Anita: Since 1960 the spotted owl population has declined alarmingly. Timber companies that have been clearing the old-growth forests where the spotted owl lives are responsible for this.
Jean: No, the spotted owl’s decline is due not to the timber companies but a rival species. For the past three decades, the more prolific barred owl has been moving steadily into the spotted owl habitat and replacing the spotted owl.
Jean does which one of the following in her response to Anita?
Stimulus: Anita states that the decline in the owl population is due to the increasing number of timber factories which cut down the timber trees. Jean states that No the population decline is due to the prolific owl being replaced by spotted owl. She is proposing a new reason for decline. IMO C (A) denies the truth of Anita’s premise that timber companies have been clearing old-growth forests
(B) challenges Anita’s assumption that the decline in the population of the spotted owl poses a threat to the species’ continued survival
(C) proposes an alternative explanation for the decline in the spotted owl population
(D) argues that Anita’s conclusion is not valid because she has failed to consider the spotted owl population over a long enough time period
(E) suggest that Anita overlooked the possibility that spotted owls are able to live in forests that are old-growth forests