Though many insects die soon

Answer choices

1. A

   Too Strong: most6% picked this

   Survival of the species, rather than of the individual, is the goal of

   This says "most insect populations have the goal of survival of the species, not of the individual". We can never infer anything about "most X's" unless we were given a fact that says "Most X's". The paragraph didn't give us any fact about "most insect populations".

   6%
2. B

   Overly Broad Comparison10% picked this

   Insects that do not play a vital role in the ecosystem are more likely to die after reproducing

   This is too sweeping of a generalization. It is comparing the group of all insects that don't play a vital role in the ecosystem (potentially millions of species) to the group of all insects that do play a vital role (again, potentially millions of species). And it's calculating the percentage of each group that dies after reproducing for the first time, and then saying the non-vital group has a higher percentage of "die after reproducing" than the vital group has. We don't have the data available to us to derive that sort of comparison. Many insects means something like "at least 5 insects". And Some means "at least 1".

   10%
3. C

   Too Strong: most Implies Another Answer5% picked this

   Most bees live well beyond the onset of the generation that

   This says "most bees live" for years after the survival of the next generation has been secured. We can never infer anything about "most X's" unless we were given a fact that says "Most X's". The paragraph didn't give us any fact about "most bees". We heard that some insects, including bees, may live for years after the survival of the next generation (well beyond the onset of the generation). But just because it's possible for bees to live for years after the onset of the next generation doesn't mean that most bees live that long. So if this answer were switched to "Some bees live well beyond the onset ..." we could totally pick it. We might also note that if (C) is true, then (D) is also true. We can never pick an answer that implies another answer.

   5%
4. D

   Correct78% picked this

   Those bees that reproduce do not always die soon after reproducing for

   Why this is right

   This is incredibly weak and thus provable wording. Saying that "A's do not always B" can be proven with just one data point of something that is A but was not B. Here, we would just need one bee that reproduces but doesn't die soon after reproducing for the first time. We knew that bees are an example of insects that may live for years after the survival of the next generation has been secured. So there is at least one bee that doesn't die soon after reproducing for the first time.

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

   78%
5. E

   Too Strong: most1% picked this

   Most insects are hatched self-sufficient and do not need to be cared for

   This says "most insects are hatched self-sufficient and don't need adult care". We can never infer anything about "most X's" unless we were given a fact that says "Most X's". The paragraph didn't give us any fact about "most insects". It's also a big leap to go from "an insect's parents die soon after reproducing" to "this insect is hatched self-sufficient and do not need to be cared for by adults". There might be insect populations where parents die after childbirth but childless aunts and uncles are still needed to care for the hatchlings.

   1%