▶ Your Answer :
The lecturer argues that the reading
passage’s claim is not persuasive, while the reading passage argues that creating
synthetic rhino horns would protect rhinos.
First, the speaker argues the demand will
not necessarily go down when the supply goes up. If there are many rhino horns
selling in the market, people will develop new use for the product and the
access will be much bigger. Then it will lead to more sales of the horns. This strongly
refutes the claim made by the reading passage that making physically and
chemically identical horns will make real rhino horns worthless.
Second, according to the lecturer, stores
advertising fake horns may actually promote real horns. If people get suspicious
of the ads, they would start to look for authentic horns instead. This rebuts
the points made in the reading that since medical effectiveness of rhino horns are
unclear, if synthetic horns are advertised, people will find no difference
between the two.
Third, the professor states that the emergence
of the fake will not decrease the number of poachers. Since it is hard to tell
apart authentic from fake, it will be harder to catch illegal hunting of rhinos.
This may even lead to increase in illegal killing. This offers a counterpoint
to argument mentioned in the reading that the number of illegal hunters would
be lessened, thus leading to lower pressure on patrols. |