A tax preparation company automatically adds the following disclaimer to every e-mail message sent to its clients: “Any tax advice in this e-mail should not be construed as advocating any violation of the provisions of the tax code.” The only purpose this disclaimer could serve is to provide legal protection for the company. But if the e-mail elsewhere suggests that the client do something illegal, then the disclaimer offers no legal protection. So the disclaimer serves no purpose.

Summary
The author concludes that the e-mail disclaimer serves no purpose. This is based on the following:
The only purpose of the disclaimer is to provide legal protection for the company.
If the e-mail in which the disclaimer appears suggests that the client do something illegal, then the disclaimer offers no legal protection.

Missing Connection
We know that if the e-mail suggests that people do something illegal, the disclaimer won’t serve its purpose. But what if the e-mail does NOT suggest that people do something illegal? Couldn’t the disclaimer still serve a purpose in this situation? To make the argument valid, we want to establish that if the e-mail doesn’t suggest doing something illegal, the disclaimer still doesn’t serve the purpose of providing legal protection.

A
If the e-mail does not elsewhere suggest that the client do anything illegal, then the company does not need legal protection.
(E) provides the missing half of the argument. So whether the e-mail does or does not suggest to do something illegal, the e-mail doesn’t serve a purpose. Either the e-mail doesn’t offer legal protection, or the company doesn’t need legal protection.
B
If e-mail messages sent by the tax preparation company do elsewhere suggest that the recipient do something illegal, then the company could be subject to substantial penalties.
(B) doesn’t tell us what happens if the e-mail does not suggest that people should do something illegal. So we don’t know whether the disclaimer might be able to serve a purpose in that situation.
C
A disclaimer that is included in every e-mail message sent by a company will tend to be ignored by recipients who have already received many e-mails from that company.
(C) establishes that people might end up ignoring the disclaimer. But this doesn’t prove that the disclaimer serves no purpose when the e-mail doesn’t suggest doing something illegal. The disclaimer might still serve its purpose in that situation, even if there’s a potential people will ignore the disclaimer.
D
At least some of the recipients of the company’s e-mails will follow the advice contained in the body of at least some of the e-mails they receive.
This doesn’t establish that the disclaimer serves no purpose if the e-mail doesn’t suggest that clients do something illegal. We already know that the disclaimer serves no purpose if the e-mail suggests something illegal. What matters is what happens if the e-mail doesn’t suggest something illegal.
E
Some of the tax preparation company’s clients would try to illegally evade penalties if they knew how to do so.
This doesn’t establish that the disclaimer serves no purpose if the e-mail doesn’t suggest that clients do something illegal. We already know that the disclaimer serves no purpose if the e-mail suggests something illegal. What matters is what happens if the e-mail doesn’t suggest something illegal.

47 comments

Professor: The number of new university students who enter as chemistry majors has not changed in the last ten years, and job prospects for graduates with chemistry degrees are better than ever. Despite this, there has been a significant decline over the past decade in the number of people earning chemistry degrees.

"Surprising" Phenomenon

Why has there been a significant decline over the past decade in the number of people earning chemistry degrees, even though during that period the number of new university students who enter as chemistry majors hasn’t changed, and job prospects for graduates with chemistry degrees have improved?

Objective

The correct answer should tell us about something that has changed over the past decade that could cause an increase in the number of students who graduate with a chemistry degree after starting university as a chemistry major.

A
Many students enter universities without the academic background that is necessary for majoring in chemistry.

This doesn’t tell us about something that changed over the past decade, so it can’t help explain a decline in chemistry graduates over that period. (A) might be a reason chemistry majors might change majors, but it doesn’t explain why there’s been an increase in that number.

B
There has been a significant decline in the number of undergraduate degrees earned in the natural sciences as a whole.

The stimulus gives us specific reasons to think that the number of chemistry graduates wouldn’t go down. What’s happened generally with natural sciences degrees doesn’t explain what happened to chemistry degrees.

C
Many students are very unsure of their choice when they pick a major upon entering universities.

This doesn’t tell us about something that changed over the past decade, so it can’t help explain a decline in chemistry graduates over that period. (C) suggests students would change majors, but doesn’t explain an increase in the number who change majors.

D
Job prospects for graduates with chemistry degrees are no better than prospects for graduates with certain other science degrees.

This doesn’t tell us about something that changed over the past decade, so it can’t help explain a decline in chemistry graduates over that period. Also, we still know job prospects for chem graduates has improved, so we’d still expect chem graduates not to decline.

E
Over the years, first-year chemistry has come to be taught in a more routinely methodical fashion, which dampens its intellectual appeal.

This describes a change over time that could explain why the number of students who switch away from a chemistry major has increased. This is the only answer that involves a change over time that provides a potential theory that could lead to fewer chemistry graduates.


