In 1976 a powerful earthquake hit the city of Tangshan, China. Scientists had failed to predict the earthquake. If people had paid attention to the unusual animal behavior that preceded the earthquake, however, they would have known it was coming. Animals can often sense an impending earthquake when scientists cannot.
9) Which of the following statements, if true, would suggest a weakness in the argument above?
A) A wide variety of phenomena can cause animals to behave strangely.
B) Scientists use a variety of sophisticated tools to monitor and predict earthquakes.
C) Many domestic as well as wild animals behaved strangely the day before the Tangshan earthquake.
D) The city of Tangshan is near a major fault line that makes it particularly susceptible to earthquakes.
Please type the statements.
n 1976 a powerful earthquake hit the city of Tangshan, China. Scientists had failed to predict the earthquake. If people had paid attention to the unusual animal behavior that preceded the earthquake, however, they would have known it was coming. Animals can often sense an impending earthquake when scientists cannot.
9) Which of the following statements, if true, would suggest a weakness in the argument above?
a) a wide variety of phenomena can cause animals to behave strangely.
b)scientists use a variety of sophisticated tools to monitor and predict earthquakes
c)many domestic as well as wild animals behaved strangely the day before the Tangshan earthquake
d)the city of Tangshan is near a major fault line that makes it particularly susceptible to earthquakes
the answer I picked is "C"
thanks
I disagree with your answer. The weakness is that many different phenomena can cause animals to behave strangely. Animal behavior don't predict earthquakes.
thanks for the correction
You're welcome.
answer is D
The weakness in the argument above can be identified by evaluating the statements and considering how they relate to the main argument.
The main argument is that scientists failed to predict the Tangshan earthquake, but if people had paid attention to unusual animal behavior, they could have known it was coming. The statements should be evaluated in terms of how they affect this argument.
A) A wide variety of phenomena can cause animals to behave strangely.
This statement suggests that unusual animal behavior might not necessarily be a reliable indicator of an impending earthquake. It weakens the argument as it raises the possibility that the animal behavior could be attributed to other factors.
B) Scientists use a variety of sophisticated tools to monitor and predict earthquakes.
This statement does not weaken the argument. It acknowledges that scientists have tools for earthquake prediction, which implies that they rely on more than just animal behavior observations.
C) Many domestic as well as wild animals behaved strangely the day before the Tangshan earthquake.
This statement strengthens the argument because it provides evidence that animal behavior was indeed unusual prior to the earthquake. It supports the claim that animals could sense an impending earthquake.
D) The city of Tangshan is near a major fault line that makes it particularly susceptible to earthquakes.
This statement does not directly weaken the argument. It provides additional context about the city's susceptibility to earthquakes, but it does not address the role of animal behavior in earthquake prediction.
Based on this analysis, the correct answer would be A) A wide variety of phenomena can cause animals to behave strangely.