Cookie Cutter: PrepTest 23 Section 3 Question 10

There are 1.3 billion cows worldwide, and this population is growing to keep pace with the demand for meat and milk. These cows produce trillions of liters of methane gas yearly, and this methane contributes to global warming. The majority of the world’s cows are given relatively low-quality diets even though cows produce less methane when they receive better-quality diets. Therefore, methane production from cows could be kept in check if cows were given better-quality diets.

Summarize Argument
The amount of methane released because of cows would be reduced if they had better diets. This is because good diets make them produce less methane.

Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that giving cows healthier diets doesn’t have an undesirable consequence, such as causing them to produce less meat or milk. This may make it necessary to have more cows to compensate for decreased production per cow, thus potentially increasing methane production.

A
Cows given good-quality diets produce much more meat and milk than they would produce otherwise.
This strengthens the argument by reinforcing the assumption that feeding cows better diets would not limit their production of meat or milk. (A) says cows would produce less methane but even more milk and meat.
B
Carbon and hydrogen, the elements that make up methane, are found in abundance in the components of all types of cow feed.
This does not affect the argument. Cow feed having carbon and hydrogen doesn’t mean anything for our argument, as we know that healthier feed makes them produce less methane.
C
Most farmers would be willing to give their cows high-quality feed if the cost of that feed were lower.
This does not affect the argument. The conclusion is not about whether farmers should or could give their cows healthier diets. The conclusion is about what would happen if they did.
D
Worldwide, more methane is produced by cows raised for meat production than by those raised for milk production.
This does not affect the argument. The conclusion is still valid—regardless of which cows produce more methane, all cows’ methane production would decrease if given healthy diets.
E
Per liter, methane contributes more to global warming than does carbon dioxide, a gas that is thought to be the most significant contributor to global warming.
This does not affect the argument, which is solely about methane. The conclusion that methane production would decrease is not impacted by whether methane or carbon dioxide contributes more to global warming.

42 comments

To face danger solely because doing so affords one a certain pleasure does not constitute courage. Real courage is manifested only when a person, in acting to attain a goal, perseveres in the face of fear prompted by one or more dangers involved.

Summary

Real courage requires persevering in the face of fear while acting to attain a goal.

Facing danger only because it brings one pleasure is not real courage.

Very Strongly Supported Conclusions

If one faces danger in order to attain a goal, he is only being courageous if he is also persevering in the face of fear.

If one perseveres in the face of fear, he is only being courageous if he’s also acting to attain a goal.

A
A person who must face danger in order to avoid future pain cannot properly be called courageous for doing so.

Unsupported. A person facing danger to avoid pain is acting to attain a goal. This person might also be persevering in the face of fear, in which case, they could potentially be called courageous.

B
A person who experiences fear of some aspects of a dangerous situation cannot be said to act courageously in that situation.

Unsupported. Courage requires persevering in the face of fear. The fact that someone experiences fear in a dangerous situation is not sufficient to conclude that they are not acting courageously.

C
A person who happens to derive pleasure from some dangerous activities is not a courageous person.

Unsupported. Facing danger solely because it brings pleasure is not real courage. As long as pleasure isn’t the only reason that this person faces danger, we can’t conclude that they are not courageous.

D
A person who faces danger in order to benefit others is acting courageously only if the person is afraid of the danger.

Very strongly supported. Courage requires persevering in the face of fear. One can only persevere in the face of fear if one is actually afraid. So someone who faces danger in order to attain the goal of benefiting others is only courageous if they are afraid of the danger.

E
A person who has no fear of the situations that everyone else would fear cannot be said to be courageous in any situation.

Unsupported. Just because this person isn’t afraid of the situations that other people are afraid of doesn’t mean that they aren’t afraid of any situation. This person might still persevere in the face of fear in some situations that other people do not fear.


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