A
Only animals that have contracting vessels have hearts.
B
Some primitive animals other than lancelets have what is widely held to be a heart.
C
A vessel whose structure and actions closely resemble those of other animal hearts is a heart.
D
For a vessel in an animal to be properly considered a heart, that vessel must undergo muscular contractions.
E
No animal that has a heart lacks an artery.
Manager: I recommend that our company reconsider the decision to completely abandon our allegedly difficult-to-use computer software and replace it companywide with a new software package advertised as more flexible and easier to use. Several other companies in our region officially replaced the software we currently use with the new package, and while their employees can all use the new software, unofficially many continue to use their former software as much as possible.
Summary
The manager recommends that the company reconsider the decision to replace current software with a new software package. This is because several other companies in the region have done such replacement, but many employees at these companies continue to use their old software as much as possible.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
Many employees at the manager’s company would probably continue to use the now-current software if it is replaced by the new software package.
The advantages of the new software package are unlikely to compel every employee to use it over the now-current software.
A
The current company software is as flexible as the proposed new software package.
Unsupported. The stimulus doesn’t tell us the flexibility of the current software or how it compares to the flexibility of the new software package.
B
The familiarity that employees have with a computer software package is a more important consideration in selecting software than flexibility or initial ease of use.
Unsupported. Although the manager suggests many will continue to use the current software, that could be due to its flexibility or ease of use. The new software is “advertised” as more flexible, but that doesn’t mean it is more flexible.
C
The employees of the manager’s company would find that the new software package lacks some of the capabilities of the present software.
Unsupported. Although the manager suggests many will continue to use the current software, we don’t know whether this will be due to any difference in capabilities of the software. It could be due to greater familiarity with current software.
D
Adopting the new software package would create two classes of employees, those who can use it and those who cannot.
Unsupported. There’s no indication that anyone will be unable to use the new software. Many will likely prefer to use the current software, but that doesn’t imply they lack the ability to use the new software.
E
Many of the employees in the manager’s company would not prefer the new software package to the software currently in use.
Strongly supported. The manager cites to the fact many employees from other companies chose to use their old software instead of the new software. The manager uses this to suggest that a similar phenomenon will occur at the manager’s company.
Art historian: More than any other genre of representational painting, still-life painting lends itself naturally to art whose goal is the artist’s self-expression, rather than merely the reflection of a preexisting external reality. This is because in still-life painting, the artist invariably chooses, modifies, and arranges the objects to be painted. Thus, the artist has considerably more control over the composition and subject of a still-life painting than over those of a landscape painting or portrait, for example.
Summary
Compared to other kinds of representational painting, still-life painting lends itself more naturally to art whose goal is self-expression. This is because in still-life painting, the artist always chooses, modifies, and arranges the objects to be painted, which gives the artist more control over the composition and subject of the painting than the artist would have with other kinds of representational painting.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
In other kinds of representational painting besides still-life, the artists does not always choose, modify, or arrange the objects to be painted.
The level of control an artist has over the composition and subject of a painting is relevant to whether a style of painting lends itself naturally to self-expression.
A
Landscape painting and portraiture are the artistic genres that lend themselves most naturally to the mere reflection of a preexisting external reality.
Unsupported. We’re not told whether landscape and portraiture lend themselves most to anything. Perhaps there are other kinds of representational painting that lend themselves even more to reflecting preexisting reality.
B
The only way in which artists control the composition and subject of a painting is by choosing, modifying, and arranging the objects to be represented in that painting.
Unsupported. Choosing, modifying, and arranging the objects represented is one way that artists can exercise control, but we’re not told that it’s the only way.
C
Nonrepresentational painting does not lend itself as naturally as still-life painting does to the goal of the artist’s self-expression.
Unsupported. The stimulus doesn’t say anything about nonrepresentational painting. (Landscape and portrait painting are representational.)
D
In genres of representational painting other than still-life painting, the artist does not always choose, modify, and arrange the objects to be painted.
Strongly supported. The fact artists can choose/modify/arrange objects gives the artist more control over a still-life painting than other kinds of representational painting. This implies that in other kinds of repres. painting, the artist doesn’t always choose/modify/arrange.
E
When painting a portrait, artists rarely attempt to express themselves through the choice, modification, or arrangement of the background elements against which the subject of the portrait is painted.
Unsupported. We’re told that in still-life, the artist always chooses/modifies/arranges the objects to be painted. This still allows for the artist to choose/modify/arrange in portrait painting, as long as the artist does not always have the ability to do so.
