The passage most strongly supports which one of the following statements about the mechanism by which cannibal spadef...
Stephanieon April 24, 2019
Why is the answer A?
Can you explain why the answer is A and not B?
1 Reply
Ravion April 26, 2019
@Steph,
Happy to help.
The question says, "The passage most strongly supports which one of the following statements about the mechanism by which cannibal spadefoot toad tadpoles recognize their kin?"
(B) says, "It is neither utilized nor possessed by those tadpoles that do not become cannibalistic."
The problem with (B) is that we do not know anything about the tadpoles who are not cannibalistic, so we can get rid of this choice. We have no information from the passage about non-cannibalistic tadpoles.
(A) says, "It is not dependent solely on the use of visual cues."
This answer choice is tricky because it's a negative statement. However, the second paragraph of the passage never mentions anything about visual cues. As a result, this is why (A) is the correct answer. We know that the passage does say that the tadpoles can recognize their kin through nipping at them. And, because nipping does not depend on visual cues, we know that the mechanism is not solely dependent on the use of visual cues. Thus, (A) is correct.
Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any more questions!