Over the last century, paleontologists have used

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Over the last century, paleontologists have used small differences between fossil specimens to classify triceratops into sixteen species. This classification is unjustified, however, since the specimens used to distinguish eleven of the species come from animals that lived in the same area at the same time.

Which of the following, if true, would enable the conclusion of the argument to be properly drawn?

(A) Not every species that lived in a given area is preserved as a fossil.
(B) At least one individual of every true species of triceratops bas been discovered as a fossil specimen.
(C) No geographical area ever supports more than three similar species at the same time.
(D) In many species, individuals display quite marked variation.

(E) Differences between fossil specimens of triceratops that came from the same area are no less distinctive than differences between specimens that came from different areas.
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by hariharakarthi » Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:07 am
A, B, C : Very stong ans choices (not every species, atleast one indivual area, no geographical area.
D: Supports the conclusion,Broad ans choice.

E. this ans choice based on the second preimse based on which the conclusion is derived. Hence IMO this Ans choice is correct.
OA please

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Karthi S

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by maihuna » Fri Jan 02, 2009 11:00 am
Hi Karthi, D is an incorrect choice, as issue is type of animal in a given area...the OA is between C and E...I have choosen one of it but that was wrong one...so just waiting for some more discussion t follow...hope u dont mind it

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by Bidisha800 » Fri Jan 02, 2009 11:39 pm
(E)
Drill baby drill !

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by raunekk » Sat Jan 03, 2009 12:39 am
p1:Over the last century, paleontologists have used small differences between fossil specimens to classify triceratops into sixteen species.

conclusion:This classification is unjustified, however, since the specimens used to distinguish eleven of the species come from animals that lived in the same area at the same time.


Here the assumptions made are:

1) the fossils from the same area cannot have so many differences that they can be classified into eleven species.

2)the differences in the fossils from the same area that lead to the classification into eleven species are quite distinct when compared to the fossils of the same species that came from different areas.


E says exactly that...


let me know if you still have doubt..

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by maihuna » Sat Jan 03, 2009 1:29 am
Well E is an excellent choice choosen by me too...but still it seems some more in fact lot of discussion is left on this topic...guys one thing its an nice question not discussed in depth on net, it is an excellent oppurtunity for us to close on it with understandable logic...
I have OA and will soon post...let us just wait some more comments

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by Zipper » Sat Jan 03, 2009 3:01 am
I haven't had much practice with CR but IMO this is a str8 forward C.

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by maihuna » Sat Jan 03, 2009 3:23 am
and logic behind that? I mean one of the premise says 11 species identified from fossils of same area, the option choosen by you says one area contains only 3? hOW YOU SEE THE PARADOX IS ANSWERED?

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by Zipper » Sat Jan 03, 2009 4:50 am
Before I begin I want to say that I am very inexperienced with CR and might not know some simple rule or something that I am missing.

but,

yes it says 11 species identified from fossils of same area, but this is the reason the classification is unjustified. And the conclusion in C explains why the classification is unjustified. They've identified 11 species from fossils of a certain area/time but no geographical location(area) can sustain more than three similar species at the same time, hence this is why their classification is unjustified.

Btw this is pretty straight forward I don't understand why you can't see that.
Or I go terribly wrong somewhere in the whole concept of CR.

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by Zipper » Sat Jan 03, 2009 5:17 am
Now that I have gone over the last two answers (coz the first time I looked at this CR q I stopped at C since it was just "so right") if you choose E you can't draw the proper conclusion as asked in the question.

E basically says that there is no difference where (not when) you get your specimens from. In the conclusion of the argument we can clearly see that you need WHERE and WHEN =>

This classification is unjustified, however, since the specimens used to distinguish eleven of the species come from animals that lived in the same area at the same time.

So E doesn't cover everything you need it to cover.

C does.

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by vivek.kapoor83 » Wed Jan 07, 2009 11:54 pm
IMO C

maihuna..
why u dont post the OA ...and if u just forget use the spoiler func.
OA for this CR ???????????????/

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by naveen.bobbili » Thu Jan 08, 2009 12:18 am
IMO C.
C is a valid assumption.
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by vivek.kapoor83 » Thu Jan 08, 2009 11:32 am
OA :roll: Maihuna ::::::::::::::: Kahan hu na....OA toh bata de yaar
..why u dont post OA , it s been so many days.........

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by maihuna » Thu Jan 08, 2009 11:41 am
Well OA is C only. Enjoy?

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by logitech » Thu Jan 08, 2009 12:03 pm
maihuna wrote:Well OA is C only. Enjoy?
I think 6 day is a little bit STRETCH for publishing the OA. I am not a big fan of giving the OA is Verbal questions myself but we need to follow up the discussions and get back to forum members in a timely manner.

Did you enjoy ? :)
LGTCH
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