A
Most of the people who contract hepatitis E are young adults who were probably exposed to the virus in childhood also.
B
Some laboratory animals exposed to one strain of the hepatitis virus developed immunity to all strains of the virus.
C
Researchers developed a successful vaccine for another strain of hepatitis, hepatitis B, after first isolating the virus that causes it.
D
The virus that causes hepatitis E is very common in some areas, so the number of people exposed to that virus is likely to be quite high in those areas.
E
Many children who are exposed to viruses that cause childhood diseases such as chicken pox never develop those diseases.
Columnist: The failure of bicyclists to obey traffic regulations is a causal factor in more than one quarter of the traffic accidents involving bicycles. Since inadequate bicycle safety equipment is also a factor in more than a quarter of such accidents, bicyclists are at least partially responsible for more than half of the traffic accidents involving bicycles.
Summarize Argument
The columnist concludes that bicyclists are partly responsible for more than half of all bike-related traffic accidents. She supports this by saying that bikers not following traffic rules contributes to more than a quarter of these accidents, and poor bike safety equipment is also a factor in more than a quarter of these accidents.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The columnist concludes that bicyclists are partly to blame for over half of bike-related accidents because two factors— not following traffic rules and using poor safety equipment— each contribute to more than a quarter of these accidents. Her reasoning is flawed because she assumes that these factors never overlap, or that only one factor contributes to each accident. But if some of these accidents involve both factors, she can't claim that bicyclists are responsible for over half of them.
A
presumes, without providing justification, that motorists are a factor in less than half of the traffic accidents involving bicycles
The columnist doesn’t address motorists or assume that they’re a factor in less than half of the accidents. She says bicyclists are at least partially responsible for more than half of the accidents, so motorists could be partially responsible for these accidents as well.
B
improperly infers the presence of a causal connection on the basis of a correlation
The columnist doesn’t draw a causal conclusion based on a mere correlation. Instead, she infers a detail about a causal relationship on the basis of a premise that does establish something as “a causal factor.”
C
fails to consider the possibility that more than one factor may contribute to a given accident
The columnist assumes that only one of the factors contributes to each accident. But if not following traffic rules and using poor safety equipment both contribute to some accidents, then it might not be true that bicyclists are partly responsible for over half of the accidents.
D
fails to provide the source of the figures it cites
The columnist doesn’t provide sources for her cited figures, but this isn’t a flaw in her reasoning.
E
fails to consider that the severity of injuries to bicyclists from traffic accidents can vary widely
The columnist’s argument is about the factors that contribute to bike-related traffic accidents. The severity of the bicyclists’ injuries from each accident is irrelevant.
Any contribution made by a resident of Weston doesn’t have to be registered with the city council.
Any contribution made by a former resident of Weston doesn’t have to be registered with the city council.
A
No nonresident of Weston contributed in excess of $100 to Brimley’s campaign.
B
Some contributions to Brimley’s campaign in excess of $100 were registered with the city council.
C
No contributions to Brimley’s campaign needed to be registered with the city council.
D
All contributions to Brimley’s campaign that were registered with the city council were in excess of $100.
E
Brimley’s campaign did not register any contributions with the city council.
This question's pretty tough so I hope you didn't spend too much time on it.
The stimulus tells us that "the law" is as follows. It's important for (C) to note that in context, we are to presume that this is the only law that pertains to contributions to mayoral campaigns in Weston.
What's "the law"?
If (1) $100+ and (2) currently nonresident and (3) never was a resident then must be registered.
For Brimley's campaign, we know that (4) he complied with this law and (5) accepted contributions from residents and former residents and no one else.
What must be true? (4) tells us that his campaign did not run afoul of the law (in other words, no contradiction). We overlook this fact because (4) is a conclusion and we're well trained to be skeptical of conclusions. But, this is a MBT question. The question stem explicitly tells us to presume that EVERYTHING in the stimulus is true. We must accept that in fact Brimley's campaign was run legally.
(5) tells us that Brimley's campaign failed the sufficient conditions of the law. Remember logic games lessons? Sufficient failed, rule irrelevant. In context, that means Brimley's campaign did not have to register any of its contributions. That's exactly what (C) says.
(A) is the attractive, trap answer choice. We're thinking, well, (A) must be true right?
If nonresidents contributed in excess of $100, then it would have to be registered.
First, that's false. This is true: if nonresidents who were never residents contributed in excess of $100, then it would have to be registered. See the difference?
Second, even if that's not false, we don't actually know if Brimely's campaign registered any contributions. We know that (C) they did not NEED to register. But maybe they registered for fun anyway.