Besides laying eggs in her own

Answer choices

1. A

   Too Strong: only when2% picked this

   Female wood ducks will establish nests in nest boxes only when natural nesting sites

   This is an extremely strong idea (conditional strength), which says, "If a natural nesting site isn't available, then a female wood duck will never establish a nest in a nest box". We don't have any to support such a harsh, limiting claim.

   2%
2. B

   Too Strong: most successful1% picked this

   Nesting female wood ducks who often see other female wood ducks are the most successful

   The paragraph doesn't give us any means of ranking which type of female wood duck is the #1 most successful of all, when it comes to breeding efforts.

   1%
3. C

   Out of Scope: less space17% picked this

   The nesting boxes for wood ducks have less space for eggs than do

   This answer is speculating a causal reason why nesting boxes get more filled up with eggs than natural sites do. But the passage insinuates a different causal reason: the natural nesting sites are well hidden. So if we're going to speculate why nesting boxes get more filled up with extra eggs, then it should be for the reason supported by the paragraph, not a brand new one like "nesting boxes are smaller".

   17%
4. D

   Correct79% picked this

   The nesting boxes would be more effective in helping wood ducks breed if they were less visible to other wood

   Why this is right

   This has the classic Flip the Causal Difference-Maker form. If we're told that "Dave doesn't have much luck at job interviews because he talks too much about his knife collection", then we can infer that "Dave would be more effective in job interviews if he talked less about his knife collection". We inferred from the passage that nesting boxes fill up with extra eggs because they're not well hidden, which then undercuts the ducks' reproductive efforts. So we can support this flipped counterfactual that, "If nesting boxes were less visible (more well hidden), they would be more effective in helping wood ducks' reproductive efforts,"

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

   79%
5. E

   Out of Scope: destruction of habitat1% picked this

   Nesting boxes are needed to supplement the natural nesting sites of wood ducks because of the destruction of

   Nothing in the paragraph suggested that nesting boxes are needed, nor do we have any evidence that much of the ducks' habitat has been destroyed. This answer is speculating a causal backstory for why "people put up nesting boxes to help the ducks breed".

   1%