Summary
The author concludes that if steel-manufacturing plants could feed the heat they produce into thermo. generators, they would save money by reducing electric bills. Why? Because the process of making steel makes a lot of heat that currently goes to waste. Thermo. generators can convert heat into electricity.
Notable Assumptions
We know that thermo. generators can convert heat into electricity. And we know that there’s a lot of waste head from making steel. If the generators could convert the heat into electricity, electric bills might be reduced. But does that prove there will be overall cost savings? There might be other costs to take into account — costs of installing, running, and maintaining the generators, for example. The author’s assuming that these other costs associated with the thermo. generator would not outweigh the cost savings from reduced electric bills.
A
There is no other means of utilizing the heat produced by the steel-manufacturing process that would be more cost effective than installing thermophotovoltaic generators.
The author never suggested that thermo. generators would be the most cost effective means of using the currently wasted heat. Even if there were more cost effective means, the thermo. generators could still be one way to save money.
B
Using current technology, it would be possible for steel-manufacturing plants to feed the heat they produce into thermophotovoltaic generators in such a way that those generators could convert at least some of that heat into electricity.
The conclusion is based on the hypothetical situation in which the plants could feed heat into thermo. generators. If that’s possible, the author says, then it would save money. But this doesn’t require an assumption that the hypothetical situation is in fact true with current technology. Even if current tech. can’t do it, we can still argue about what would happen IF it were possible.
C
The amount steel-manufacturing plants would save on their electric bills by feeding heat into thermophotovoltaic generators would be sufficient to cover the cost of purchasing and installing those generators.
Necessary, because if it were not true — if the savings on electric bills would NOT be enough to cover the cost of purchasing/installing the generators — then the generators would not result in “saving money.” The savings from electric bills would be offset by the other costs.
D
At least some steel-manufacturing plants rely on electricity as their primary source of energy in the steel-manufacturing process.
Not necessary, because as long as steel plants use electricity at all, the author’s argument can still work. There can still be savings on electric bills, even if electricity is not the primary source of energy for any steel plants.
E
There are at least some steel-manufacturing plants that could greatly reduce their electricity bills only if they used some method of converting wasted heat or other energy from the steel-manufacturing process into electricity.
Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The scientists hypothesize that once barn owls learn to locate sounds through their hearing, they stop using their vision to locate sounds. They support this with a study where lenses were placed over baby barn owls' eyes. The owls misjudged sound locations and continued to do so even after they matured and the lenses were removed.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The scientists hypothesize that barn owls stop using their eyes to locate the source of sounds, because the owls in the study continued to misjudge sound locations even after the lenses were removed. But they ignore the alternative hypothesis that the lenses might have permanently damaged these owls’ eyes. In other words, what if the lenses just blinded the owls in the study, making them unable to use their vision to locate sounds even after the lenses were removed?
A
It fails to consider whether the owls’ vision was permanently impaired by their having worn the lenses while immature.
It’s possible that the owls continued to misjudge the source of sounds because their vision was permanently impaired by the lenses, and not because all owls stop using vision to locate sounds once they develop “an auditory scheme” for doing so.
B
It assumes that the sense of sight is equally good in all owls.
The argument is about barn owls, not all owls. Regardless, the scientists never assume that all barn owls have equally good vision. Instead, they draw a conclusion about all barn owls based on a study of barn owls that were given lenses from birth to maturity.
C
It attributes human reasoning processes to a nonhuman organism.
The scientists never argue that the owls use human reasoning. Instead, they hypothesize about the owls’ process of locating sounds.
D
It neglects to consider how similar distorting lenses might affect the behavior of other bird species.
The scientists’ hypothesis is only about how barn owls locate sounds. It doesn’t matter how the lenses might affect other bird species’ behavior.
E
It uses as evidence experimental results that were irrelevant to the conclusion.
The scientists do use experimental results as evidence, but those results are relevant because they’re directly related to the conclusion.
As often now as in the past, newspaper journalists use direct or indirect quotation to report unsupported or false claims made by newsmakers. However, journalists are becoming less likely to openly challenge the veracity of such claims within their articles.
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Journalists still report unsupported or false claims made by newsmakers, but they are now less likely to openly challenge the truth of these claims in their articles.
Objective
Four of the answer choices will provide a hypothesis that explains why journalists today might be less willing or less able to openly challenge the truth of the false or unsupported claims quoted in their articles.
Note that we are looking for the answer choice that does not help to explain the trend in journalism.
A
Newspaper publishers have found that many readers will cancel a subscription simply because a view they take for granted has been disputed by the publication.
This helps to explain the trend in journalism by suggesting that if journalists challenge the false or unsupported claims in their articles, they risk losing readers who believe those claims. Losing readers would also mean losing revenue for the newspaper.
