The number of deer living

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct56% picked this

   Pesticides that adversely affected most wildlife living in North America have been banned

   Why this is right

   This is definitely not a strong answer, since it's generic to "most wildlife", so we don't know for sure whether it applies to deer, but it probably applies to deer (since it applies to most wildlife). The removal of pesticides that adversely affect deer is a good thing for deer, a thing that could explain population growth.

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

   56%
2. B

   Too Weak14% picked this

   Recently, attempts have been made in various parts of North America to protect deer habitats

   This just lessens a negative. Suburbs were an increasing negative influence on deer populations and this answer is saying that we're trying to lessen the damage that influence does. It would potentially explain why deer aren't decreasing as much as we thought they would have. But it doesn't offer any reason why the deer population would be increasing dramatically.

   14%
3. C

   Cheats the Paradox21% picked this

   The number of deer hunters in North America has decreased since

   In order for us to use this fact to explain why deer population growth is soaring, we'd have to think, "since there are fewer deer hunters, there is less deer hunting / fewer deer being hunted to death". However, we were told that hunters kill at least as many deer as before. (apparently the smaller number of hunters has compensated by killing more deer than before, since the total killed is at least as great as before) So the story we would try to tell with this answer choice would violate one of the background constraints of the paradox.

   21%
4. D

   Unrelated to Goal7% picked this

   Much of the increase in the population of wolves is due to wolves born in captivity and

   We're not trying to explain why the number of wolves is on the rise. We're trying to explain why the number of deer is on the rise, given all these forces mobilizing against them.

   7%
5. E

   Opposite2% picked this

   The greater the number of deer, the more likely they are to be afflicted with problems such

   This sounds like a force that would lower / limit the population of deer. As they get numerous, they get beaten back down by problems like famine and disease. We wanted a factor that would encourage larger numbers of deer.

   2%