- Tue Feb 07, 2023 7:37 pm
#99161
Hi gabbyg567!
To address your second question first, yes, you should definitely pay close attention to words like however! This is important not only for logical reasoning but also reading comprehension. Words like "however" can often indicate contrast with what comes before, which can be very helpful to know.
And that indeed seems to be how it is used in this stimulus. But that alone doesn't make answer choice (C) correct. Answer choice (C) states that the mentioned sentence "is a claim that the argument is designed to call into question." In the mentioned sentence (that an increased range of genetic variation in a species is not advantageous for any individual member of the species), the word "however" does contrast with the previous sentence. The previous sentence states that genetic variation is good for a species, and the next sentence contrasts with this by pointing out that it's not necessarily good for individual members of the species.
It's important to look at the conclusion to know how a given sentence is functioning in the argument. The conclusion is that "the sole reason that sexual reproduction has become the rule among both animals and plants is that natural selection has favored some entire species over others." According to the stimulus, this is because we know that variation benefits a species and yet doesn't benefit individual members of the species. How then can it benefit the species without benefiting individual members of the species? The conclusion indicates that this is because it favors some entire species over others. So the mentioned sentence is used in support of this conclusion, which is reflected by answer choice (A).
