#25 - By examining fossilized beetles, a research team has produced the most detailed description

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Assumption. The correct answer choice is (E).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice.

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[marymedley01]

Can you please post an explanation for this problem? Thanks

[Luke Haqq]

Hi marymedley01!

I'd be happy to unpack the correct answer. First, we're dealing with an assumption question. Given the question type, one way to understand why (E) is correct is to apply the Assumption Negation technique. This involves negating the answer choice and putting it back into the stimulus. If this weakens/makes the stimulus fall apart, then it's an assumption on which the argument depends.

Answer choice (E) states, "The temperature tolerances of the beetle species did not change significantly during the 22,000-year period." We can simply take the word "not" out of this sentence to negate it: "The temperature tolerances of the beetle species did ... change significantly during the 22,000-year period."

How would this impact the stimulus? The methodology in the stimulus uses the maximum "temperature tolerances of the existing beetles" to give a picture of the temperatures of Britain over the past 22,000 years. This assumes that the temperature tolerance of the existing beetle species is roughly the same as fossilized beetles of the same species. In other words, this assumes that there is little change in the temperature tolerance of the beetle species from the time of the fossilized beetles up to the time of existing beetles. If the temperature tolerances of the beetle species did change significantly over this long span of time, then the methodology of using the temperature tolerances of existing beetles wouldn't be a good barometer for tracking previous temperatures.