By referring to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as "purely programmatic" (line 49) in nature, the author mo...

Victoria on April 2, 2021

Hi @JaimeG,

Happy to help!

We are looking for the answer choice which outlines an assumption upon which the argument relies for its conclusion to be properly drawn. Therefore, for the correct answer, if we negate the answer choice, the conclusion can no longer be properly drawn.

The passage concludes that, if rattlesnake rattles were not so brittle, then one could reliably determine a rattlesnake's age from the number of sections in its rattle because one new section is formed each time they moot.

What is the assumption here? That rattlesnakes most on a regular schedule, meaning that their age could be deciphered from the number of sections in their rattles as a new one forms each time that they most.

This assumption is reflected in answer choice (E). When negated, answer choice (E) tells us that rattlesnakes most at differing rates depending on the availability of food. As it is difficult to look back in time and determine the availability of food, one would not be able to reliably determine a rattlesnake's age from its rattle sections regardless of their brittleness.

Answer choice (D) is incorrect because it does not affect our conclusion. Reversing it simply tells us that the brittleness of a rattle is correlated to a rattlesnake's age. This says nothing about using the number of sections in the rattle to determine a rattlesnake's age.

Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any further questions.