medium · GMAT Verbal
A researcher concludes that a new pesticide is safe for bees because a study found that bee colonies exposed to it showed no decline in population over one month.
Which of the following, if true, most weakens the researcher's conclusion?
- No bee colony anywhere on earth can survive prolonged long-term exposure to any chemical pesticide whatsoever, of any type.
- The bee colonies used in the study happened to be placed in an outdoor area that was unusually rich in diverse flowering plants.
- Several older pesticides that are still in common agricultural use have proven to be far more lethal to bees than this newer formulation is.
- The single observation month coincided with the season when colonies naturally reproduce fastest, potentially offsetting hidden losses.
- The pesticide proved to be highly effective at quickly eliminating the various agricultural pests that it had been specifically designed to control.
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