Electric bug zappers

Answer choices

1. A

   Unrelated to Goal1% picked this

   Insect-eating birds will take up residence in any insect-rich area if they are provided with nesting

   This answer doesn't achieve either of our goals: 1. tell us something BAD that electric zappers do 2. tell us something that birds/sprays do that's BETTER than what electric zappers do It talks in more detail about how one would attract an insect-eating bird, but it doesn't give us any reason why we should try to attract such birds rather than just using these very effective bug zappers.

   1%
2. B

   Unclear Impact Cheats the Background4% picked this

   Bug zappers are less effective against mosquitoes, which are among the more harmful insects, than they are

   This answer is tempting because it seems to do the first thing we were looking for: 1. tell us something BAD that electric zappers do But there are a couple reasons why this answer still has unclear impact: 1. Bug zappers are less effective against mosquitoes, but it doesn't say that they're ineffective. If zappers are 99% effective against other harmful insects but only 97% effective against mosquitoes, so what? 97% is still very effective! In fact we were told that "bug zappers are a very effective means of ridding an area of flying insects". Mosquitoes are a flying insect, so we can't tell ourselves a story like "bug zappers are unable to rid an area of mosquitoes, because that would be cheating that initial background fact. Finally, we don't know if birds/sprays are any more effective at dealing with mosquitoes, so we're not really sure whether what we're hearing is a disadvantage bug zappers have in a head to head comparison with birds/sprays.

   4%
3. C

   Weak Impact1% picked this

   Bug zappers use more electricity but provide less light than do most standard

   This answer doesn't really achieve either of our goals: 1. tell us something BAD that electric zappers do 2. tell us something that birds/sprays do that's BETTER than what electric zappers do It may seem like it's doing #1 in the sense that using lots of electricity is a BAD thing, for those of us who care about global warming or our utility bills. But it doesn't say they use LOTS of electricity or "make your electric bill significantly more expensive". It just says they use more electricity than other outdoor lights.

   1%
4. D

   Correct93% picked this

   Bug zappers kill many more beneficial insects and fewer harmful insects than do insect-eating birds

   Why this is right

   This answer definitely has the most impact in achieving our goals: 1. tell us something BAD that electric zappers do 2. tell us something that birds/sprays do that's BETTER than what electric zappers do This gives us a very strong version of #2. It's a head to head comparison, in which birds and sprays clearly win, and that comparison relates directly to pest control. You want to preserve beneficial insects and kill harmful insects. This answer says that birds/sprays are better at doing that. Bug zappers, those big dumb-dumb's, kill more of the beneficial ones and kill fewer of the harmful ones. Now we see why the pest control experts recommend birds/sprays over bug zappers. Bug zappers are very effective killing things, but they are worse at killing the desired things.

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

   93%
5. E

   Weak Impact2% picked this

   Developers of certain new insecticide sprays claim that their products contain no chemicals that are harmful to

   This is only a "claim" made by the spray company, so we don't have to give it the gravitas of fact. If we accept their claim as true, this potentially makes us feel okay with pest control experts recommending sprays (it has nothing to do with birds), but it still doesn't give us any reason why they would be recommending sprays. After all, bug zappers are very effective at getting rid of flying insects. How come experts tell us not to use them? This answer isn't providing any reason.

   2%