A
Even five servings of fruits and vegetables a day is insufficient unless the intake is varied to ensure that different vitamins are consumed.
B
Certain commonly available fruits and vegetables contain considerably more nutrients than others.
C
Nutritionists sometimes disagree on how much of a fruit or vegetable constitutes a complete serving.
D
Many commonly consumed foods that are neither fruits nor vegetables are fortified by manufacturers with the vitamins found in fruits and vegetables.
E
Fruits and vegetables are also important sources of fiber, in forms not found in vitamin pills.
The question stem reads: The music historian's statements, if true, most strongly support which one of the following? This is a Most Strongly Supported question.
The historian claims that impoverished post-war recording studios forced bebop musicians to record extremely short solos, which is a fact that some critics find upsetting. Those critics find it upsetting because the short solo is a "misrepresentation" of their music. However, the historian counters that claim by explaining that the extreme shortness of the solos makes them "superb artistic works instead of mere representations of their live music." In other words, the historian actually thinks that short solos are not just a shortened version of the bebop musicians' live music, but that the short recordings stand on their own as beautiful music. The historian continues by saying that the concise characteristic of the early (post-war) bebop musicians' solo recording influenced the "compactness" of their live music, which the following generation of bebop musicians lacks. What makes music compact? We’re not sure, but according to the historian, live postwar bebop music had “compactness,” while later live bebop music did not. To recap, post-war bebop solo recordings were short because the studios didn't have money. The short solos were pretty good because they were beautifully concise. The short recordings of solos influenced a "compactness" to post-war live music. The later generations' bebop music was not compact.
Answer Choice (A) is incorrect because the stimulus does not suggest that representations of live solos are bad, only that the short live recordings were quite good. Furthermore, even if the stimulus claimed that representations of bebop live solos were bad, (A) would still be incorrect for drawing a general rule (about all music) from a specific instance (claims about bebop music).
Correct Answer Choice (B) claims that the post-war conditions had some beneficial consequences for bebop. The post-war conditions forced the recordings of solos to be short. The recordings, which were quite good on their own, influenced the compactness of the live music. So on the historian's account, the postwar conditions did benefit bebop.
Answer Choice (C) is incorrect. The stimulus claims that during the postwar period, the solos of bebop recordings were short. We don't know if the duration of the entire song was shorter. Even if we conceded that the tracks themselves were shorter, (C) would still be incorrect. The historian does not compare short and long bebop recordings; she simply claims that the short recordings (of solos) were quite good. We do not know what the historians think of long recordings; it's possible that she might think that longer is always better.
Answer Choice (D) is incorrect because it makes too strong of a claim. The historian claims that the next generation of bebop music lacks "compactness." While it is plausible to assume that the historian believes "compactness" is good and the lack thereof is bad, "compactness" is only one characteristic of music. While the next generation falls short in compactness, they might make up for it in other parts of their music. This is an example of a fallacy of composition (part to whole).
Answer Choice (E) makes a similar mistake as (A) by drawing a general rule about musicians from specific claims about bebop music. Additionally, even if (E) made a more limited claim about bebop musicians, it would still be incorrect. We know that post-war bebop solo recordings were short due to the impoverished conditions of the studios. But maybe bebop musicians now choose to record short solos for aesthetic reasons.
Music historian: Some critics lament the fact that impoverished postwar recording studios forced early bebop musicians to record extremely short solos, thus leaving a misleading record of their music. But these musicians’ beautifully concise playing makes the recordings superb artistic works instead of mere representations of their live solos. Furthermore, the conciseness characteristic of early bebop musicians’ recordings fostered a compactness in their subsequent live playing, which the playing of the next generation lacks.
Summary
Postwar conditions caused early bebop musicians to record extremely short solos, leaving a misleading record of their music. However, these musicians concise playing makes the recordings superb artistic works instead of mere representations of their live solos. Moreover, the concise recordings resulted in their subsequent live solos to be compact. The next generation of musicians lacked this characteristic.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
Postwar conditions had at least one positive effect for bebop musicians.
A
Representations of live solos generally are not valuable artistic works.
This answer is unsupported. We don’t know from the stimulus how the music historian would value representations of live solos. It’s possible that both versions are valuable in different aspects.
B
The difficult postwar recording conditions had some beneficial consequences for bebop.
This answer is strongly supported. The music historian praises the conciseness of bebop music caused by postwar recording conditions.
C
Short bebop recordings are always superior to longer ones.
This answer is unsupported. To say that the short recordings are “always” superior is too strong.
D
The music of the generation immediately following early bebop is of lower overall quality than early bebop.
This answer is unsupported. We don’t know anything about the quality of the music of the following generation. We only know that this generation’s music lacks conciseness.
E
Musicians will not record extremely short solos unless difficult recording conditions force them to do so.
This answer is unsupported. We don’t know from the stimulus whether difficult recording conditions is a necessary requirement for recording short solos.
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.
(E) is wrong because "key". Who knows what the "key" to maximizing profits are? Probably to drive all your competitors out of business and then price your milk for their weight in gold. So, that's an excellent reason to eliminate (E) off the face of the planet, choose (B), and move your ass along.
But waaaaait, you're whining, I don't like (B) because it says "introduced for the sake of" maximizing profits. Well, why was the practice introduced? Just because the first sentence out of the dairy farmer's mouth talks about the cows' well being doesn't mean that his actions were motivated by a concern for the cows' well being. I can talk all day about how I love cows and then do everything according to a profit motive.
So you want to make sure you're not fooled into thinking that just because a statement was uttered first, that means it motivates anything.
More directly, we're told that the action was "intended increase blood flow to the utter". What in the world would motivate the farmer to want to do that? For the cow's comfort? That's a stretch. Especially because the farmer tells us that increased blood flow to the utter boosts milk output which increases profits. Far less of a stretch to assume that the "intention" carries through to profits.
Dairy farmer: On our farm, we have great concern for our cows’ environmental conditions. We have recently made improvements that increase their comfort, such as providing them with special sleeping mattresses. These changes are intended to increase blood flow to the udder. This increased blood flow would boost milk output and thus increase profits.
Summary
A dairy farmer explains that his farm is very concerned about its cows’ environmental conditions. To this end, it recently made improvements that increase the cows’ comfort, such as special mattresses that increase blood flow to the udder. The increased blood flow boosts milk output and raises profits.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
This practice (increasing blood flow to the udder) can also improve the cow’s environmental conditions.
A
Dairy cows cannot have comfortable living conditions unless farmers have some knowledge about the physiology of milk production.
There are no conditions in the stimulus that dictate whether a cow can have comfortable living conditions (much less one that involves knowing the physiology of milk production).
B
Farming practices introduced for the sake of maximizing profits can improve the living conditions of farm animals.
The practice “introduced for the sake of maximizing profits” (special mattresses that increase blood flow) is said to increase the cows' comfort. Thus, this answer choice is supported.
C
More than other farm animals, dairy cows respond favorably to improvements in their living environments.
This has no support and is very difficult to support. The stimulus does not give any information about how cows respond to improvements in living environments, and there is no evidence that they respond more favorably than other farm animals.
D
The productivity of dairy farms should be increased only if the quality of the product is not compromised.
The stimulus does not give any conditions about whether the productivity of a dairy farm should be increased. There is also no mention of the quality of the product.
E
The key to maximizing profits on a dairy farm is having a concern for dairy cows’ environment.
The stimulus only says that the farmer is very concerned about the cows’ conditions and that a change to improve these conditions also led to increased profits. There is no evidence that the *key* to maximizing profits is to have a concern for cows’ environment.