As symbols of the freedom of the wilderness, bald eagles have the unique capacity to inspire people and foster in them a sympathetic attitude toward the needs of other threatened species. Clearly, without that sympathy and the political will it engenders, the needs of more obscure species will go unmet. The conservation needs of many obscure species can only be met by beginning with the conservation of this symbolic species, the bald eagle.
Which one of the following is the conclusion of the passage as a whole?
OPTIONS[A]. Because bald eagles symbolize freedom, conservation efforts should be concentrated on them rather than on other, more obscure species.
[B]. The conservation of bald eagles is the first necessary step in conserving other endangered species.
[C]. Without increased public sympathy for conservation, the needs of many symbolic species will go unmet.
[D]. People's love of the wilderness can be used to engender political support for conservation efforts.
[E]. Other threatened species do not inspire people or foster sympathy as much as do bald eagles.
Explanation:
This author pounds home the main point with each sentence. First: bald eagles have the unique capacity to foster a sympathetic attitude toward other threatened species. Second: without that sympathy, the needs of those other species will be unmet. Third: the needs of other species can only be met by beginning with the conservation of the bald eagle. Clearly, the author’s point is that it is first necessary to see to the conservation of the bald eagle if we hope to be able to conserve any other threatened species; or, as (B) has it, the conservation of the bald eagle is the necessary first step toward conserving other threatened species.
(A) The author doesn’t say conservation efforts should concentrate on bald eagles instead of other species; she says they should concentrate on bald eagles because that’s the only way other obscure endangered species can be saved.
(C) is a distortion of the author’s point; it makes only a vague reference to the bald eagle (an important symbolic species), although never mentions it by name, and also ignores entirely the conservation needs of the more obscure endangered species.
(D) is too vague—like (C), it doesn’t even mention the bald eagle, which was clearly the focus of the argument.
(E) While (E) is technically correct in saying that the author gives special importance to the bald eagle, this is not the author’s main point. It is, in fact evidence for her main point: that because of the unique importance of the bald eagle, conservation of the bald eagle is a necessary first step toward conserving other species.
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