Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author concludes that adults can improve their mood by reducing excessive chocolate consumption. This is based on a study that found people who ate the most chocolate were the most likely to feel depressed.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author assumes that the explanation for the correlation between people who eat the most chocolate and likelihood of depression is that chocolate causes depression. This overlooks alternate explanations. For example, maybe depression causes people to eat chocolate. Or maybe there’s a third factor that tends to lead both to depression and to consuming chocolate.
A
It improperly infers from the fact that a substance causally contributes to a condition that a reduction in the consumption of the substance is likely to eliminate that condition.
The evidence does not establish a causal relationship. So there is no “fact that a substance causally contributes to a condition.”
B
It draws a conclusion about the population as a whole on the basis of a sample that is unlikely to be representative of that population.
We’re told the study is based on a “diverse sample of 1,000 adults.” And the conclusion is about adults. We have no reason to think that the sample is unlikely to representative of adults.
C
It draws a conclusion about a causal relationship between two phenomena from evidence that merely suggests that there is a correlation between those phenomena.
The author concludes that there is a causal relationship between chocolate consumption and mood. But the evidence only presents a potential correlation between chocolate consumption and mood.
D
It confuses a condition that is necessary for establishing the truth of the conclusion with a condition that is sufficient for establishing the truth of the conclusion.
There is nothing presented as necessary for the truth of the conclusion. The finding concerning those who ate the most chocolate being the most likely to feel depressed is not necessary for a causal relationship between chocolate consumption and mood.
E
Its conclusion is worded too vaguely to evaluate the degree to which the premises support the truth of the conclusion.
The conclusion is not too vague to evaluate the level of support provided by the premises. The premises do not guarantee the conclusion, because there are alternate explanations for the correlation between chocolate consumption and depression.
Summarize Argument: Causal Explanation
Ornithologists conclude that, despite recent reforestation efforts, the songbird situation is still getting worse. This is because songbirds are affected by forest fragmentation rather than a net reduction in size. Open spaces and wide corridors in forests, presumably the result of reforestation, make songbirds less shielded from their natural predators.
Identify Argument Part
The referenced text gives a phenomenon that’s seemingly at odds with the wider situation. Shouldn’t reforestation efforts mean the songbird situation is improving? The argument shows why this isn’t necessarily the case.
A
It is used as evidence that various species of songbirds will continue to be threatened with extinction.
The referenced text isn’t evidence. It’s a phenomenon that the author reconciles with the current threat to songbird species.
B
It is presented as a claim that is rejected by ornithologists who present declining songbird populations as evidence of deforestation.
The author never states that ornithologists reject the claim that reforestation is happening. In fact, it’s something the ornithologists in question do in fact claim.
C
It is presented as a phenomenon that is compatible with the ornithologists’ claim that the threat to songbirds continues to worsen.
Despite reforestation seeming helpful to songbird species, the threat to songbirds is only growing stronger. The rest of the argument demonstrates how these two things can happen at once.
D
It is used as evidence that songbirds’ predators will continue to have a habitat and so will continue to pose a threat to songbirds.
The argument isn’t that reforestation gives songbirds’ predators a home. It’s that forest fragmentation leaves songbirds vulnerable to predators.
E
It is presented as evidence for the claim that songbirds’ predators are threatened by extinction unless they have open spaces and corridors that give them access to their prey.
The referenced text isn’t evidence. It certainly isn’t supporting the idea that songbirds’ predators are threatened which extinction, since that claim never appears in the argument.
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why did profits decline for businesses that used a customer satisfaction survey designed to increase profits while businesses that did not use a survey experienced no such decline?
Objective
The right answer will explain some difference between the businesses that used the survey and the businesses that did not. That difference could be a result of the survey, or it could be some pre-existing factor. In either case, it will highlight an issue with the survey-using businesses that is not present in the others.
A
When one business increases its profits, its competitors often report a decline in profits.
This doesn’t explain why businesses that used a survey experienced declines in profits while others did not. Even if one group must do worse, we might expect the businesses that collected customer feedback to be the ones that faired better. We want to know why that didn’t happen.
