Some insects live for years after reproducing the first time. Some of these insects that live for a longer time help the ecosystem. Bees are one example of these beneficial insects.
A
Survival of the species, rather than of the individual, is the goal of most insect populations.
B
Insects that do not play a vital role in the ecosystem are more likely to die after reproducing for the first time.
C
Most bees live well beyond the onset of the generation that follows them.
D
Those bees that reproduce do not always die soon after reproducing for the first time.
E
Most insects are hatched self-sufficient and do not need to be cared for by adult insects.
Lea: Contemporary art has become big business. Nowadays art has less to do with self-expression than with making money. The work of contemporary artists is utterly bereft of spontaneity and creativity, as a visit to any art gallery demonstrates.
Susan: I disagree. One can still find spontaneous, innovative new artwork in most of the smaller, independent galleries.
Speaker 1 Summary
Lea tells us that art today is more about making money and less about self-expression. She also asserts that the work of artists today doesn’t have any spontaneity or creativity, and that we can see this by going to any art gallery.
Speaker 2 Summary
Susan states that we can still find spontaneous, innovative art today in smaller, independent art galleries.
Objective
We’re looking for a point of disagreement. They disagree about whether there exists artwork today that is spontaneous and creative/innovative. Lea thinks there isn’t. Susan thinks there is.
A
large galleries contain creative artwork
Susan has no opinion. We know she thinks we can find innovative work in most of the smaller, independent galleries. But we don’t know what she thinks about large galleries.
B
most galleries contain some artwork that lacks spontaneity and creativity
Susan has no opinion. We know her opinion about smaller, independent galleries. But we don’t know whether these galleries make up over half of all galleries. So we don’t know what Susan thinks about most galleries.
C
contemporary art has become big business
Susan has no opinion. We don’t know what she thinks about whether art is more about making money or self expression.
D
some smaller art galleries still exhibit creative new artwork
This is a point of disagreement. Lea thinks there isn’t any spontaneous, creative contemporary artwork in any gallery today. Susan thinks we can find this kind of work in most of the smaller, independent galleries.
E
contemporary art, in general, is much less concerned with self-expression than older art is
Susan has no opinion. We don’t know whether she thinks art today is more based on making money or on self expression.
Philosopher: People are not intellectually well suited to live in large, bureaucratic societies. Therefore, people can find happiness, if at all, only in smaller political units such as villages.
Summarize Argument
The philosopher concludes that, if people can find happiness at all, they can only do so in smaller communities, like villages. She supports this by saying that people aren’t intellectually well suited to live in large, bureaucratic societies.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The philosopher’s reasoning is flawed because she makes a key assumption. By concluding that people can only find happiness in small communities because they aren’t intellectually well suited to large ones, the philosopher must assume that people cannot find happiness in a society that they aren’t intellectually well suited to.
She ignores the fact that some people might be able to find happiness in large bureaucratic societies, even though they’re not intellectually well suited to them.
A
no one can ever be happy living in a society in which she or he is not intellectually well suited to live
In order to draw her conclusion, the philosopher takes for granted that people cannot be happy in a society that they aren’t intellectually well suited to. But what if some people can be happy in large, bureaucratic societies, even though they’re not well suited to live there?
B
the primary purpose of small political units such as villages is to make people happy
The author never makes this claim, nor does she take it for granted. She says that “people can find happiness, if at all, only in smaller political units.” She never claims that these communities’ purpose is to make people happy, or even that they will make people happy at all.
C
all societies that are plagued by excessive bureaucracy are large
The author never makes this claim, nor does she take it for granted. She just says that people aren’t well suited to live in large, bureaucratic societies. Maybe small bureaucratic societies exist, or maybe they don’t; it doesn’t affect the argument either way.
D
anyone who lives in a village or other small political unit that is not excessively bureaucratic can find happiness
The author doesn't make this assumption. She says that “people can find happiness, if at all, only in smaller political units.” She never assumes that people in small political units actually can or will find happiness.
E
everyone is willing to live in villages or other small political units
The author doesn’t make this assumption. Her argument isn’t addressing where people may or may not be willing to live. It’s just addressing where people must live in order to potentially find happiness.
A
There exist several different techniques for collecting samples of prehistoric pigments on limestone.
B
Laboratory procedures exist that can remove all the limestone from a sample of prehistoric paint on limestone.
C
The age of the limestone itself can be determined from samples that contain no vegetable-based paint.
D
Prehistoric artists did not use anything other than vegetable matter to make their paints.
E
The proportion of carbon to other elements in limestone is the same in all samples of limestone.
A group of 1,000 students was randomly selected from three high schools in a medium-sized city and asked the question, “Do you plan to finish your high school education?” More than 89 percent answered “Yes.” This shows that the overwhelming majority of students want to finish high school, and that if the national dropout rate among high school students is high, it cannot be due to a lack of desire on the part of the students.
