Atrens: An early entomologist observed ants carrying particles to neighboring ant colonies and inferred that the ants were bringing food to their neighbors. Further research, however, revealed that the ants were emptying their own colony’s dumping site. Thus, the early entomologist was wrong.
Atrens’s conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?
(A) Ant societies do not interact in all the same ways that human societies interact.
(B) There is only weak evidence for the view that ants have the capacity to make use of objects as gifts.
(C) Ant dumping sites do not contain particles that could be used as food.
(D) The ants to whom the particles were brought never carried the particles into their own colonies.
(E) The entomologist cited retracted his conclusion when it was determined that the particles the ants carried came from their dumping site.
A. Incorrect. Similarities between ants and humans are irrelevant to the core question: whether the particles taken from the dumping site were food. This doesn't address the issue at hand.
B. Incorrect. The stimulus doesn’t specify the entomologist’s reasoning, so speculating about "gifts" adds assumptions. Whether or not ants exchange gifts isn't tied to the argument’s logic.
C. Correct. If the particles taken from the dumping site weren't food, that directly undermines the entomologist’s original conclusion. This eliminates the key possibility that ants were transporting food—making it the best answer.
D. Incorrect. This is a trap. Just because ants didn’t use the particles in a visible way doesn’t prove they weren’t food. They could’ve consumed the food outside the nest, rejected it, or stored it. This answer leaves too many alternative explanations open.
E. Incorrect. The entomologist’s personal belief or retraction isn’t the issue—what matters is the evidence. A mistaken retraction wouldn’t prove or disprove anything about the ants’ behavior.
