Application: Although Megan’s frequent reading stimulates her intellectually, it reduces the amount of time she spends interacting with other people. Therefore, it is not healthy for her to read as much as she does.
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that it’s not healthy for Megan to read as much as she does. This is based on the principle that an activity that promotes a child’s intellectual development is healthy only if it doesn’t detract from social development. And, we know that Megan’s reading stimulates her intellectually, but reduces the time she spends interacting with other people.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author assumes that if an activity reduces the amount of time Megan interacts with others, it must detract from her social development. This is the assumption that makes the author believe that Megan’s frequent reading interacts with the principle to prove that her reading isn’t healthy.
A
It misinterprets the principle as a universal claim intended to hold in all cases without exception, rather than as a mere generalization.
The principle is not a mere generalization. It’s a conditional rule that doesn’t have exceptions. If an activity that promotes a child’s intellectual development detracts from social development, then it’s not healthy for children to engage in it.
B
It overlooks the possibility that the benefits of a given activity may sometimes be important enough to outweigh the adverse health effects.
The conclusion is that Megan’s reading isn’t healthy. Whether there are benefits to reading that outweigh health effects has no impact on whether her reading isn’t healthy.
C
It misinterprets the principle to be, at least in part, a claim about what is unhealthy, rather than solely a claim about what is healthy.
The principle is about what’s unhealthy. It tells us that if the activity that promotes intellectual development detracts from social development, then it’s not healthy for children to engage in it. So it’s not “solely” a claim about what is healthy.
D
It takes for granted that any decrease in the amount of time a child spends interacting with others detracts from that child’s social development.
The author assumes that Megan’s reading detracts from her social development because it reduces the time she spends interacting with others. This overlooks the possibility that reducing time interacting with others might not detract from her social development.
E
It takes a necessary condition for an activity’s being healthy as a sufficient condition for its being so.
A necessary condition for an activity’s being healthy is that it doesn’t detract from social development. The author does not argue that an activity is healthy because it doesn’t detract from social development.
Summary
McElligott flash pasteurizes its apple juice in response to bacterial infections traced to its juice. Flash pasteurization involves quickly heating it and immediately chilling it. Intensive pasteurization involves heating juice for an hour, and this method kills bacteria more than any other method. Intensive pasteurization destroys the original flavor. McElligott’s orange juices have not been linked to any infections and remain unpasteurized.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
McEligott’s apple juice is more likely to have bacteria than juice that undergoes intensive pasteurization.
A
McElligott’s citrus juices contain fewer infectious bacteria than do citrus juices produced by other companies.
This is unsupported because as far as we know, McElligott’s citrus juices may have a lot or a little bacteria. We don’t know how this compares to other juice companies.
B
McElligott’s apple juice is less likely to contain infectious bacteria than are McElligott’s citrus juices.
This is unsupported because even though the apple juice is flash pasteurized, we don’t know how much bacteria the citrus juice has to begin with. The citrus juices may already have no bacteria even without pasteurization.
C
McElligott’s citrus juices retain more of the juices’ original flavor than do any pasteurized citrus juices.
This is unsupported because the author never tells us how flash pasteurization affects flavor, meaning flash pasteurized citrus juices may have as much of the original flavor as McElligott’s.
D
The most effective method for eliminating bacteria from juice is also the method most likely to destroy flavor.
This is unsupported because while intensive pasteurization is the most effective method for eliminating bacteria from juice, we don’t compare its likelihood of destroying flavor to that of any other method.
E
Apple juice that undergoes intensive pasteurization is less likely than McElligott’s apple juice is to contain bacteria.
This is strongly supported because intensive pasteurization, which McElligott’s apple juice does not undergo, eliminates more bacteria than any other method of pasteurization.
Summarize Argument
People who switch to "fake fat" products to lose weight are unlikely to achieve their goal of losing weight because they often consume extra calories that negate the savings from the "fake fat" foods.
Identify Conclusion
“Fake fat” foods are unlikely to help people lose weight.
A
People tend to take in a certain number of daily calories, no matter what types of food they eat.
This choice is incorrect because it focuses on the premise that people consume extra calories when they eat “fake fat” products. While this premise suggests that people take in a fixed number of daily calories, it is not the argument’s main conclusion.
B
Most consumers who think that foods with “fake fat” are more nutritious than fatty foods are destined to be disappointed.
This answer misstates the argument’s main conclusion. The argument concludes that consumers who expect “fake fat” foods to help them lose weight will likely be disappointed, not those who expect the foods to be more nutritious.
C
“Fake fat” products are likely to contribute to obesity more than do other foods.
The dietician doesn’t compare “fake fat” to other foods regarding its potential to cause obesity. Since the dietician doesn’t make this comparison, any opinions about “fake fat” causing obesity cannot be considered part of the dietician’s conclusion.
D
“Fake fat” in foods is probably not going to help consumers meet weight loss goals.
This is a good paraphrase of the argument's main conclusion. The stimulus notes that consumers who switch to "fake fat" to lose weight will be disappointed because, as this answer explicitly states, the "fake fat" in foods is unlikely to help consumers lose weight.
E
“Fake fat” in foods is indistinguishable from genuine fat by most consumers on the basis of taste alone.
