In the year 2005 alone, about one-third of the coral reefs in

Question

In the year 2005 alone, about one-third of the coral reefs in the Caribbean died. The Caribbean coral are more fortunate than those in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, where death rates are near 90 percent. Scientist say that warm ocean temperatures are the cause of the unprecedented devastation. Coral may appear to be a hard, rocky substance, but coral reefs are actually huge colonies of living animals. Living reefs teem with fish and provide areas for fish and other sea life to reproduce. Living reefs are colorful and vibrant, while dead reefs are bleached white and devoid of life. Coral reefs grow only a fraction of an inch per year. Once a reef dies, it will probably never recover. Ocean temperatures are expected to continue to rise, and most of the remaining coral reefs in the world will probably begin to die within the next decade.

Which of the following is the most appropriate conclusion for these premises?

(A) Therefore, if you ever want the chance to see a healthy coral reef, go soon.
(B) Thus, rising ocean temperatures will have no impact on fish populations.
(C) Once the coral dies, it will be bleached white and devoid of life.
(D) SCUBA and snorkeling tourism is big business for many Caribbean nations.
(E) Coral reefs in the cooler waters at the edge of the tropics will probably survive the longest.

pushpitkc · Answer

Which of the following is the most appropriate conclusion for these premises?
Before we begin trying to find an answer, a conclusion is a statement(Main Point) why the argument has been written.
This argument has been written in order to talk about the decreasing coral reefs all around the world.

(A) Therefore, if you ever want the chance to see a healthy coral reef, go soon.
 This is the correct option as it matches our pre-thinking  
(B) Thus, rising ocean temperatures will have no impact on fish populations.
 The fish population is not what we are concerned with in the argument. 
(C) Once the coral dies, it will be bleached white and devoid of life.
 This cannot be a appropriate option for a conclusion since its a fact stated in the argument. 
(D) SCUBA and snorkeling tourism is big business for many Caribbean nations.
 This is an out of scope option, as the businesses in Caribbean nations are not within the scope of the argument.  
(E) Coral reefs in the cooler waters at the edge of the tropics will probably survive the longest.
 Which coral reefs survive the longest is not why the argument is written

ramblers · Answer

A is really correct? This seems like a stretch of a conclusion to jump to. We're talking about coral reefs in specific parts of the world where ocean temperatures are rising at a rate that the reefs cannot adapt to. This is not the case everywhere in the world. If you want to see a healthy coral reef, don't go to those in the Indian and Pacific oceans.

E is straight up truth, and it contrasts the two facts given right from the onset.

E is straight up truth, and it contrasts the two facts given right from the onset.

karthikkaushik91 · Answer

I think E is the answer. 
Cheers,
Karthik

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JakeRockwell · Answer

E) is clearly not the answer.The tropics may have some other issue associated with corals other than temperature itself.For Ex.the pollution there might be more.

Clearly A)

I was actually tempted a little with C).Conclusions can be rephrases of the premises in the argument.Hence....

karthikkaushik91 · Answer

A says the coral reefs might probably die, its nt completely sure right. It's kinda too extreme. Kindly correct me wherever I was wrong.
Regards,
Karthik

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kapil123 · Answer

Coral reefs don’t survive in warm condition it means reefs can survive longest in cold temp zone.

And that is our conclusion.

As i think....E is our winner.

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Sasindran · Answer

How is the answer A? E seems to fit.

Rickyrocks · Answer

A) Therefore, if you ever want the chance to see a healthy coral reef, go soon. - correct since it’s mentioned in the passage that ocean temperatures will increase.
(B) Thus, rising ocean temperatures will have no impact on fish populations.— not talking of ...impact on fish population 
(C) Once the coral dies, it will be bleached white and devoid of life.— it’s mentioned in the passage and it is not a conclusion 
(D) SCUBA and snorkeling tourism is big business for many Caribbean nations. — not concerned with this
(E) Coral reefs in the cooler waters at the edge of the tropics will probably survive the longest. - close option but here it is comparing the survival of normal reefs and reefs at edge , which is not mentioned in the passage and also the use of probably and will making this option more of a theoretical situation.

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sidvarma · Answer

Not sure I agree that A is the right choice here. Here's why:

If you want to see a healthy coral reef, go soon.

1. Go where, though? The passage talks about different geographies w.r.t where the coral reefs are dying and where they presumably might live longer. Where one should go to is not stated in this answer.
2. How soon is "soon" meant to be? 5 years, 7 years? Who decides what "soon" is?

Can someone correct my train of thought and/or show me a different way to think about the right answer?

Nikhil30 · Answer

c is not the correct answer because coral and coral reef ae two different things , coral is a stone where as coral reefs is a living organism , statement c is talking about coral mixing it with reefs hence wrong.

atrip009 · Answer

Although I chose E to be the answer, I am trying to devise a school of thought which would help convince myself why E could be wrong.

Clearly I have no idea where the Caribbean islands are situated, whether it’s the edge of tropics or somewhere else. Same for Indian and pacific oceans. selecting option E requires outside knowledge which I believe is not tested here. Moreover this might be a trap answer since almost everyone is aware that the tropics are hot, so naturally this would seem to be the obvious answer as anything away from tropics (including the edges) would be cooler and thus reefs could survive longer there.

B, C, D are clearly incorrect. Still don’t understand why option A is correct😂

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KaushalKhatri · Answer

How are we concluding that everybody would want to see a coral reef as it is perishing? No such information is mentioned in the passage?

In the year 2005 alone, about one-third of the coral reefs in

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