B
Some businesses routinely use customer surveys.
This doesn’t add any new information. We already know that some businesses routinely use customer surveys—the stimulus tells us that!
C
Most businesses of the kind included in the study generally administer customer surveys only as a response to complaints by customers.
This is the explanation we need. If the surveys are only administered as a response to complaints, then the businesses that administered surveys are the ones that customers had complaints about. If customers were complaining, it makes sense that sales and profits declined!
D
Customers who complete surveys do not always respond accurately to all the questions on the survey.
Even if businesses acted on the results of inaccurate responses, it doesn’t explain why they would have worse profit growth than those that did not use surveys at all. This answer doesn’t tell us anything about the correlation between administering surveys and declining profits.
E
Some of the businesses included in the study did not analyze the results of the customer surveys they conducted.
This could explain why the surveys did not help some businesses increase their profits, but it doesn’t give us any information about why most of the survey-using businesses experienced decreased profits while most others did not.
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that we need to adopt the alternate code. This is because the traditional code contains a lot of obscure, unnecessary rules, which lead to debates over procedural details, which in turn leads to a decline in public confidence in the council. Public confidence is necessary for the council to be successful. In addition, the alternate code has been used successfully elsewhere.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that there are no downsides to the alternate code that would outweigh the harm caused by the traditional code. The author also assumes that, if we want to avoid the problems of the traditional code, there’s no other option besides adopting the alternate code.
A
The council’s use of the problematic rules in the traditional code is intermittent.
Whether the problematic rules are used intermittently or continuously, there are still negative aspects of the traditional rule. The fact a problem might occur intermittently does not suggest the problem is minor or does not need to be fixed.
B
Those who have adopted the alternate code sometimes attempt to use it to obscure their opponents’ understanding of procedures.
Attempts to use the other code to confuse opponents does not suggest these attempts are successful or that they would lead to the same debates and decline in public confidence that the traditional rules lead to.
C
Revision of the traditional code is underway that will eliminate the problematic rules.
This undermines the assumption that avoiding the problem of the traditional code requires adopting the alternate one. (C) presents an alternative — if we can just remove the problematic rules from the traditional code, then it’s no longer “imperative” to adopt the alternate code.
D
It is not always reasonable to adopt a different code in order to maintain the public’s confidence.
We get a specific reason to think that changing codes to maintain public confidence is reasonable here — the council’s success depends on the public’s having confidence. Changing might not always be reasonable, but the author gives a specific reason to think it may be here.
E
The alternate code contains few provisions that have thus far been criticized as obscure or unnecessary.
(E) tells us that the alternate code doesn’t have many provisions that are criticized as obscure/unnecessary. This is a point in favor of the alternate code, because we know the traditional code has a “large number” of obscure/unnecessary rules.
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why do we grow most North American pumpkins in regions with long, cold winters when there are many North American regions with longer growing seasons where pumpkins wouldn’t be exposed to early autumn frosts?
Objective
The right answer will describe some benefit of growing pumpkins in regions with long, cold winters, or else some drawback to growing pumpkins in the North American regions where there’s no risk of frost well into autumn.
A
Pumpkins are usually grown to reach maturity in autumn.
This is the opposite of what we need. If pumpkins reach maturity in autumn, we would presumably want a longer autumn in order to allow more pumpkins to reach maturity during the season.
B
Pumpkins depend on bees for pollination, and bees are active only in warm weather.
This is the opposite of what we need. If pumpkins depend on bees and warm weather for pollination, we would expect that it makes more sense to grow them in regions without long, cold winters.
C
More pumpkins are sold to consumers in regions of North America with long growing seasons than to those in regions with short growing seasons.
This is the opposite of what we need. If there were greater demand for pumpkins in regions with long growing seasons, that might be another reason why it would make sense to grow pumpkins there, rather than having to ship them from regions with shorter growing seasons.
D
Prolonged cold temperatures kill soil-borne fungus and other sources of disease that would kill or seriously damage pumpkins.
This is a benefit of growing pumpkins in regions with long, cold winters: during the winter, soil-borne fungus and other disease sources are killed off, leaving the soil safer for pumpkins during growing seasons. It makes more sense, then, that we grow pumpkins in these regions!
