Q8 - Biologist: Marine animals known as box jellyfish

[mshinners]

Question Type:
Necessary Assumption

Stimulus Breakdown:
Box jellyfish have goo lenses by retinas that can only see blur. Therefore, eyes adapt to need.

Answer Anticipation:
What does a box jellyfish need to see? If I were swimming around the ocean, I might like to know if that blur is a friendly school of fish or a hungry shark! I'm expecting the answer to state that these jellyfish don't need to see anything more than general blurs.

Correct answer:
(B)

Answer choice analysis:
(A) Degree. If other jellyfish have the same issue, this argument could still work. What matters is the needs of the animals that have the close retinae.

(B) Bingo. This answer choice connects the needs to the eyes they have. If we negate it - Box jellyfish needs aren't met by eyes that detect only prominent features - the argument is killed.

(C) Opposite. You may have picked up on a term shift here between "need" and "benefit". While that term shift exists, it's actually not an issue. Why? Well, the conclusion of the argument is about "need". If something is a need, then having it would benefit that organism. For example, you need food, so a tasty snack would benefit you. This answer is incorrect because, if anything, it cuts against the argument by stating the "better" eyes would be helpful.

(D) Too specific. While this answer is entirely possible, it's not the only explanation for how box jellyfish ended up with these eyes, so it's not necessary. Their evolution is also out of scope.

(E) Degree/opposite. Vision doesn't have to be a primary sense to be a necessary sense. Additionally, if vision is so important, it seems "better" eyes would be, well, better!

Takeaway/Pattern:
In Assumption questions, always be aware of new terms in the conclusion. Here, "need" is a great starting point to finding the assumption.

#officialexplanation