Biologist: Researchers believe

Answer choices

1. A

   Reversal28% picked this

   If one breed of dog is descended from wolves that were domesticated more recently than were the wolves from which most other breeds of

   This says "If conclusion, then premise". We need "if premise, then conclusion".

   28%
2. B

   Correct53% picked this

   If one breed of dog is more closely related to wolves than to another breed of dog, then the former breed of dog has

   Why this is right

   This matches the move from Premise to Conclusion. The hardest part is seeing that the Conclusion half is a meaning match. The Premise said that these more recently domesticated wolves are more closely related genetically to wolves than to other breeds of dog. That matches the "if" condition here. The Conclusion said "these dogs are descended from wolves that were domesticated much more recently". Is that the same as "these dogs have more recent undomesticated wolf ancestors"? Yes, basically. The conclusion is talking about one type of wolf that was domesticated more recently than another type of wolf. Let's say Wolf X was domesticated 100,000 years ago, whereas Wolf Y was domesticated only 20,000 years ago. If Breeds A, B, C, D, E all branched off from Wolf X, they have been genetically drifting from Wolf X for 100,000 years and now they are more related to each other than to Wolf X. The more recently domesticated wolves (Breed Z we'll say) in this argument are more like a Wolf than like other breeds of dog. Our author is saying that Breed Z must have branched off Wolf Y. It wouldn't have as much time to genetically drift as other breeds of dog and it wouldn't be related to Wolf X, so that's why Breed Z's DNA looks more like a wolf's than other dogs'. The conclusion said that "Breed Z descended from a wolf that was domesticated more recently", which matches our idea that Breed Z descended from Wolf Y, which was domesticated 20,000 years ago, whereas Breeds A thru D descended from Wolf X, which was domesticated 100,000 years ago. This answer choice says, "Breed Z descended from a wolf that was more recently undomesticated." That's saying the same thing, referring to the same 20,000 years ago time marker. Wolf Y was domesticated 20,000 years ago, so 20,001 years ago it was still undomesticated. Meanwhile, Breeds A thru D came from Wolf X, which was domesticated 100,000 years ago, so the last time Wolf X was undomesticated was 100,001 years ago. The moment in time that your species becomes "domesticated" is the same moment in time that it stops being "undomesticated". So saying "more recently domesticated" = "more recently undomesticated" in an obnoxious way.

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

   53%
3. C

   Bad Premise / Conclusion Match3% picked this

   Any breed of dog descended from wolves that were domesticated is more closely related genetically to at least some other breeds

   This tries to make a move from breed descended more closely related from domesticated ? to some dogs than wolves to wolves And we're trying to match up with more closely related descended from wolf to wolves than to ? that was domesticated most dogs more recently

   3%
4. D

   Bad Premise/Conclusion Match13% picked this

   If one breed of dog is more closely related to wolves than another breed of dog is, then the former breed of dog is

   This tries to make a move from breed X more closely breed X more related related to wolves ? to wolves than to than breed Y is breed Y And we're trying to match up with breed X more closely breed X's wolf ancestor related to wolves ? domesticated more than to breed Y recently than breed Y's

   13%
5. E

   Relative vs. Absolute Illegal Opposite3% picked this

   Any two breeds of dog that are more closely related to each other than to wolves are both descended from wolves

   This tries to make a move from breed X more breed X and Y related to breed Y ? descended from than to wolves wolf domesticated long ago And we're trying to match up with breed X more closely breed X's wolf ancestor related to wolves ? domesticated more than to breed Y recently than breed Y's Besides appearing to be basically an illegal negation of the argument core, this answer is using the absolute sense of "long ago". It could be that all of the dogs we're discussing (even the wolfy ones) descended "long ago" from wolves. The language we need is relative -- which wolf ancestor was domesticated more recently.

   3%