Q16

[amandarruff]

I can see why A is correct, can anyone tell me why E is incorrect? Thanks

[ohthatpatrick]

(E) claims that the author is trying to make a generalization about flocking birds. This paragraph is exclusively about Harris sparrows, so there's no support for the idea that the author is extrapolating to other species as well.

Does that make sense or do you interpret the answer choice or the paragraph differently?

[katl]

Can someone please explain why C is wrong? Harris initially hypothesized that darker birds wins almost every time. However, the studies disprove that hypothesis but the passage does mention that darker plumage is associated with older birds. Doesn't the new data call for revision of the original hypothesis, as C indicates?

Also, can someone describe the general technique of approaching Purpose type questions. I'm not sure how much of the surrounding text I should refer to. I was hesitant to choose A because that conclusion didn't appear until the last sentence of the paragraph, which I mistakenly thought was too far down to be relevant to the question.

Thanks in advance.

[ohthatpatrick]

I see the temptation of (C). The problem is that our author isn't trying to strike down SSH, he's trying to strike down the idea that Harris sparrows are a good example of SSH.

In 17-19, Rohwer is claiming that Harris sparrows support the SSH (i.e. they are good evidence for it). In the 3rd paragraph, our author is attacking that claim, arguing that Harris sparrows do NOT support the SSH.

That doesn't mean we change the SSH. It just means that Harris sparrows don't qualify.

If you look at his conclusion-y wrap up in 35-38, he's saying "thus Harris sparrows cannot properly be included under the term "status signaling".

As to your broader question, Purpose questions almost invariably want you to look before or after the sentence/detail they actually point you to. I think of them as the "Bookend" questions, because they ask you about a specific detail, but the correct answer reinforces one of the bigger ideas that bookend the detail - USUALLY, the broader claim that came right before it, but other times, like in this case, the broader takeaway that comes right after it.

The keywords you memorize for Purpose questions are
in order to
serves to
primarily to

Hope this helps.