Summarize Argument
The author concludes that a British policy to quarantine imported domesticated animals cannot successfully prevent rabies outbreaks. This is supported by the claim that wild bats are susceptible to rabies and can fly into Britain; furthermore, they can’t be quarantined. This leads to the sub-conclusion that rabies spread by wild bats cannot be controlled by the policy.
Describe Method of Reasoning
The author introduces evidence about bats to show that the scope of the policy fails to address one important cause of rabies, the phenomenon it seeks to prevent. This is used to demonstrate that the policy cannot be effective in its aim of preventing rabies.
A
trying to undermine support for a certain policy by pointing out that factors other than the policy itself could account for the results attributed to that policy
The author does not raise any possible alternative causes for the policy’s results, only concluding that the policy may not be successful in having its intended effect.
B
raising a possible objection to a certain policy in order to show that the objection is in fact irrelevant to the particular situation the policy was designed to address
The author does not contradict an objection to a policy, but instead raises an objection to show that the policy cannot achieve its goal.
C
providing evidence that because the officials charged with enforcing a certain policy often fail to perform their duty that policy is sure to have little effect
The author doesn’t bring up any problems with the policy’s implementation, including whether or not officials properly perform their duties.
D
showing that because a certain policy is not universally adopted that policy cannot accomplish what it was designed to do
The author never claims that the policy isn’t universally adopted. The issue is just that the policy’s scope is too narrow to meet its goals.
E
arguing that a certain policy is bound to fail because an event that is likely to defeat the aim of the policy falls outside the policy’s influence
The author argues that the event of wild bats spreading rabies is likely to defeat the policy’s aim of preventing rabies. Quarantining imported domestic animals doesn’t affect wild bat activity, so this event falls outside the policy’s influence.
Summary
The author concludes that if you have a doctorate in the liberal arts, companies will rarely hire you. This is based on the following:
If you have a doctorate in the liberal arts, you are interested in improving your intellect.
If you are not concerned with the financial gain that you can get in the business world, then companies will rarely hire you.
If you have a doctorate in the liberal arts, you are interested in improving your intellect.
If you are not concerned with the financial gain that you can get in the business world, then companies will rarely hire you.
Missing Connection
We’re trying to prove that people with doctorates in the liberal arts are rarely hired by companies.
We have a premise that leads to “rarely hired by companies” — if we can learn that people with doctorates in the liberal arts are not concerned with financial gain, that will establish that they are rarely hired by companies.
How can we prove that people with doctorates in the liberal arts are not concerned with financial gain? Well another premise tells us that people with doctorates in the liberal arts are interested in improving their intellects.
If we can show that “interested in improving intellects” leads to “not concerned with financial gain,” that will establish that people with doctorates in the liberal arts aren’t concerned with financial gain, which will in turn establish that they are rarely hired by companies.
We have a premise that leads to “rarely hired by companies” — if we can learn that people with doctorates in the liberal arts are not concerned with financial gain, that will establish that they are rarely hired by companies.
How can we prove that people with doctorates in the liberal arts are not concerned with financial gain? Well another premise tells us that people with doctorates in the liberal arts are interested in improving their intellects.
If we can show that “interested in improving intellects” leads to “not concerned with financial gain,” that will establish that people with doctorates in the liberal arts aren’t concerned with financial gain, which will in turn establish that they are rarely hired by companies.
A
Companies would hire people with doctorates in the liberal arts if such people were interested in the money available in the business world.
We’re trying to show that people with doctorates in liberal arts are rarely hired. To do this, we want to show that people with doctorates in liberal arts are not interested in financial gain. Learning what happens to people with doctorates in liberal arts if the ARE interested in financial gain doesn’t establish that these people are NOT interested in financial gain.
B
Some people who are interested in the liberal arts do not care about money.
We don’t know whether people with doctorates in the liberal arts are among the “some people who are interested in the liberal arts” in this answer.
C
The only people not interested in making money in the business world are people who are interested in improving their intellects.
“The only” introduces a sufficient condition. (”Only” without “the” before it introduces necessary.) So (C) tells us that IF you’re not interested in making money, then you’re interested in improving intellect. But this reverses what we want. We want to know that if you’re interested in improving intellect, then you’re not interested in financial gain.
D
People with doctorates in the liberal arts are interested in employment in the business world.
(D) doesn’t establish that people with doctorates in the liberal arts are not interested in the financial gain of the business world. So it doesn’t prove that people with doctorates in the liberal arts are rarely hired by companies.