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that most students want to finish high school and that if there’s a high high school dropout rate, it’s not due to students’ lack of desire. He supports this with a survey of 1,000 randomly selected students from three high schools in a medium-sized town, where over 89% said they planned to finish high school.
Identify and Describe Flaw
This is a cookie-cutter example of a flawed survey. The author draws a conclusion about all high school students based on an unrepresentative survey. Even though the students surveyed were randomly selected, they were still only chosen from three high schools in one medium-sized town. The author mistakenly assumes that 1,000 students from this town represent all high school students.
A
fails to justify its presumption that 89 percent is an overwhelming majority
The author doesn’t need to justify this presumption because 89 percent is an overwhelming majority. He isn’t making an unreasonable assumption here.
B
attempts to draw two conflicting conclusions from the results of one survey
The author does draw two conclusions— that most students want to finish high school and that a high high school dropout rate wouldn’t be due to students’ lack of desire— from one survey. But these conclusions don’t conflict with one another.
C
overlooks the possibility that there may in fact not be a high dropout rate among high school students
The author doesn’t overlook this possibility. In fact, he explicitly addresses it by saying, “If the national dropout rate...is high...”
D
contradicts itself by admitting that there may be a high dropout rate among students while claiming that most students want to finish high school
The author does claim that most students want to finish high school and he admits the possibility of a high dropout rate. But these statements don’t contradict each other. There could be many students who drop out of school despite wanting to finish.
E
treats high school students from a particular medium-sized city as if they are representative of high school students nationwide
This explains the author’s key flaw. He draws a conclusion about all high school students based on a survey of 1,000 students from a single city.
A
The actions of humans and animals are believed to be motivated by similar instincts, but these instincts are easier to discern in animals.
B
The law forbids certain experiments on humans but permits them on animals.
C
It is generally less expensive to perform experiments on animals than it is to perform them on humans.
D
Proper understanding of human personality is thought to provide a model for better understanding the personality of animals.
E
Field observations of the behavior of young animals often inspire insightful hypotheses about human personality development.
A
The most efficient wood-burning stoves produce less creosote than do many open fireplaces.
B
The amount of creosote produced depends not only on the type of flame but on how often the stove or fireplace is used.
C
Open fireplaces pose more risk of severe accidents inside the home than do wood-burning stoves.
D
Open fireplaces also produce a large amount of creosote residue.
E
Homeowners in warm climates rarely use fireplaces or wood-burning stoves.
Sociologist: Some people argue that capital punishment for theft was an essential part of the labor discipline of British capitalism. Critics of such a view argue that more people were executed for theft in preindustrial England than were executed in England after industrialization. But such a criticism overlooks the fact that industrialization and capitalism are two very different social phenomena, and that the latter predated the former by several centuries.
Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
The sociologist disagrees with critics who use pre- and post-industrialization statistics to argue against a claim about capital punishment and British capitalism. To show why the critics’ argument is poor, the sociologist explains that capitalism and industrialization are distinct, and didn’t even begin at the same time. This establishes that the critics’ criticism (about industrialization) is missing the point of the original claim (about capitalism).
Identify Argument Part
The claim that capitalism and industrialization are distinct is used as a rebuttal to the critics discussed in the argument.
A
It is cited as some evidence against the claim that capital punishment for theft was an essential part of the labor discipline of British capitalism.
The author never provides evidence either for or against the claim about capital punishment being necessary for labour discipline in British capitalism. Arguing against critics is not the same as supporting the claim they criticize.
B
It is cited as a direct contradiction of the claim that capital punishment for theft was an essential part of the labor discipline of British capitalism.
The author never contradicts the claim about capital punishment being necessary for labour discipline in British capitalism. Specifically, a distinction between industrialization and capitalism does’t contradict that claim.
C
It is an attempt to conclusively prove the claim that capital punishment for theft was an essential part of the labor discipline of British capitalism.
The author never attempts to prove the claim about capital punishment being necessary for labour discipline in British capitalism. The point is to argue against the critics, not to prove the original claim.
D
It is cited as a fact supporting the critics of the view that capital punishment for theft was an essential part of the labor discipline of British capitalism.
The author’s whole goal is to refute the critics. Nothing in the argument supports the critics, and the distinction between industrialization and capitalism specifically rebuts them.
E
It is an attempt to undermine the criticism cited against the claim that capital punishment for theft was an essential part of the labor discipline of British capitalism.
This is a good description of the role played by the distinction between industrialization and capitalism. The author uses the distinction to show that the critics missed the point of the claim they criticize, thus undermining them.
Professor Wigmore: Advertisements might or might not be true literary works but they do have a powerfully detrimental effect on society—largely because people cannot discern their real messages. The literature department’s courses give students the critical skills to analyze and understand texts. Therefore, it is the literature department’s responsibility to include the study of advertisements in its undergraduate courses.