81 comments

Here's an analogy to help better see why (B) doesn't work, why it's attractive, and what the difference is between a PSA/SA answer and an NA answer.

Premise: Tom is a cat.
Conclusion: Tom likes milk.

If you see something like the above in a PSA/SA question, you might anticipate an answer like (1) "All cats like milk." That certainly would help make the argument valid. But you also would not be surprised to see an answer like (2) "All mammals like milk." Since that too would also make the argument valid (under the reasonable common sense assumption that all cats are mammals). In other words, both (1) and (2) could be the correct answer choice for PSA/SA questions.

However, just because (2) helps the argument does not mean that the author of the argument assumed it. The author could easily say, "No, I wasn't thinking about mammals at all. I was only talking about Tom, cats, and milk." It would be unreasonable to claim that the author assumed anything about mammals even though assumption (2) helps the argument greatly. Such is the nature of very strongly helpful assumptions.

I suspect this confusion might be what tempted many of you to choose (B).

Analogously, if you restate (B) to say "anyone whose political motivations are clearly discernible is an unreliable source of information to legislators", you'd get a correct PSA answer. (B) shoved back up into the shitty argument in the stimulus would really help the argument out just like how (2) shoved back up in to the Tom/cat/milk argument would help that argument out. But you cannot say that the argument assumed it. That's the difference. (B) is not descriptively accurate.


2 comments

Politician: Union leaders argue that increases in multinational control of manufacturing have shifted labor to nations without strong worker protections, resulting in a corresponding global decrease in workers’ average wages. Given that these leaders have a vested interest in seeing wages remain high, they would naturally want to convince legislators to oppose multinational control. Thus, legislators should reject this argument.

Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
The author concludes that legislators should reject the union leaders’ argument. This is based on the fact that the union leaders have a vested interest in making the argument they did.

Identify and Describe Flaw
The author attacks the source of an argument rather than addressing the merits of the argument. Whether the union leaders have an interest in making the argument they did has no bearing on whether the argument is strong. The author should have evaluated the substance of the union leaders’ claims, not the union leaders’ interests or potential motivations.

A
treats the mere fact that certain people are union members as sufficient to cast doubt on all of the viewpoints expressed by those people
The author doesn’t try to cast doubt on “all of the viewpoints” of the union leaders. He simply tries to cast doubt on the specific argument they made, as described in the first sentence.
B
presumes, without providing justification, that anyone whose political motivations are clearly discernible is an unreliable source of information to legislators
The issue isn’t that we can clearly discern the union leaders’ motivation — the issue is that the author thinks they are motivated to make the argument they made. What matters is that they might be motivated to make the argument, not just that we can identify their motivation.
C
treats circumstances potentially affecting the union leaders’ argument as sufficient to discredit those leaders’ argument
The author treats the fact the leaders have an interest in seeing wages remain high as sufficient to discredit the argument. This is flawed, beacuse even if their argument might be affected by their interests/motivation, that doesn’t discredit the substance of their argument.
D
presumes, without providing justification, that the argument it cites is the union leaders’ only argument for their view
The conclusion is just that legislators should reject “this” argument, as in the argument described in the first sentence. The leaders might have other arguments; the conclusion doesn’t concern those other arguments. So the author doesn’t assume those other arguments don’t exist.
E
presumes, without providing evidence, that leaders of all unions argue against increases in multinational control of manufacturing
The author is responding to a particular argument made by certain union leaders. The author doesn’t assume that this argument is made by the leaders of all unions; just the particular union leaders mentioned in the first sentence.

Here's an analogy to help better see why (B) doesn't work, why it's attractive, and what the difference is between a PSA/SA answer and an NA answer.

Premise: Tom is a cat.
Conclusion: Tom likes milk.

If you see something like the above in a PSA/SA question, you might anticipate an answer like (1) "All cats like milk." That certainly would help make the argument valid. But you also would not be surprised to see an answer like (2) "All mammals like milk." Since that too would also make the argument valid (under the reasonable common sense assumption that all cats are mammals). In other words, both (1) and (2) could be the correct answer choice for PSA/SA questions.

However, just because (2) helps the argument does not mean that the author of the argument assumed it. The author could easily say, "No, I wasn't thinking about mammals at all. I was only talking about Tom, cats, and milk." It would be unreasonable to claim that the author assumed anything about mammals even though assumption (2) helps the argument greatly. Such is the nature of very strongly helpful assumptions.

I suspect this confusion might be what tempted many of you to choose (B).

Analogously, if you restate (B) to say "anyone whose political motivations are clearly discernible is an unreliable source of information to legislators", you'd get a correct PSA answer. (B) shoved back up into the shitty argument in the stimulus would really help the argument out just like how (2) shoved back up in to the Tom/cat/milk argument would help that argument out. But you cannot say that the argument assumed it. That's the difference. (B) is not descriptively accurate.


16 comments