Local resident: An overabundance of algae must be harmful to the smaller fish in this pond. During the fifteen or so years that I have lived here, the few times that I have seen large numbers of dead small fish wash ashore in late summer coincide exactly with the times that I have noticed abnormally large amounts of algae in the water. The local resident's argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it
A: presumes, without providing justification, that smaller fish are somehow more susceptible to harm as a result of overabundant algae than are larger fish
B: ignores the possibility that the overabundance of algae and the deaths of smaller fish are independent effects of a common cause
C: ignores the possibility that the same cause might have different effects on fish of different sizes
D: fails to consider that the effects on smaller fish of overabundant algae may be less severe in larger bodies of water with more diverse ecosystems
Choose A, B, C or D as your solution.
B