Animals with a certain behavioral disorder

Answer choices

1. A

   Not Necessary: Invariable levels3% picked this

   Animals with the disorder have unusually high but invariable levels of aluminum in

   This answer is unnecessary because variability in aluminum levels doesn’t undermine the connection between aluminum and the disorder proposed in the argument. The author can still argue that aluminum is problematic even if its levels vary among different animals.

   3%
2. B

   Correct81% picked this

   Aluminum is the cause of the disorder rather than merely an

   Why this is right

   Aluminum is the cause of the disorder rather than merely an effect of it. For the author's argument that treating animals with a silicon-based compound will cure them to hold water, it's vital to the logic of the argument that aluminum is actually causing the disorder. This answer choice confirms that causal link. If aluminum were merely a byproduct of the disorder, neutralizing it might have no effect on the disorder itself. Thus, this assumption is crucial.

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

   81%
3. C

   Too Specific: Side effects11% picked this

   Introducing the compound into the brain tissue has no

   While it's tempting to think a lack of side effects is necessary, the argument is focused on the theoretical cure through binding aluminum. Side effects neither prove nor disprove the compound’s efficacy in binding aluminum to prevent its negative impact.

   11%
4. D

   Out of Scope: Species-specific neutralization1% picked this

   The amount of the compound needed to neutralize the aluminum in an animal’s brain tissue varies

   The argument doesn't get into specifics about varying compound amounts across species. The underlying logic only requires us to believe that the compound, in general, is effective, which makes this level of detail irrelevant.

   1%
5. E

   Out of Scope Comparison3% picked this

   Aluminum is never present in normal

   The argument does not require us to establish conditions for what’s normal or not in brain tissue beyond the fact that aluminum is at high levels in affected animals. It suffices to know there’s more aluminum than there typically should be in the animals with the disorder.

   3%