Activist: Any member of the city council ought either to vote against the proposal or to abstain. But if all the members abstain, the matter will be decided by the city’s voters. So at least one member of the city council should vote against the proposal.

The conclusion of the activist’s argument follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

Economist: Some critics of the media have contended that negative news reports on the state of the economy can actually harm the economy because such reports damage people’s confidence in it, and this lack of confidence in turn adversely affects people’s willingness to spend money. But studies show that spending trends correlate very closely with people’s confidence in their own immediate economic situations. Thus these media critics are mistaken.

The economist’s argument is flawed in that it fails to consider the possibility that

Zoologist: Every domesticated large mammal species now in existence was domesticated thousands of years ago. Since those days, people undoubtedly tried innumerable times to domesticate each of the wild large mammal species that seemed worth domesticating. Clearly, therefore, most wild large mammal species in existence today either would be difficult to domesticate or would not be worth domesticating.

The zoologist’s argument requires the assumption that

Last winter was mild enough to allow most bird species to forage naturally, which explains why the proportion of birds visiting feeders was much lower than usual. The mild winter also allowed many species to stay in their summer range all winter without migrating south, thereby limiting the usual attrition accompanying migration. Hence, last year’s mild winter is responsible for this year’s larger-than-usual bird population.

Which one of the following, if true, would most strengthen the reasoning in the argument?

Journalist: Newspapers generally report on only those scientific studies whose findings sound dramatic. Furthermore, newspaper stories about small observational studies, which are somewhat unreliable, are more frequent than newspaper stories about large randomized trials, which generate stronger scientific evidence. Therefore, a small observational study must be more likely to have dramatic findings than a large randomized trial.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses a flaw in the journalist’s reasoning?