Q20 - Edgar: Some of the pumps supplying water to our region

[mshinners]

Question Type:
ID the Disagreement

Stimulus Breakdown:
E: It's cool to kill a few fish to make sure people aren't inconvenienced.

R: The fish are harbingers of bad stuff happening to our water.

Answer Anticipation:
R clearly states E is missing the point, so it's likely the disagreement is over the point. E believes the point of shutting the pumps down was to save the fish. R seems to think we should figure out what's going on with the water.

Correct Answer:
(B)

Answer Choice Analysis:
(A) Half scope. E definitely believes this, but R doesn't comment on the inconvenience.

(B) Bingo. They disagree on the purpose of the shutdown, so E would agree with this statement, and R would disagree.

(C) Tempting. I'd say neither has an opinion. R would say these species are showing an issue here, but there could be other signs, in which case they're not consequential. E just talks about this species, so this answer about all species is too broad.

(D) Out of scope. Neither speaker discusses the legality.

(E) Out of scope. Neither speaker discusses whether the plan will work to save the fish; they just discuss the purpose.

Takeaway/Pattern: Be very precise with your interpretation of answer choices! Small shifts in these can invalidate answers.

#officialexplanation

[WesleyC316]

So... I'm guessing the principle of charity is applied here? Why is the survival of the fish species "the only" reason for shutting down the pumps? Couldn't it be that Edgar is just rejecting one of the reasons and makes a different argument regarding a different reason later on? Is it because of the phrase "in order to"? Any help is appreciated!