Logic Breakdown

Passage Summary: To save a dying wildflower species from vanishing from its home, the speaker suggests breeding it with daisies. Since this is the only way to keep any version of the wildflower around, the speaker concludes we must proceed with the plan.

Conclusion: Daisies should be introduced into the wildflower's range to encourage the creation of hybrids.

Reasoning: The wildflower is facing extinction, and cross-breeding with daisies is the sole way to prevent the species from disappearing entirely from that region.

Analysis: The conservationist is assuming that the 'total loss' of the wildflower is a worse outcome than the introduction of a non-native species or the creation of a hybrid. There is a significant gap regarding whether the hybrid actually fulfills the goal of 'preventing loss' of the original species. Look for an answer that confirms the hybrid is a viable substitute for the wildflower or that no other factors (like the daisy becoming invasive) would make the plan counterproductive. If it weren't true that the hybrid counts as a partial success, the argument's logic would collapse.

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8.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the conservationist's reasoning depends?

Correct Answer
D
The plan requires that hybrid plants can reproduce; otherwise, you’d get at most a one-generation cohort that cannot sustain a population. Negation test: if hybrids cannot reproduce, hybridization won’t prevent total loss, so the argument fails—showing this assumption is necessary.
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