Q13 - Shelton: The recent sharp decline in the

[ohthatpatrick]

Question Type:
Explain/Resolve

Stimulus Breakdown:
GIVEN THAT in one region, an increase of white-tailed deer has killed a bunch of moose (by way of transmitting a parasite to nearby moose),
HOW IS IT THAT in a neighboring region, an increase of white-tailed deer has NOT been accompanied by a decline in moose population?

Answer Anticipation:
We know the mechanism for killing moose here is "carrying a dangerous parasite that can be transferred to any moose living nearby". So in the neighboring region, maybe the deer don't carry the parasite or maybe the deer don't encounter any moose living nearby?

Correct Answer:
D

Answer Choice Analysis:
(A) Size of region doesn't matter. We just care about decrease / no decrease of moose population.

(B) If anything this might work backwards. If we thought we could explain why moose are not harmed in the neighboring region, we would need them tightly sequestered away from those nasty deer. This answer makes it sound more like the moose would be roaming about looking for habitable territory.

(C) We aren't considering stories where WOLVES were killing the moose. We already know that moose died in one region as a result of the deer. So we need an answer that focuses on why deer aren't having the same effect in the neighboring region.

(D) YES! This gets at our second prediction: "maybe the deer don't encounter any moose living nearby". In the region where the moose are dying, the deer and moose have overlapping territory, but in the neighboring regiong, not so much.

(E) There are moose and white tailed deer in both regions, so distinguishing between their preferred habitats is useless.

Takeaway/Pattern: Is the answer perfect? No. Does it need to be? No, it just has to do the most to help explain the difference between one region and the other. Since we know that deer are killing moose in one region by transmitting a disease (through close proximity), it was reasonable to suppose that they might explain why deer AREN'T killing moose in a neighboring region by making it less likely that the deer could transmit a disease through close proximity.

#officialexplanation

[KristenW551]

The word "ranges" threw me off even during my blind review. Would have never had the light bulb go off had I not seen your rewording of the answer choice with territory .