Wild cheetahs live in the African

Answer choices

1. A

   Unsupported11% picked this

   Previous estimates of the size of the existing wild cheetah population

   The passage says previous estimates of the population needed for survival of a disaster were too small. It does not say previous estimates of the actual existing population were inaccurate. Those are different estimates. The "too small" estimate is the threshold population for disaster survival, not a count of how many cheetahs there currently are.

   11%
2. B

   Unsupported17% picked this

   The cheetah’s natural habitat is decreasing in size at a faster rate than is the size of

   The passage tells us there isn't enough grassland to support more cheetahs, but it does not say the grassland is shrinking faster than the population. We don't know whether the grassland is shrinking at all, growing, or static. We don't know how the rate of grassland change compares to the rate of population change.

   17%
3. C

   Unsupported3% picked this

   The principal threat to the endangered wild cheetah population is neither pollution nor hunting, but

   The passage discusses natural disasters as a survival threat but never compares them to other threats like pollution or hunting. We don't know what the principal threat is — only that the cheetah population isn't large enough to survive a natural disaster if one occurred. "Principal threat" is a comparison the passage never makes.

   3%
4. D

   Correct69% picked this

   In the short term, the wild cheetah population will be incapable of surviving a natural disaster

   Why this is right

   This is the inference the facts directly support. The actual disaster-survivable population is higher than the old estimate. The current population barely meets the old (low) estimate. So the current population is below the actual survival threshold. And there isn't enough grassland to grow the population — so in the short term, the population can't reach the threshold. That is exactly what "incapable of surviving a natural disaster" captures.

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

   69%
5. E

   Unsupported1% picked this

   In regions where land is suitable for cheetah habitation, more natural disasters are expected to occur during the next decade than

   The passage gives no information about the frequency of natural disasters in cheetah habitat — past or future. We have no basis to predict more disasters in the next decade than the past one. This is a forecast the passage simply doesn't support.

   1%