E
Most of the pumpkin seed used by growers in North America is produced in areas where the growing season is long, and plants used for seed production are protected in greenhouses.
This is the opposite of what we need. If pumpkin seeds were produced in regions with long growing seasons, that might be another reason why it would make sense to grow pumpkins there, rather than having to ship the seeds to other regions.
Summary
The author concludes that the technical sophistication of newer video games often makes them less compelling to players. This is based on the fact that in these newer games, players find it hard to identify with the in-game figures that they control. The reason players find it hard to identify with these figures is that players can see these figures represent other people.
Missing Connection
The conclusion introduces the concept of being “less compelling to players.” The premises don’t establish anything about what leads to a game being less compelling to players. So at a minimum, the correct answer should establish what makes a game less compelling.
We can make a more specific prediction, because the premises tell us what the author thinks leads to games being less compelling. The premises establish that in the newer video games, players find it hard to identify with the figures they control. To make the argument valid, we want to establish that if it’s hard to identify with the figures one controls, a game becomes less compelling.
We can make a more specific prediction, because the premises tell us what the author thinks leads to games being less compelling. The premises establish that in the newer video games, players find it hard to identify with the figures they control. To make the argument valid, we want to establish that if it’s hard to identify with the figures one controls, a game becomes less compelling.
A
There are no newer, more technically sophisticated video games in which the player controls the movements of a simple icon on the screen.
(A) doesn’t establish what makes a game less compelling to players. Since neither this answer nor the premises establish what makes a game less compelling, it cannot make the argument valid.
B
Most early video games in which the player controlled a simple icon on the screen were in other respects less compelling to players than newer video games.
(B) establishes that certain early video games were less compelling than the newer video games. But this doesn’t establish that the technical sophistication of newer video games makes them less compelling.
C
The technical sophistication necessary for creating detailed human figures in video games cannot in itself make those video games fully compelling even to players who identify with those figures.
(C) establishes that the technical sophistication of the video games isn’t sufficient to make the games fully compelling. But this doesn’t establish that it decreases how compelling the games are. There’s a difference between not making something the most compelling and actively decreasing how compelling something is.
D
When players cannot easily identify with the figure or icon whose movements they control in a video game, they usually find that game less compelling than it otherwise would be.
(D) connects the premises to why the technical sophistication of newer video games often makes them less compelling. Failure of players to easily identify with the in-game figures they control usually decreases how compelling a game is.
E
If some aspect of a video game’s technical sophistication makes it less compelling to players, then that video game contains a human figure with whom it is difficult for players to identify.
(E) tells us what must be true IF an aspect of technical sophistication makes a game less compelling. But that’s the destination; we want to reach the conclusion that something is less compelling.
Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
The author concludes that the movie Firepower was intended to provoke antisocial behavior. This is based on the fact that the movie has produced antisocial behavior among many who have seen it.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author assumes that the fact Firepower produced antisocial behavior proves it intended to produce that effect. This overlooks the possibility that something can produce unintended effects.
A
rejects an argument on the grounds that it was offered by a person who was biased
The author doesn’t claim that Jenkins was biased.
B
concludes from a mere correlation between certain phenomena that those phenomena are causally related
The premise establishes that the movie caused antisocial effects. So the argument doesn’t move from correlation to cause.
C
infers that something is true of a whole solely on the grounds that it is true of a part of the whole
The argument doesn’t commit a part-to-whole fallacy. The premises concern the effects of Firepower, and the conclusion concerns the intention behind Firepower.
D
overlooks the possibility that people can act in a way that is contrary to their expressed interest
The author’s argument doesn’t relate to the director’s interest. Jenkins’s position involved a claim about the director’s interest; but the author’s rejection of Jenkin’s argument doesn’t relate to the director’s interest.
E
concludes from the mere fact that an action had a certain effect that the effect was intended by the person who performed the action
The author concludes that the movie was intended to produce antisocial effects merely from the fact that the movie produced such effects. This is flawed, because the movie might have produced unintended effects.