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- Posts: 8917
- Joined: Feb 02, 2011
- Sun Mar 29, 2015 11:00 pm
#35097
Complete Question Explanation
Resolve the Paradox. The correct answer choice is (A)
This stimulus presents a surprising situation concerning certain dragonfly larvae. The dragonfly
species lives in wetlands, and can survive only in water. However, in the water they need to survive,
they are the prey of several species, including the red devil crayfish. Despite this fact, it turns out that
the dragonfly populations more often stay healthy in areas also occupied by red devil crayfish than in
areas without red devil crayfish.
This is a Resolve the Paradox question, and our job is to select the answer choice that explains why
the situation described in the stimulus is the case. More to the point, we need to find an answer
choice that causes the surprising situation to occur. In the context of this stimulus, we are looking for
something that causes the dragonfly populations to be healthier in places where the crayfish are also
located than in places lacking the crayfish. So, we are looking for an effect that is positive for the
dragonflies and caused by the presence of the crayfish. Do not spend time trying to think up what the
answer choice will actually say. Just be on the lookout for an answer choice that meets these criteria.
Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice because it describes a result that is positive
for the health of the dragonflies and is caused by the presence of the crayfish. These chambers dug
by the crayfish provide the dragonflies with a small body of water that they can use without being
subject to water-dwelling predators.
Answer choice (B): Here, the answer choice focuses on the adult dragonflies, which were not
involved in the surprising situation. Rather, it was the larvae that were eaten by crayfish and other
predators.
Answer choice (C): In this case, the answer choice makes the situation more confusing, since it
removes a potential benefit of the crayfish’s presence. If the crayfish did eat other species that prey
on the larvae, then the crayfish could potentially make the larvae safer, even if only slightly.
Answer choice (D): These other locations in which crayfish can be found but dragonflies are not are
irrelevant to the paradox.
Answer choice (E): This answer choice tells us that the crayfish are not dependent on the dragonflies,
but that does not tell us why the dragonfly populations are more likely to remain healthy when the
crayfish are present.
Resolve the Paradox. The correct answer choice is (A)
This stimulus presents a surprising situation concerning certain dragonfly larvae. The dragonfly
species lives in wetlands, and can survive only in water. However, in the water they need to survive,
they are the prey of several species, including the red devil crayfish. Despite this fact, it turns out that
the dragonfly populations more often stay healthy in areas also occupied by red devil crayfish than in
areas without red devil crayfish.
This is a Resolve the Paradox question, and our job is to select the answer choice that explains why
the situation described in the stimulus is the case. More to the point, we need to find an answer
choice that causes the surprising situation to occur. In the context of this stimulus, we are looking for
something that causes the dragonfly populations to be healthier in places where the crayfish are also
located than in places lacking the crayfish. So, we are looking for an effect that is positive for the
dragonflies and caused by the presence of the crayfish. Do not spend time trying to think up what the
answer choice will actually say. Just be on the lookout for an answer choice that meets these criteria.
Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice because it describes a result that is positive
for the health of the dragonflies and is caused by the presence of the crayfish. These chambers dug
by the crayfish provide the dragonflies with a small body of water that they can use without being
subject to water-dwelling predators.
Answer choice (B): Here, the answer choice focuses on the adult dragonflies, which were not
involved in the surprising situation. Rather, it was the larvae that were eaten by crayfish and other
predators.
Answer choice (C): In this case, the answer choice makes the situation more confusing, since it
removes a potential benefit of the crayfish’s presence. If the crayfish did eat other species that prey
on the larvae, then the crayfish could potentially make the larvae safer, even if only slightly.
Answer choice (D): These other locations in which crayfish can be found but dragonflies are not are
irrelevant to the paradox.
Answer choice (E): This answer choice tells us that the crayfish are not dependent on the dragonflies,
but that does not tell us why the dragonfly populations are more likely to remain healthy when the
crayfish are present.