#19 - Birds need so much food energy to maintain their body

[LSAT2018]

There is a shift from the amount of energy from eating nectar and seeds (premise) to the time spent eating (conclusion). I was expecting more of a Supporter Answer but it seems like the correct answer (E) is a Defender? Can I get an explanation for this?

Answers (D) and (E) seem like Defender answers but wouldn't it be hard to say such factors are irrelevant to the argument?

[Shannon Parker]

There is a shift from the amount of energy from eating nectar and seeds (premise) to the time spent eating (conclusion). I was expecting more of a Supporter Answer but it seems like the correct answer (E) is a Defender? Can I get an explanation for this?

Answers (D) and (E) seem like Defender answers but wouldn't it be hard to say such factors are irrelevant to the argument?

Answer choices D and E are irrelevant because the author makes it a direct comparison between a "bird of a seed eating species to a bird of a nectar eating species that has the same overall energy requirement."

The correct answer is a supporter, and that is answer choice C. The argument is comparing the amount of energy needed to the amount of time spent eating. The author then says that because the nectar provides more energy, a seed eating bird who needs the same amount of energy would need to spend more time eating seeds. This argument is vulnerable to the fact that the author does not take into account the amount of time it actually takes to consume the energy. The argument therefore assumes that it does not take more time to eat a given amount of nectar than the same amount of seeds. Thus, answer choice C is correct.

Hope this clears it up
Shannon

[LSAT2018]

Thank you for the reply Shannon, I understand why answer choices (D) and (E) are extraneous to the argument.

But to ask another question, why is (B) wrong? I know that it does not address time but wouldn't the fact that the birds eat distinct foods have to be assumed to make the comparison?

[Francis O'Rourke]

Hi LSAT2018,

Your confusion here may be interpretative. The language used does not preclude a "a nectar eating species" from ever eating a seed. For example, if I described brown bears as a "fish eating species," I am not claiming that brown bears don't also forage for berries at times. I could describe myself as a "bread eater," without indicating that I only eat bread for every meal. I am only claiming that brown bears do eat fish, and I do eat bread.

However if that is not the issue that you are having, I want to ask you what difference you think it would make to the author's argument if we learned that the nectar-eaters also eat some seeds.

To make it more concrete, let's assume that a hummingbird (a nectar-eater) is observed eating one seed per day. How would this effect the speaker's argument? If answer choice (C) is a necessary assumption, then the argument must be severely weakened when we learn that a hummingbird sometimes eats seeds.