Critical Reasoning

The Eurasian ruffe, a fish species inadvertently introduced into North America's Great Lakes in recent years,feeds on the eggs of lake whitefish, a native species, thus threatening the lakes' natural ecosystem. To help track the ruffe's spread, government agencies have produced wallet-sized cards about the ruffe. The cards contain pictures of the ruffe and explain the danger they pose; the cards also request anglers to report any ruffe they catch.

Which of the following, if true, would provide most support for the prediction that the agencies' action will have its intended effect?

(A) The ruffe has spiny fins that make it unattractive as prey.
(B) Ruffe generally feed at night, but most recreational fishing on the Great Lakes is done during daytime hours.
(C) Most people who fish recreationally on the Great Lakes are interested in the preservation of the lake whitefish because it is a highly prized game fish.
(D) The ruffe is one of several nonnative species in the Great Lakes whose existence threatens the survival of lake whitefish populations there.
(E) The bait that most people use when fi shing for whitefi sh on the Great Lakes is not attractive to ruffe.

The OA is C.

I am confused as to why A is wrong.

If the ruffe is unattractive as prey, then fisherman would throw it if they caught it. When picture cards are being distributed people would notice it more and not ignore the fish. They will also report it more.

A is a trap, you need to find how the agencies action will work? Thats what the question asks you. A though possible in no way answers the question.

C provides the most support saying people are interested in preservation of the lake whitefish and now due to their awareness they would want to preserve it .

this is a strengthen argument and you need to strengthen the fact that the agency will be able to track the spread of the ruffle by getting reports of the catch from fishermen - so we need info that says fishermen will be likely to report catching the fish.

A) even if it is unattractive as prey to fishermen (which is not clear) this doesn't speak to whether the fishermen would report catching them, even if they did not keep them.

B) if the fish feed at night then it would be unlikely that the fish would be caught but we don't know if the fishermen would report them - it also says "most" fishing is done in the day - but if any of the fishing is done at night and the fish were reported the authorities would be able to track where the ruffle is caught.

C) If most people are interested in protecting the whitefish then they would be motivated to report the ruffle if they found out how damaging the ruffle is. Thus, compliance is more likely and the argument is strengthend.

D)Doesn't talk about the chances of reporing.

E)This says people are not likely to catch the ruffle but does not discuss the motivation regarding reporting. This is also specific to whitefish bait but it does not say that people only fish for whitefish.

Hi Becky,

I have a couple of doubts here (I marked A) -

1) Option C only talks about "recreational anglers", and hence does not cover the entire population - since we are not told about the "professional anglers" (which might well be in a majority), how can we conclude that the plan will be effective? (I know this is a strengthen question, and so we do not necessarily have to establish the fact that it needs to be fool-proof, but still - it could go either way in my opinion!)

2) Here is how I interpreted the stimulus and option A - government cards explain why and how Ruffe is harmful, and asks anglers to report; since Ruffe is an unattractive prey, any "mistaken" catch is more likely to be reported (since at least the anglers are NOW aware of the harmful effects, so they might as well report it). On the other hand, if Ruffe were an attractive prey, anglers would perhaps prey on it more (meeting one of the intended effects) but they would be less likely to report it (thereby not meeting the other intended objective).

The more I think of it, I realize neither is by itself an attractive choice, but I am somehow inclined against C only because of the "recreational" angle.

Could you please help me out?

Thanks!