B
The areas of knowledge on which journalists report are growing in specialization and diversity, while journalists themselves are not becoming more broadly knowledgeable.
This helps to explain the trend in journalism. If journalists now cover a wider range of topics without having deep knowledge of them, they may not challenge the false or unsupported claims in their articles because they don’t know if those claims are true or false.
C
Persons supporting controversial views more and more frequently choose to speak only to reporters who seem sympathetic to their views.
This helps to explain the trend in journalism. If journalists only hear from newsmakers whose views they agree with, they are less likely to challenge those views when quoting them in articles.
D
A basic principle of journalism holds that debate over controversial issues draws the attention of the public.
This does not help to explain the trend in journalism. If debate over controversial issues draws public attention and newspapers want public attention, journalists would be more likely to challenge the truth of the false or unsupported claims quoted in their articles.
E
Journalists who challenge the veracity of claims are often criticized for failing their professional obligation to be objective.
This helps to explain the trend in journalism. If journalists who challenge the truth of claims are often criticized, this might make them less likely to continue to openly challenge the truth of the false or unsupported claims quoted in their articles.
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that computers, rather than cardiologists, should interpret EKG data. This is because a computer outperformed a cardiologist on interpreting EKG data in a study.
Notable Assumptions
The author believes that a policy should be implemented based on an extremely limited study. She therefore assumes the sample size was adequate. The author also believes that since the computer program diagnosed a higher proportion of cases that turned out to be heart attacks, the program wasn’t making some error in other cases that would compromise its function. If the computer was identifying nearly every EKG reading as a heart attack, its value would be extremely limited.
A
Experts agreed that the cardiologist made few obvious mistakes in reading and interpreting the EKG data.
If the expert was doing an excellent job, then the computer program must’ve been doing fantastically well in order to be outperforming the expert. This supports the author’s argument.
B
The practice of medicine is as much an art as a science, and computer programs are not easily adapted to making subjective judgments.
The computer isn’t being asked to “practice medicine.” It’s being asked to read EKG data.
C
The cardiologist correctly diagnosed a significantly higher proportion of the cases in which no heart attack occurred than did the computer program.
The computer program was too liberal with its heart attack diagnoses. Thus, it may well be wrong in its diagnoses more often than the expert was.
D
In a considerable percentage of cases, EKG data alone are insufficient to enable either computer programs or cardiologists to make accurate diagnoses.
Let’s take those cases off the table. Now we have the computer versus the expert in all the other cases. We need to weaken the claim the computer would be better at diagnosing heart attacks in those cases.
E
The cardiologist in the study was unrepresentative of cardiologists in general with respect to skill and experience.
This is true: this cardiologist was an expert. We can imagine the average cardiologist would’ve performed even worse.
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that first-year students with high levels of spending on recreation can reduce spending without increasing their anxiety or depression. This is based the fact that at a particular university, the first-year students reporting the most spending on recreation score the same level on anxiety/depression tests as those who report the lowest-levels of spending on recreation.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that the students reported spending amounts reflect actual spending amounts. The author assumes that students who spend in between the highest and lowest amounts on recreation don’t have higher rates of depression/anxiety than the students with the highest spending. The author assumes that the first-year students at this university are representative of first-year students in general.
A
At other universities, first-year students reporting the highest levels of spending on recreation also show the same degree of anxiety and depression as do those reporting the lowest levels of such spending.
This strengthens by providing evidence that the results at the university in the stimulus aren’t unrepresentative.
B
Screening of first-year students at the university who report moderate levels of spending on recreation reveals that those students are less anxious and depressed than both those with the highest and those with the lowest levels of spending on recreation.
This strengthens by eliminating the possibility that moderate spending is associated with higher depression/anxiety. This supports the claim that students with high spending can decrease their spending without becoming more depressed/anxious.
C
Among adults between the ages of 40 and 60, increased levels of spending on recreation are strongly correlated with decreased levels of anxiety and depression.
If anything, this might undermine the argument by associating increased spending on recreation with decreased anxiety/depression. This would suggest reducing spending might lead to more anxiety/depression.
D
The screening instruments used by the psychiatrist are extremely accurate in revealing levels of anxiety and depression among university students.
This strengthens by affirming the reliability of the screening instruments. If they’re extremely accurate, they’re a good indication of actual depression/anxiety.
E
Several of the psychiatrist’s patients who are first-year students at the university have reduced their spending on recreation from very high levels to very low levels without increasing their anxiety or depression.
This strengthens by giving a few data points that align with the psychiatrist’s hypothesis.
Summary
The author concludes that the more history a person knows, the less likely that person will view history as the working out of moral themes. This is based on the following:
If one does not hold clear and unambiguous moral beliefs, then it’s unlikely one will see history as the working out of moral themes.
