First, even though the reading passage suggests that elephants are aware of approaching death because they will leave their herds and go off alone to certain locations, the professor suggests that the elephants do so in order to find soft vegetables. This is because soft vegetables are suitale for their teeth,and such kind of vegetables are often found near water where are away from their herds.
Moreover, despite the statement in the reading that eleghants represent objects through art, the professor contends that they don't know the meaning of the objects they have painted. Then she supports this point with the fact that humans ask the elephants to repeat the movements of painting by touching the sensitive area of their ears. In other words, the eleghants are trained to paint certain objects.
Finally, the professor asserts that elephants are not aware of mice, whereas the author of the reading claims that elephants afraid of mice. The professors proves that elephants are only afraid of unfamilar animals -- i.e., elephants in a zoo are not afraid of mice.
In conclusion, the professor clearly indentifies the weakness in the reading passage and convincingly shows that the central argument in the reading.