The stimulus doesn’t make this argument. The dietician says that “fake fat” usually doesn’t help people lose weight but does not discuss whether it tastes like real fat. As the main conclusion must match the argument in the stimulus, it can’t be about something not mentioned.
Summarize Argument
The analyst concludes that offering free services to new customers isn't a good business practice for banks. As support, she notes that regular, long-term customers, who make up most of the business, are excluded from these offers.
Notable Assumptions
The analyst assumes that excluding regular, long-term customers from special offers is bad for banks’ business. Similarly, she assumes that excluding those customers who make up most of a banks’ business from special offers is also bad for business.
A
Most banks have similar charges for most services and pay similar interest rates on deposits.
Irrelevant. The fact that most banks have similar charges and interest rates doesn’t help to determine whether banks should exclude their long-term customers from special offers.
B
Banks do best when offering special privileges only to their most loyal customers.
If banks do best when they only give special offers to loyal customers, then it’s probably bad for business to exclude regular, long-term customers from special offers. This strengthens the conclusion that offering free services only to new customers isn't good for business.
C
Offering services at no charge to all of its current customers would be prohibitively expensive for a bank.
Even if banks can’t offer free services to all their customers, this fails to address whether only offering free services to new customers and excluding long-term customers is bad for business.
D
Once they have chosen a bank, people tend to remain loyal to that bank.
This slightly weakens the argument by suggesting that loyal customers will probably remain loyal. It doesn’t address whether excluding loyal customers from special offers is bad for business.
E
Some banks that offer services at no charge to new customers are very successful.
This slightly weakens the argument by suggesting that banks can be successful when they offer free services to new customers. But it doesn’t address whether loyal customers are excluded from these offers or whether excluding loyal customers is bad for business.
Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author concludes that medical researchers’ judgments of the importance of prior research is influenced by the publicity received by that research. This is based on the fact that research articles cited in popular newspapers or magazines are more likely to be cited in later medical research.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author overlooks alternate explanations for the correlation between being cited in popular newspapers/magazines and being cited in later medical research. One potential explanation is that the importance of research leads both to increased citation in popular newspapers/magazines and to increased citation in later medical research.
A
presents counterarguments to a view that is not actually held by any medical researcher
Whether medical researchers hold an opposing view is irrelevant. The author’s argument doesn’t need to counter anyone’s actual views.
B
fails to consider the possibility that popular newspapers and magazines do a good job of identifying the most important medical research articles
This possibility, if true, shows that the author’s explanation doesn’t have to be true. The increased citation rate of articles cited in popular newspaper/magazines could be due to the actual importance of the research, and not due to influence from publicity.
C
takes for granted that coverage of medical research in the popular press is more concerned with the eminence of the scientists involved than with the content of their research
The author doesn’t make any assumption about whether the media emphasizes the scientists involved more than the content of research.
D
fails to consider the possibility that popular newspapers and magazines are able to review only a minuscule percentage of medical research articles
This possibility doesn’t undermine the author’s reasoning. Even if popular media only reviews a small portion of articles, researchers can still be influenced by the articles popularized by the media.
E
draws a conclusion that is logically equivalent to its premise
(E) describes circular reasoning. The author’s conclusion does not restate a premise.
Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author hypothesizes that heavily increasing taxes on cigarettes sold in the city would reduce smoking in the city. He bases this on surveys which show that cigarette sales drop substantially in cities that increase taxes on cigarettes.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that the survey captures a clear cause-and-effect relationship between higher taxes and lower smoking rates. He assumes that, because taxes are shown to decrease cigarette sales, a drop in cigarette sales would then cause a decrease in smoking. He ignores the possibility that people might seek cigarettes through other means.
He also assumes that what works in the cities with similar tax increases that are represented by the survey will also work in this particular city, without considering any local factors that might differ.
He also assumes that what works in the cities with similar tax increases that are represented by the survey will also work in this particular city, without considering any local factors that might differ.
A
A city-imposed tax on cigarettes will substantially reduce the amount of smoking in the city if the tax is burdensome to the average cigarette consumer.
This does not undermine the reasoning in the argument. Instead, it presents a condition which, if met, would indeed reduce the amount of smoking in the city.
B
Consumers are more likely to continue buying a product if its price increases due to higher taxes than if its price increases for some other reason.
While (B) suggests there might be more effective ways to reduce cigarette purchases, it doesn't change the fact that higher taxes would have some effect. It also doesn't point out the author’s assumption that a reduction in purchases would lead to less smoking.
C
Usually, cigarette sales will increase substantially in the areas surrounding a city after that city imposes stiff taxes on cigarettes.
(C) weakens the author's argument by showing that people might find other ways to get cigarettes after the city’s tax increase. It thus demonstrates that a drop in cigarette purchases will not necessarily lead to less smoking, as the author assumed it would.
D
People who are well informed about the effects of long-term tobacco use are significantly less likely to smoke than are people who are not informed.
This implies that the city’s antismoking education programs could effectively reduce smoking. But it doesn’t undermine the author’s conclusion, which is that increased taxes on cigarettes would effectively reduce smoking.
E
Antismoking education programs that are funded by taxes on cigarettes will tend to lose their funding if they are successful.
Like (D), this speaks to the effectiveness of antismoking education programs; if they successfully reduce smoking, then they’ll lose their funding due to fewer cigarette purchases. However, it doesn't weaken the author's conclusion that higher cigarette taxes will reduce smoking.