Dolphin Die-off

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Passage

Between June 1987 and May 1988, the bodies of at least 740 bottlenose dolphins out of a total coastal population of 3,000 to 5,000 washed ashore on the Atlantic coast of the United States. Since some of the dead animals never washed ashore, the overall disaster was presumably worse; perhaps 50 percent liver, lung, pancreas, and heart, which suggested a massive opportunistic bacterial infection of already weakened animals.

Tissues from the stricken dolphins were analyzed for a variety of toxins. Brevetoxin, a toxin produced by the blooming of the alga Ptychodiscus brevis, was present in eight out of seventeen dolphins tested. Tests for synthetic were present in almost all animals tested.

The research team concluded that brevetoxin poisoning was the most likely cause of the illnesses that killed the dolphins. Although P. brevis is ordinarily not found along the Atlantic coast, an unusual bloom of this organism—such blooms are called “red tides” because of the reddish color imparted by the blooming algae—did occur The combined impact made the dolphins vulnerable to opportunistic bacterial infection, the ultimate cause of death.

For several reasons, however, this explanation is not entirely plausible. First, bottlenose dolphins and P. brevis red tides are both common in the Gulf of Mexico, yet no dolphin die-off of a similar magnitude has been noted there. Second, dolphins began dying in June, hundreds of miles north of and some months that actually precipitated the die-off was a sharp increase in the dolphins’ exposure to synthetic pollutants.

What this question is testing

Analogy

Your task

Pin down exactly what the question asks about the passage — a detail, the author's view, the structure, or the main point — before looking at the choices.

Common trap

Answers that restate a true detail from the passage but don't answer the specific question being asked.

Winning move

Anticipate the answer in your own words from the passage, then find the choice that matches that prediction.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question

16.

Which one of the following is most analogous to the approach taken by the author of the passage with regard to the research described

Answer choices

Correct58% picked this
A physics teacher accepts the data from a student’s experiment but questions
Why this is right
We can make this work. The author accepted the data that the research team was using (the existence of a red bloom, the PCB and brevetoxin levels of the sampled dolphins, the observed symptoms of the dolphins), but she questions their conclusions. "For several reasons, this explanation (their conclusions) is not entirely plausible".
Skill tested: Analogy · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
58%
Opposite: support16% picked this
An astronomer provides additional observations to support another
Our author does provide some additional observations (no dolphin die-off in this other red tide / there were dolphins dying in June in the north far in time and space from the red tide), but they are used to oppose the researchers' theory.
16%
Weak Match: substituting ingredients5% picked this
A cook revises a traditional recipe by substituting modern ingredients for those used
Our author does "revise the recipe" of the researchers' conclusions in her final sentence, because she's saying, "PCB poisoning was the main ingredient; brevetoxin was just a contributing factor". But the author isn't actually switching out one set of ingredients for another. It's the same ingredients, just being combined in a different ratio. Researchers: brevetoxin was the main ingredient, with a sprinkle of PCB poisoning. Author: the reverse
5%
Weak Match: medication20% picked this
A doctor prescribes medication for a patient whose illness was misdiagnosed
We could say that our author is arguing that the researchers misdiagnosed what killed the dolphins, but the author's preferred explanation would then be called the correct diagnosis. It would not be called a prescription for a remedy. There's no way to save these dead dolphins now. The author isn't saying, "Here's how we fix the dead dolphin problem". He's only saying, "Here's what caused the dead dolphin problem".
20%
No Match: replicate experiment1% picked this
A microbiologist sets out to replicate the experiment that yielded a classic theory
Our author is tearing down their explanation and then building up her own. There's no way in which we could call that "replicating their experiment".
1%

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