Critical Reasoning

Some species of dolphins find their prey by echolocation; they emit clicking sounds and listen for echoes returning from distant objects in the water. Marine biologists have speculated that those same clicking sounds might have a second function: particularly loud clicks might be used by the dolphins to stun their prey at close range through sensory overload.
Which of the following, if discovered to be true, would cast the most serious doubt on the correctness of the speculation described above?
(A) Dolphins that use echolocation to locate distant prey also emit frequent clicks at intermediate distances as they close in on their prey.
(B) The usefulness of echolocation as a means of locating prey depends on the clicking sounds being of a type that the prey is incapable of perceiving, regardless of volume.
(C) If dolphins stun their prey, the effect is bound to be so temporary that stunning from far away, even if possible, would be ineffective.
(D) Echolocation appears to give dolphins that use it information about the richness of a source of food as well as about its direction.
(E) The more distant a dolphin's prey, the louder the echolocation clicks must be if they are to reveal the prey's presence to the hunting dolphin.

OA B

jainrahul1985 wrote:Some species of dolphins find their prey by echolocation; they emit clicking sounds and listen for echoes returning from distant objects in the water. Marine biologists have speculated that those same clicking sounds might have a second function: particularly loud clicks might be used by the dolphins to stun their prey at close range through sensory overload.
Which of the following, if discovered to be true, would cast the most serious doubt on the correctness of the speculation described above?
(A) Dolphins that use echolocation to locate distant prey also emit frequent clicks at intermediate distances as they close in on their prey.
(B) The usefulness of echolocation as a means of locating prey depends on the clicking sounds being of a type that the prey is incapable of perceiving, regardless of volume.
(C) If dolphins stun their prey, the effect is bound to be so temporary that stunning from far away, even if possible, would be ineffective.
(D) Echolocation appears to give dolphins that use it information about the richness of a source of food as well as about its direction.
(E) The more distant a dolphin's prey, the louder the echolocation clicks must be if they are to reveal the prey's presence to the hunting dolphin.

OA B

Premise: Dolphins use clicking noises to LOCATE their prey.
Conclusion: Dolphins use these same clicks to STUN their prey.
To weaken the conclusion, the correct answer must BREAK THE LINK between the use of echolocation to LOCATE prey and the use of it to STUN prey.

Answer choice B breaks the link between the two:
The USEFULNESS OF ECHOLOCATION AS A MEANS OF LOCATING PREY depends on the clicking sounds being of a type that THE PREY IS INCAPABLE OF PERCEIVING, regardless of volume.
The prey CANNOT BE STUNNED by clicks that it is INCAPABLE OF PERCEIVING, invalidating the conclusion that the dolphins use the clicks to stun their prey.

The correct answer is B.

Hi Mitch,
I narrowed it down to B and E. But I could not quite eliminate 'E'.
Can you give reasons why 'E' does not weaken the conclusion?

very good cr!!!