It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following sta...

Ashley on April 7, 2021

Yes, can someone please explain?^

jingjingxiao11111@gmail.com on December 24, 2021

Hi I am not an instructor but I will try to help. E is wrong because it is too strong to say that predators in general control pest populations more effectively than pesticides. Rather this article is arguing that one particular predator, namely Typhlodromus, controls the pest Cyclamen mites better than a pesticide.

However, C) is better tailored to be the main argument of this article. That is, the article is arguing that insecticide should only be considered after natural predator fails by citing a specific instance where natural predator is a much preferred alternative over insecticide.

I hope that it helps. Please feel free to correct me. Thank you.

Ravi on February 12, 2022

The problem with E is that although the first half of the answer choice is true, we do not have any evidence in the passage that the predators don't harm the crops that their prey feed on, so we can get rid of this choice.

C works well because the author prefers natural predators over insecticides, so insecticides should only be used as a last option if nothing else has worked. Thus, C is the correct answer choice.

jingjingxiao11111@gmail.com on February 17, 2022

Thanks!