As one gains knowledge of history, one will tend to be less likely to morally judge human behaavior.
If one does not hold clear and unambiguous moral beliefs, then it’s unlikely one will see history as the working out of moral themes.
As one gains knowledge of history, one will tend to be less likely to morally judge human behaavior.
Missing Connection
We’re trying to get from “more history a person knows” to “less likely to see history as working out of moral themes.”
We have a premise that tells us “more history a person knows” leads to “less inclined to morally judge human behavior.” And we have a premise that tells us “not holding clear and unambiguous moral beliefs” leads to “less likely to see history as working out of moral themes.” So there’s a way to get from “more history a person knows” to “less likely to see history as working out of moral themes,” as long as we add the following to connect the two premises:
“less inclined to morally judge human behavior” implies “less likely to hold clear and unambiguous moral beliefs”
We have a premise that tells us “more history a person knows” leads to “less inclined to morally judge human behavior.” And we have a premise that tells us “not holding clear and unambiguous moral beliefs” leads to “less likely to see history as working out of moral themes.” So there’s a way to get from “more history a person knows” to “less likely to see history as working out of moral themes,” as long as we add the following to connect the two premises:
“less inclined to morally judge human behavior” implies “less likely to hold clear and unambiguous moral beliefs”
A
Historical events that fail to elicit moral disapproval are generally not considered to exemplify a moral theme.
Adding (A) to the argument doesn’t create a connection between “less inclined to morally judge human behavior” and “less likely to have clear and unambiguous moral beliefs.” So we still cannot get from “more history one knows” to “less likely to view history as the working out of moral themes.”
B
The less inclined one is to morally judge human behavior, the less likely it is that one holds clear and unambiguous moral beliefs.
(B) allows us to chain the two premises together to form the following:
more history a person knows → less inclined to morally judge human behavior → not holding clear and unambiguous moral beliefs → less likely to see history as working out of moral themes
C
Only those who do not understand human history attribute moral significance to historical events.
The conclusion concerns what happens as one’s knowledge of history increases. But neither the conclusion nor premises involve the absolute category of “those who do not understand history.” So (C) does not establish that the more history one knows, the less likely one is to view history as the working out of moral themes.
D
The more clear and unambiguous one’s moral beliefs, the more likely one is to view history as the working out of moral themes.
Even if (D) were added to the premises, we still have no connection between “less inclined to morally judge human behavior” and “less likely to have clear and unambiguous moral beliefs.” So we still cannot get from “more history one knows” to “less likely to view history as the working out of moral themes.”
E
People tend to be less objective regarding a subject about which they possess extensive knowledge than regarding a subject about which they do not possess extensive knowledge.
The quality of being “less objective regarding a subject” has no connection to the concepts in the argument. With (E), we still have no connection between “less inclined to morally judge human behavior” and “less likely to have clear and unambiguous moral beliefs.” So we still cannot get from “more history one knows” to “less likely to view history as the working out of moral themes.”
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why did surveyed students, when given a list of candidates, choose a university president candidate with no experience, even though they also said that they would prefer a university president with extensive experience?
Objective
The correct answer will be a hypothesis that explains the students' contradictory responses, either by showing that none of the candidates had extensive experience, that the students didn’t know the candidates’ experience levels, or that the students had another preference that was more important than their preference for a candidate with extensive experience.
A
Because several of the candidates listed in the poll had extensive experience as university presidents, not all of the candidates could be differentiated on this basis alone.
This furthers the discrepancy. We know that the students preferred a candidate with extensive experience. So, if several of the candidates had extensive experience, why did the students choose a candidate with no experience?
B
Most of the candidates listed in the poll had extensive experience as university presidents.
Like (A), this furthers the discrepancy. We know that the students preferred a candidate with extensive experience. So, if most of the candidates had extensive experience, why did the students still choose a candidate with no experience?
C
Students taking the poll had fewer candidates to choose from than were currently being considered for the position.
We don’t know if this subset of candidates was composed of all inexperienced candidates or if it included many experienced candidates. If it included many experienced candidates, the question remains: why did the students choose a candidate with no experience?
D
Most of the students taking the poll did not know whether any of the leading candidates listed in the poll had ever served as a university president.
This helps explain the discrepancy in the students’ answers. Students indicated that they preferred a candidate with extensive experience. However, if most students didn’t know whether the candidates had experience, they were unable to choose a candidate based on this preference.
E
Often a person can be well suited to a position even though they have relatively little experience in such a position.
Even if the students’ preferred candidate seemed well-suited despite lacking experience, this doesn't explain the contradiction in their answers. The students said they preferred a candidate with extensive experience, so why did they choose someone without any experience?