Government official: Residents who are foreign citizens can serve as public servants at most levels, but not as cabinet secretaries. This is wise, since cabinet secretaries perform some duties that should be performed only by citizens, and no one should be appointed to a position if it involves duties that person should not perform. Moreover, a cabinet undersecretary is expected to serve as cabinet secretary when the actual secretary is unavailable. So, _______.

Summary

The stimulus sets forth several rules.

Foreign citizens cannot serve as cabinet secretaries. This is justified because cabinet secretaries need to do things that only domestic citizens can do (and foreign citizens can’t do).

No one should be appointed to a position that involves duties a person can’t perform.

In addition, a cabinet undersecretary is expected to serve as cabinet secretary when the actual cabinet secretary is unavailable.

Strongly Supported Conclusions

Since cabinet undersecretaries are expected to serve as cabinet secretaries at some times, and foreign citizens can’t serve as cabinet secretaries, this strongly suggests foreign citizens shouldn’t serve as cabinet undersecretaries.

A
foreign citizens who serve as public servants should be granted citizenship in the country they serve

Unsupported. Nothing in the stimulus concerns conditions for granting citizenship. We know that non-citizens shouldn’t serve in certain positions. That doesn’t imply we should ever make them citizens.

B
foreign citizens should not be appointed as cabinet undersecretaries

Strongly supported. Foreign citizens can’t serve as cabinet secretaries, so they shouldn’t serve as undersecretaries, who would be expected to occasionally step in as cabinet secretaries. No one should be appointed to a position whose duties they can’t fulfill.

C
only former cabinet undersecretaries should be appointed as cabinet secretaries

Unsupported. We know foreign citizens shouldn’t be cabinet secretaries. But nothing excludes non-former-undersecretaries from serving as cabinet secretaries.

D
foreign citizens should be eligible to serve as cabinet secretaries

Unsupported. The author doesn’t provide reasons to change the current restrictions on service. The stimulus simply describes the rules, and we are supposed to apply them. Not advocate for a change.

E
cabinet undersecretaries should not be expected to stand in for cabinet secretaries

Unsupported. We’re not given reasons that undersecretaries shouldn’t step in for the secretaries. We’re given reasons a foreign citizen should not serve as an undersecretary or secretary. The stimulus doesn’t give us enough to infer that rules should be changed.


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In the bodies of reptiles, some industrial by-products cause elevated hormonal activity. Hormones govern the development of certain body parts, and in reptiles abnormal development of these parts occurs only with elevated hormonal activity. Recently, several alligators with the telltale developmental abnormalities were discovered in a swamp. So, apparently, industrial by-products have entered the swamp’s ecosystem.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author concludes that industrial by-products have entered the swamp’s ecosystem. This is based on the following:

Some industrial by-products cause elevated hormonal activity.

Recently, some reptiles in this swamp had abnormal development that occurs only with elevated hormonal activity.

Identify and Describe Flaw
The author assumes that there’s no other cause of the elevated hormonal activity besides the industrial by-products. This overlooks the possibility that the reptiles’ hormonal activity could be due to something else, in which case, we cannot conclude that industrial by-products have entered the swamp.

A
provides no explanation for developmental abnormalities that do not result from elevated hormonal activity
The argument concerns abnormalities that are caused only be elevated hormonal activity. Other abnormalities don’t have any impact on the reasoning.
B
fails to consider whether elevated hormonal activity can result from factors other than the presence of industrial by-products
If elevated hormonal activity can result from things besides industrial by-products, then the elevated hormonal activity that the reptiles in the swamp have does not prove that there are industrial by-products in the swamp. The elevated hormones might result from other things.
C
fails to address the possibility that industrial by-products were contained in food the alligators ate
The author doesn’t make any assumption about exactly how the by-products got into the reptiles in the swamp. Maybe the reptiles ate food in the swamp, and that food contained the by-products. This doesn’t undermine the author’s reasoning.
D
fails to say whether reptiles other than alligators were examined for the same developmental abnormalities that were discovered in the alligators
We know there are reptiles in the swamp with the abnormalities that are only caused by elevated hormonal activity. Whether there are other reptiles that have those abnormalities or not has no impact on the reasoning.
E
uses evidence drawn from a sample of alligators that is unlikely to be representative of alligators in general
The conclusion doesn’t concern alligators in general. So there’s nothing flawed about relying on evidence drawn from a sample of alligators in the swamp.

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