Vanishing Cuis

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Which of the following most logically completes the passage?

A tropical thorn forest was cleared and converted by humans into soybean fields. The loss of the original habitat poses a fatal threat to the area's population of cuis, which are wild guinea pigs. Ecologists originally estimated that the cuis in the area would vanish within four years. Two years year, the population of cuis is already cut in half, but it is unlikely that they will completely vanish from the region within the next two years, since _______________.

the soybean farmers in the area intend to plant two crops of soybeans this year rather than the usual single crop

the original plans to clear additional nearby thorn forest have not been expanded in scope, as had been considered

the last cuis to remain alive are likely to be the most resilient

viscachas, a form of burrowing rodent also indigenous to thorn forests, have vanished from the area more slowly than expected

the local population of the maned wolf, a major predator of the cuis, has declined faster than predicted from the loss of habitat

Review: Vanishing Cuis

Explanation

Reading the question: since we have a logical continuation question, we will insist on predicting what goes in the blank, at least approximately, before turning to the answer choices.

Creating a filter: the cuis are endangered; half have vanished in the last two years, but the other half won't quite vanish in the next two year, because...something. Maybe the situation has slightly improved. We'll call our prediction "slightly improved situation" and turn to the answer choices.

Applying the filter: choices (B) and (E) both give us slightly improved situations. At first they seem equally good. Then we notice (B) uses the phrase "as had been considered." So (B) isn't an improved situation; it's a not-worsening situation. (E) is a better logical continuation, because the maned wolf has declined faster than predicted. None of the other answer choices involve an amendment to the prediction to explain why the cuis will hang on a little longer than expected. The correct answer is (E).

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Vanishing Cuis