Logical Reasoning

PT104 · S4 · Q5 Ticks attach themselves to host animals to feed

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Ticks attach themselves to host animals to feed.

Premise (Tick Feeding Rule)

Ticks attach to a host to feed. They drop off only after they've fed to capacity — never before.

Premise (Deer Tick Timing)

Deer ticks feeding off white-footed mice always drop off between noon and sunset, regardless of when they attached.

Premise (Mouse Habits)

White-footed mice are strictly nocturnal — they spend all daytime hours in their underground nests.

Evaluate

Chain the premises: deer ticks drop off between noon and sunset (daytime). During daytime, white-footed mice are in their nests. Therefore, when a deer tick drops off a white-footed mouse, that mouse is in its underground nest — and so the tick drops off inside the nest.

Goal

Find the answer that says deer ticks drop off white-footed mice in the mice's nests.

5.

Which one of the following conclusions can be properly drawn from the statements above?

  1. Deer ticks all attach themselves

    Unsupported

    The premises tell us when ticks drop off, not when they attach. In fact, the stimulus explicitly says deer ticks drop off between noon and sunset "regardless of time of attachment" — meaning attachment can happen at various times of day. So the claim that all ticks attach at the same part of the day is unsupported, and arguably contradicted.

    9% picked this

  2. Deer ticks sometimes drop off

    Contradicted

    The first sentence says ticks drop off after feeding to capacity — and "not before then." So ticks cannot drop off without having fed. This answer says they sometimes do, which directly contradicts the premise.

    11% picked this

  3. Correct

    Deer ticks that feed off

    Why this is right

    This follows from chaining the premises. Deer ticks drop off white-footed mice between noon and sunset. White-footed mice spend all daytime hours in their underground nests. So when the tick drops off, the mouse is in its nest — and the tick drops off inside the nest. The conclusion is properly drawn.

    Skill tested: Must be True · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    76% picked this

  4. White-footed mice to which deer

    Unsupported

    The stimulus says nothing about whether mice are aware of the ticks attached to them. We get information about feeding behavior, drop-off timing, and mouse habits, but mouse awareness is just not addressed.

    2% picked this

  5. White-footed mice are hosts to

    Unsupported

    Nothing in the stimulus addresses how many ticks a typical mouse hosts, let alone whether that number is stable across seasons. The stimulus discusses tick behavior on a single mouse, not seasonal infestation rates.

    2% picked this

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