Question

read this excerpt from a passage.

other countries have also joined in the protest. in 2014, the united states, the worlds second largest market for ivory, announced a ban on the trade in elephant ivory within the u.s. unfortunately, many other countries have not yet acted to outlaw the buying and selling of ivory, demonstrating their disregard for the survival of the african elephant.

elephants are not the only ones to suffer as a result of the ivory trade. today, money made in the illegal ivory trade goes to fund terrorism. this makes everyone who has anything to do with the ivory trade, including consumers, supporters of worldwide terrorist circles.

what is one way that the author shows bias toward the topic?

• the author uses a hasty generalization to connect anyone involved in the ivory trade to terrorism.
• the author cites the united states as being the worlds second largest market for ivory.
• the author cherry-picks the information she includes in the essay in order to prove her point.
• the author cites information from uncredible sources in this excerpt.

Explanation:

Analyze the author's claims

Using the Reading Comprehension knowledge point, we examine the excerpt's second paragraph: "Today, money made in the illegal ivory trade goes to fund terrorism. This makes everyone who has anything to do with the ivory trade, including consumers, supporters of worldwide terrorist circles." The author directly links any consumer of ivory to supporting global terrorism.

Evaluate the logical connection

Using the Drawing Conclusions knowledge point, we evaluate this connection. Labeling everyone involved in the trade (including passive consumers who might buy an antique ivory item without knowing its origin or funding path) as "supporters of worldwide terrorist circles" is an overreach. This represents a hasty generalization, which is a logical fallacy that reveals a strong subjective bias.

Assess the remaining options

We verify why other options are incorrect:

• Citing the US as the second largest market is a factual statistic, not a bias.
• There is no evidence of cherry-picking or uncredible sources within this short, self-contained excerpt.

Answer:

• (A) The author uses a hasty generalization to connect anyone involved in the ivory trade to terrorism. (Correct answer)
• (B) The author cites the United States as being the world's second largest market for ivory.
• (C) The author cherry-picks the information she includes in the essay in order to prove her point.
• (D) The author cites information from uncredible sources in this excerpt.