#11 - Harris: Currently, hybrid animals are not protected by

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Point at Issue. The correct answer choice is (D)

Harris would agree to the statement in answer choice (A). Vogel would probably agree to (A) as well, but we do not know for certain. Since there is not a provable disagreement, answer choice (A) is incorrect. Regarding answer choice (C), Vogel's opinion is also unknown, and thus (C) is also incorrect. Both speakers could also have similar positive opinions regarding the statements in answer choices (B) and (E). Since they could both agree on (B) and (E), both are incorrect.

[biskam]

Out of curiosity, where do we have evidence that Harris could agree with choice b?

[Eric Ockert]

I think the explanation above is merely suggesting that the authors could both agree with answer B, not that we can prove they agree with it. The key point is that you cannot prove that the two would necessarily disagree with the truth of that answer, so it can't represent a Point at Issue.

[Katherinthesky]

Hi,

The reason why I ultimately chose (B) over (D) was because Harris states that the "red wolf clearly deserves protection" under endangered-species regulations" - i.e., the red wolf is endangered.
I then combined this with Vogel's reasoning that even if hybrids such as the red wolf were to "die out, [they] could "easily be revived by interbreeding members" from which they descended, thus implying they were "not in fact in any danger" - in any real danger, for that matter.

Therefore, Harris can say they disagree with (B), and Vogel can say they agree with (B).
What am I misinterpreting here?

Also, the reason why I ultimately did not choose (D) was because of the word "some" in referring to hybrids, whereas both Harris and Vogel refer to "all" hybrids.

Looking forward to your input, thanks!

[Luke Haqq]

Hi Katherinthesky!

I'd be happy to speak to why answer choice (B) is incorrect and (D) correct on this one.

First, it's great that you correctly identified this as a point at issue question, and that you employed the test of asking whether each speaker would agree/disagree with the answer choice under consideration. I would encourage you to continue applying that strategy when you encounter these questions, as you should hopefully find it an illuminating way to confirm that you're selecting the right answer between contenders.

Here, it appears there's a slight misinterpretation, which helps explain why you applied the strategy correctly but ultimately didn't end up at the correct answer. You write:

The reason why I ultimately chose (B) over (D) was because Harris states that the "red wolf clearly deserves protection" under endangered-species regulations" - i.e., the red wolf is endangered.

However, Harris doesn't actually state that the red wolf is endangered. While it might make sense in a normal conversation to make this assumption, the fact that Harris says this wolf "deserves protection" doesn't necessarily mean that Harris believes it to be endangered. Perhaps Harris thinks it deserves protection because of its beautiful fur. Indeed, the way Harris uses the phrase "deserves protection" is ambiguous. In the first instance, certain things are protected under endangered-species regulations if they are endangered species (they "deserve protection" under the regulations if they are endangered species). In the second, red wolves are claimed to "deserve protection," but Harris doesn't go on to embellish on this nor to state explicitly that the red wolf is endangered.

Given this clarification, consider answer choice (D): "whether there are some hybrids that ought to be protected by endangered-species regulations." Would each speaker agree or disagree?

Harris: Agrees (thinks red wolves should be protected under these regs)
Vogel: Disagrees (shouldn't be under regs because they're not endangered, since they could be "easily revived")

Since we're asked for a point at issue between them, and we know one would agree and the other would disagree with this statement, we know that it is the correct answer.