Certain types of finished wood are coated in toxic termite repellent.

Question

Certain types of finished wood are coated in toxic termite repellent. Some types of termite, however, have developed a resistance to the toxin, and they retain the toxin in their bodies after ingesting the wood. When certain birds, such as sparrows, ingest the toxified termites, they die. Thus, by using toxic termite repellent, a homeowner puts the entire neighborhood sparrow population at risk.

Which of the following would be most useful to determine in order to evaluate the argument?

A. Whether the toxic wood finish is more effective than other types of termite repellent.

B. Whether toxified termites remain toxic regardless of how long they have been removed from the toxic wood source.

C. Whether sparrows are actively feeding on the household termites that have fed on toxic wood finish.

D. Whether resistant termites suffer any averse effects in the long term from consuming toxic wood finish.

E. Whether there are other insects that suffer as a consequence of the use of toxic wood finish.

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GulmoharPrep · Answer

Is the answer B. Whether toxified termites remain toxic regardless of how long they have been removed from the toxic wood source. 
My Reasoning being that since the the conclusion is whether by using the repellant a person is putting the neighbourhood sparrows at risk or not, this option is useful in evaluating if the termites truly stay toxic. If they do, the sparrows are at risk, and if they don't they are not at risk.

Shinz · Answer

I think it should be "C". Because option B: How long the toxin remains in the termites is less fundamental than whether the sparrows encounter and eat them in the first place.

Vivek1707 · Answer

A. Whether this repellent works better than others doesn't tell us whether it actually threatens sparrows.
B. Even if the termites eventually lose the toxin, sparrows could still eat them before that happens.
C. This directly tests the missing link: Do sparrows actually eat these toxic termites? If yes, the argument gets stronger; if no, the claimed risk largely disappears.
D. We're concerned about the effect on sparrows, not whether the termites themselves are harmed.
E. Other insects are irrelevant. The argument is specifically about the risk to sparrows.

C is the best answer

Minka99 · Answer

I believe  C is correct  in this case, as it most directly addresses the issue at hand: if sparrows do not actively feed on termites that ingest the toxin, then the entire argument that the toxin leads to sparrows dying would be void. 
A: the effectiveness of the toxin is not the central issue. 
B: this appears strong as it could potentially mean that after a certain ingestion point in time, the toxin is no longer harmful to the sparrow. But then, could one really calculate this time and then keep the insects away from the sparrows for that time? In reality it appears irrelevant to me.
D: the passage is interested in sparrows mainly, not the insects
E: same ad D but general insects

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The argument presented here is that homeowners endanger sparrows when they use termite repellent. This is because termites absorb the toxin in the repellent, becoming poisonous to any sparrow that may prey on them. It would be useful to know whether sparrows are actually eating these termites before we conclude that homeowners "put sparrows at risk" just by using termite repellent.

Choice (A) may be useful to a homeowner trying to get rid of termites, but the performance of "other types of termite repellent" does not relate to the effects of this type of repellent on the sparrow population.

Choice (B) may be tempting, but even if termites lose their toxicity eventually, it doesn't change the fact that the sparrow may still be in danger if it eats the toxic termites now.

Choice (C) fits that prediction. If sparrows favor other sources of food, it's hard to claim that "the entire sparrow population" is in danger because a homeowner used this termite repellent. So, it would be useful to know whether these toxic termites are in fact their main source of food.

Choice (D) is irrelevant; we're interested in the sparrows' health here, not the termites'. Similarly, were not interested in the health of the "other insects" mentioned in (E).

The correct answer is Choice (C).

Certain types of finished wood are coated in toxic termite repellent.

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Certain types of finished wood are coated in toxic termite repellent.