Maurice: But you are recommending nothing short of censorship! Besides which, your claim that television and movie depictions of violence cause violence is mistaken: violence among young people predates movies and television by centuries.
Summarize Argument
Jane argues violence among teenagers shouldn’t be shown in movies and on television, at least not in shows for young people. Why not? Because movies and television programs are influential, and many currently show violence among teenagers, meaning those programs likely cause young people to act violently.
Notable Assumptions
Jane assumes influential media containing violence between teenagers cause young people to act violently. This means assuming that young people are exposed to the violent depictions of teenagers and that those depictions have an impact on their behavior.
A
The most violent characters depicted in movies and on television programs are adult characters who are portrayed by adult actors.
This is irrelevant. Jane believes depictions of violence among teenagers in particular influence young people, so the most violent characters being adults doesn’t matter to her argument.
B
The movies that have been shown to have the most influence on young people’s behavior are those that are promoted to young audiences.
This strengthens Jane’s argument because it suggests that curbing violence between teenagers on shows marketed towards young people will have an effect on their behavior.
C
The people who make the most profits in the movie and television industry are those who can successfully promote their work to both young and old audiences.
This is irrelevant. Jane doesn’t claim prohibiting violent depictions will be easy, or even possible. Some people may resist such a ban, but that wouldn’t affect her conclusion, which is a value judgment.
D
Many adolescents who engage in violent behavior had already displayed such behavior before they were exposed to violence in movies.
This weakens Jane’s argument. It suggests violence shown in movies doesn’t cause much of the violence perpetrated by young people.
E
Among the producers who make both movies and television programs, many voluntarily restrict the subject matter of films directed toward young audiences.
This doesn’t mean the ban Jane’s advocating already exists, in whole or in part. There’s no indication such producers make shows meant for young people or that they exclude violence among teenagers from those shows.
Summary
The more cholesterol in our blood, the higher the risk of death from a heart attack. This is important, because heart disease kills more North Americans every year than any other single cause. Smoking, drinking, and exercise, including potentially other factors, can influence cholesterol levels in blood.
Very Strongly Supported Conclusions
We can reduce our chances of dying from heart attack by changing smoking, drinking, and exercise habits.
A
If a person has low blood cholesterol, then that person’s risk of fatal heart disease is low.
We know the lower the blood cholesterol, the lower the risk of fatal heart disease. But this doesn’t reveal anything about the absolute risk level. We don’t know that “low” blood cholesterol implies “low” risk. The risk could still be high, just not as high as it would be if the blood cholesterol were higher.
B
Smoking in moderation can entail as great a risk of fatal heart disease as does heavy smoking.
The stimulus doesn’t compare the impact of moderate smoking to heaving smoking.
C
A high-cholesterol diet is the principal cause of death in North America.
We know heart disease kills more North Americans than any other single cause. But we don’t know that this heart disease is primarily caused by a high-cholesterol diet.
D
The only way that smoking increases one’s risk of fatal heart disease is by influencing the levels of cholesterol in the blood.
We don’t know whether there are other ways that smoking can increase risk of fatal heart disease. Maybe smoking can increase such risk through other ways besides cholesterol.
E
The risk of fatal heart disease can be altered by certain changes in lifestyle.
We know smoking, drinking, and exercise can influence blood cholesterol, which is associated with one’s risk of fatal heart disease. This strongly supports the claim that certain changes in lifestyle (related to smoking, drinking, and exercise) can change our risk of fatal heart disease (through changing our blood cholesterol).
Tamara: That is not true. Many wealthy Japanese during the Tokugawa period had their houses constructed with intentionally squeaky floors so that they would receive warning if a ninja were in the house.
Summarize Argument
Tamara concludes that it is not true that most Japanese people did not fear ninjas during Japan’s Tokugawa period. She bases this on the fact that, during the Tokugawa period, many wealthy Japanese people installed intentionally squeaky floors in their homes so that they would know if a ninja snuck in.
Notable Assumptions
Tamara assumes that wealthy Japanese people during the Tokugawa period are a representative sample of most Japanese people at that time. She assumes that, just because many wealthy people seem to have feared ninjas, that means that most other Japanese people also feared ninjas.
A
Many poor Japanese during the Tokugawa period also had houses constructed with intentionally squeaky floors.
This strengthens Tamara’s argument slightly by showing that more than just wealthy Japanese people appear to have feared ninjas. We instead need an answer choice that weakens her conclusion that most Japanese people feared ninjas in the Tokugawa period.
B
As part of their secret training, ninjas learned to walk on squeaky floors without making a sound.
Even if their squeaky floors weren’t an effective defense against ninjas, wealthy Japanese people still seem to have feared them. The questions remains whether these wealthy Japanese accurately represented all Japanese people during the Tokugawa period.
C
The wealthy made up a small portion of Japan’s population during the Tokugawa period.
This weakens the argument by showing that Tamara's assumption that wealthy Japanese accurately represent all Japanese people is false. (C) points out that Tamara can't draw a conclusion about all Japanese people in the Tokugawa period based only on evidence about wealthy people.
D
The fighting prowess of ninjas was exaggerated to mythic proportions in the years following the Tokugawa period.
Whether or not ninjas were truly great fighters doesn’t change the fact that many wealthy Japanese people seem to have been afraid of them during the Tokugawa period. (D) doesn’t weaken Tamara’s conclusion or point out that her assumption is false.
E
There were very few ninjas at any time other than during the Tokugawa period.
Tamara’s conclusion is only about Japanese people during the Tokugawa period, so the presence or absence of ninjas at any other time period is not relevant.