A distemper virus has caused

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct61% picked this

   At various times during the last ten years, several species of shellfish and seabirds in the North Sea have experienced

   Why this is right

   If other species such as shellfish and seabirds in the North Sea also experienced unprecedentedly steep population declines in the past ten years, it increases the plausibility that there is something in the environment affecting multiple species, supporting the idea that pollution is a contributing factor. It aligns with the argument's explanation that pollution is weakening species’ immune systems, emphasizing a broader impact of the pollution. (Definitely not an appealing answer on a first pass, but ultimately our best available)

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

   61%
2. B

   Opposite Impact3% picked this

   By reducing pollution at its source, Northern Europe and Scandinavia have been taking the lead in preventing pollution from reaching the

   This hurts the plausibility of the story that the North Sea's pollution was a huge contributing factor. This answer makes it sound like people have been working on keeping pollution out of there.

   3%
3. C

   No Impact2% picked this

   For many years, fish for human consumption have been taken from the waters of

   Cool, humans eat fish? This is unrelated to the seals' immune systems or why they might succumb to the virus. (seals are mammals, not fish) If anything, the fact that humans fish in the North Sea undermines the idea that it's dangerously polluted.

   2%
4. D

   No Impact1% picked this

   There are two species of seal found throughout the North Sea area, the common seal

   Neat, there are two species of seal. That's not dealing with an alternate explanation for why they suddenly succumbed to distemper or giving us reason to think that North Sea pollution wasn't a factor.

   1%
5. E

   Weakens33% picked this

   The distemper caused by the virus was a disease that was new to the population of North Sea seals in May 1988, and so

   This weakens by offering an alternate explanation for the curious fact. If the virus was new, then the seals' immune systems being unprepared is an explanation for the virus's impact that doesn't involve pollution.

   33%