#8 - The caterpillar of the monarch butterfly feeds on

[HowardQ]

Hi,

I have a little question on identifying the causal conclusion. If the conclusion states "it can be concluded that the viceroy is very seldom preyed on because of its visual resemblance to the monarch." would we consider the conclusion to be causal or just "it can be concluded that the viceroy is very seldom preyed on" and treat the latter part as a pure premise. These two are very different on the answer choices we are looking for but the wording is exactly the same.

Thanks,

[Adam Tyson]

The former, HowardQ - it is a causal conclusion, explaining why the viceroy is seldom preyed upon. The author is not trying to prove THAT the viceroy is seldom preyed upon, but WHY that is so.

[bbjigglercakes]

Hi,

I honestly had such a hard time finding this to be a C&E q. I guess so far most C&E q's had either the indicators relating to cause and or effect to some level.

this answer if i had been able to realize it was a C&E.... would have been manageable

[Robert Carroll]

bbjigglercakes,

The conclusion of this argument has the causal indicator "because". That's not a premise indicator in this case: the entire statement after "concluded" is the conclusion. It doesn't make sense for it to be a premise indicator - if it were, the conclusion would be "the viceroy is so seldom preyed on" which isn't what the author is trying to establish. The author basically takes it for granted that the viceroy IS seldom preyed on, and is trying to demonstrate why that fact is true. So the author is trying to show the cause of a given phenomenon.

Robert Carroll