A RC Prob, pls help !!!

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A RC Prob, pls help !!!

by tracyyahoo » Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:41 am
Manatees, aquatic mammals inhabiting Florida's rivers and coastal waters, swim close to the surface and are frequently killed in collisions with boats. To address the problem, boat traffic in manatee-populated waters is being required to maintain very low speeds. Unfortunately, manatees are unable to hear low-pitched sounds and a boat's sound lowers in pitch as the boat slows. Therefore, this approach may in fact make things worse rather than better.

Which of the following, if true, casts most doubt on the conclusion?

A. The areas where boats would have to maintain low speeds were decided partly on the basis of manatee-population estimates and partly from numbers of reported collisions between manatees and boats.

B. Because the water hyacinth that manatees feed on grows best in water that is nearly still, water hyacinth beds can be disturbed or damaged by fast-moving boat traffic.

C. Over the last several decades, boat traffic in Florida's coastal waters has been increasing almost continuously and now represents the greatest threat to the endangered manatee population.

D. The sound of a boat engine generally travels much further under water than it does through the air.

E. When experimenters exposed manatees to the recorded sounds of boats moving at
various speeds, the creatures were unable to discern the sounds over normal
background noise

I think it is D because the sould of boat travels further and make Manatees hear about this sound.
But OA is E, why is E?? And by the way, many people chose B.. I don't know why.

Pls give me a full explanation, thank you so much
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by garima99 » Thu Oct 13, 2011 5:26 am
I would suggest you should first chk out the conclusion which says that the things would get worse with lower volume but in E it is proved that no such thing would happen as the sound range does not change the behavior

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by badpoem » Thu Oct 13, 2011 5:27 am
tracyyahoo wrote:Manatees, aquatic mammals inhabiting Florida's rivers and coastal waters, swim close to the surface and are frequently killed in collisions with boats. To address the problem, boat traffic in manatee-populated waters is being required to maintain very low speeds. Unfortunately, manatees are unable to hear low-pitched sounds and a boat's sound lowers in pitch as the boat slows. Therefore, this approach may in fact make things worse rather than better.

Which of the following, if true, casts most doubt on the conclusion?

A. The areas where boats would have to maintain low speeds were decided partly on the basis of manatee-population estimates and partly from numbers of reported collisions between manatees and boats. --> This info does not help as it provides information about the environment and nothing else.

B. Because the water hyacinth that manatees feed on grows best in water that is nearly still, water hyacinth beds can be disturbed or damaged by fast-moving boat traffic. --> Water hyacinths do not feature in the argument. So No.

C. Over the last several decades, boat traffic in Florida's coastal waters has been increasing almost continuously and now represents the greatest threat to the endangered manatee population. --> Ok, so the boat population is increasing and is a threat (in spite of the technicalities et al). For keeps.

D. The sound of a boat engine generally travels much further under water than it does through the air. --> But no mention in the premises about the Manatees hearing through air. This comparison does not weaken the logic of the argument in any way. It is not about the speed of sound rather it is about the pitch.

E. When experimenters exposed manatees to the recorded sounds of boats moving at
various speeds, the creatures were unable to discern the sounds over normal
background noise --> So Manatees can actually discern (perceive the change in) sounds and this weakens the argument because it clearly contradicts Unfortunately, manatees are unable to hear low-pitched sounds and a boat's sound lowers in pitch as the boat slows.

I think it is D because the sould of boat travels further and make Manatees hear about this sound.
But OA is E, why is E?? And by the way, many people chose B.. I don't know why.

Pls give me a full explanation, thank you so much
E is perfectly fine. Hope I have been to explain why the answer should not be D.