June 2007 PrepTest, Section 3, Question 11
By Brandon Beaver | Published October 29, 2024
Type: Necessary Assumption
Difficulty:
Explanations
Well, hold on. This bird was stuffed and preserved? Does that perfectly preserve mercury levels? Also, the passage says that the mercury accumulates “as the feathers grow.” Were these 1880s seabirds younger than the modern birds they were compared to? Furthermore, the mercury “is derived from fish eaten by the bird.” Is it possible that 1880s seabirds didn’t like fish as much or that those 1880s fish had less mercury in them?
A
No, the opposite! The passage assumes that the proportion was as high or higher, on average, in the 1880s as today.
B
Pollution isn’t mentioned. Didn’t read? Don’t pick!
C
The usefulness of mercury is not the topic.
D
No, the passage almost assumes the opposite (it technically isn’t an assumption, because the modern birds could have also been not fully grown).
E
Now we’re talking. It’s possible that the birds did have the same amount of mercury. However, when they were “stuffed and preserved,” they lost a substantial amount of mercury because of the preservation process.
Passage
Feathers recently taken from seabirds stuffed and preserved
Question 11
The argument depends on assuming that