请教GWD-8-Q3

bradfordchen

In the late 1980’s,
the population of sea otters in the North Pacific Ocean
began to decline. Of the two plausible explanations for the decline—increased
predation by killer whales or disease—disease is the more likely. After all, a
concurrent sharp decline in the populations of seals and sea lions was almost
certainly caused by a pollution-related disease, which could have spread to sea
otters, whereas the population of killer whales did not change noticeably.

Which of the
following, if true, most seriously weakens the reasoning?

A.    Killer
whales in the North Pacific usually prey on seals and sea lions but will, when
this food source is scarce, seek out other prey.

B.    There
is no indication that substantial numbers of sea otters migrated to other
locations from the North Pacific in the 1980’s.

C.    Along
the Pacific coast of North America in the
1980’s, sea otters were absent from many locations where they had been relatively
common in former times
   
D.    Following
the decline in the population of the sea otters, there was an increase in the
population of sea urchins, which are sea otters’ main food source.
   
E.     The
North Pacific populations of seals and sea lions cover a wider geographic area
than does the population of sea otters.

这道题为什么选A而不选E呢？
我觉得E也能说明sea otters的减少不是受pollution-related disease的影响，因为seals and lions cover a wider geographic area，那么sea otters在的area可能没受到污染啊。还有A中说killer whales seek out other prey，那么也不一定是sea otters呀。
谁能帮忙解惑呀~~~~

bradfordchen

谢谢！

with二

A比E更"seriously weakens the reasoning".

A提供的信息和原文里面的结合起来，能直接切中要害；而E则不行，需要另外添油加醋。

根据A，海豹海狮是杀人鲸的猎物，而原文说otthr也是杀人鲸的猎物。原文有说海豹海狮数量减少了，加上A说的当海豹海狮数量减少时，杀人鲸会开始捕猎其他动物。这样直接得出结论，因为海豹海狮数量减少，使得otter被杀人鲸盯上了，从而减少了otter的数量。