MATCH   -  Bats being chief consumers of nocturnal insects and capable of helping make their hunting territory more pleasant for humans will (again) not impact the group's assumption that animals that are shy and active only at night are feared and persecuted.  -   ELIMINATE

(C) Bats are regarded as frightening creatures not only in the United States but also in Europe, Africa, and South America. -   NOT A MATCH   -  Whether bats are regarded as frightening creatures in other continents is irrelevant and does not impact the group's contention.  -   ELIMINATE

(D) Raccoons and owls are shy and active only at night; yet they are not generally feared and persecuted. -   MATCHES THE SHADOW ANSWER   -  If raccoons and owls are shy and active only at night and if they are not generally feared and persecuted, there must be some other reason for fearing or persecuting bats and not the one stated by the group; this option attacks the group's assumption and by doing so casts doubt on its contention.  -   KEEP

(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. -   NOT A MATCH   -  Any info regarding other greatly feared animal species is irrelevant to the group's contention.  -   ELIMINATE

Hence, (D) is the correct answer.

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

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

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

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