E
Only people not concerned with making money in the business world are interested in improving their intellects.
“Only” introduces a necessary condition. So (E) tells us that if someone is interested in improving intellect, then that person is not concerned with making money in the business world. This provides the missing link between the two premises, which allows us to conclude that people with doctorates in the liberal arts are rarely hired by companies.
Mendez: But news stories, along with popular art, provide a wealth of information about what the people of an era thought and felt.
Speaker 1 Summary
Logan claims that old newspapers are useless to historians. Why are they useless? Because newspapers have only ever focused on minor matters, without paying any attention to larger changes in society. (Logan is also assuming that the only knowledge that’s useful to historians is about those larger changes in society.)
Speaker 2 Summary
Mendez’s argument is designed to support the idea that newspapers are useful to historians, although this is implied rather than stated. To lead to this conclusion, Mendez says that news stories and popular art are a good source of knowledge about people’s thoughts and feelings. (Mendez is assuming that this knowledge is useful to historians.)
Objective
We’re looking for a disagreement. Logan and Mendez disagree about whether historical newspapers are useful to historians.
A
newspapers accurately report the most important changes taking place in a society
Logan disagrees with this, and Mendez never contradicts Logan’s position. If anything, Mendez seems to accept this claim, and instead focuses on other useful knowledge that newspapers can provide.
B
the study of previous eras should include investigations of the conventions of newspaper reporting
Neither speaker talks about what historians should investigate when studying previous eras. All we know is what Logan and Mendez think about newspapers’ usefulness. We can’t assume that that translates into concrete directions for historians to investigate or not.
C
popular art is an important source of information about what the people of previous eras thought and felt
Mendez would agree with this, but Logan never mentions popular art. The only opinions we know from Logan are about newspapers, so we can’t say whether the speakers agree or disagree about art.
D
newspapers ought to focus more on the types of stories they have glossed over in the past
Neither speaker makes any claim about what newspapers should do now or in the future. We can’t know if the speakers’ opinions about newspapers as a historical source have any bearing on their opinions about what modern newspapers should report on.
E
newspaper reports from former eras are useful sources of material for understanding the past
Logan disagrees with this and Mendez agrees, so this is the point of disagreement. Logan states that newspapers are not useful to historians. Mendez, however, brings up a way that newspapers can be useful, supporting the implied conclusion that they are useful.
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why would replacing traditional electric generators with cold-fusion power plants result in a reduction of no more than 25 percent in the average residential electric bill when cold fusion would provide nearly limitless power from inexpensive raw materials?
Objective
The correct answer must be the only answer that doesn’t help to explain why transitioning to cold-fusion power plants would reduce the average residential electric bill by no more than 25 percent. Any correct answer will either fail to address costs associated with transitioning to cold-fusion power plants or make transitioning seem more financially appealing.
A
Cold-fusion power plants would be more expensive to build and maintain than traditional electric generators are.
If this is true, the extra expenses associated with building and maintaining cold-fusion power plants may largely offset how cheap cold fusion would be relative to energy provided by traditional electric generators.
B
Environmental regulations now placed on burning coal or fuel oil are less costly than the regulations that would be placed on cold fusion.
The costliness of regulations placed on cold fusion may largely offset how much cheaper cold fusion would be than energy provided by burning coal or oil.
C
Most electric companies would be willing to incorporate cold-fusion technology into their power plants.
It doesn’t matter whether electric companies would be willing to incorporate cold-fusion technology. (C) fails to address why transitioning to cold fusion wouldn’t significantly reduce average residential electric bills.
D
Only a relatively small portion of any residential electric bill is determined by the electric company’s expenses for fuel.
If only a relatively small portion of residential electric bills are determined by fuel expenses, then the money saved on transitioning to cold fusion may not significantly alter residential electric bill costs.
E
Personnel costs for the distribution of power to consumers are unrelated to the type of raw materials an electric company uses.
If personnel costs are unaffected by the type of raw materials an electric company uses, transitioning to cold fusion may not significantly reduce average residential electric bills.
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that more theaters should change to repertory theater. This is because stagehands, actors, and managers all like repertory theater.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that theaters should do what their stagehands, actors, and managers like. This means she believes that their preferences take precedence over other concerns, particularly on the audience’s side. If repertory theater alienated a large number of regular theater-goers, this would likely be a poor strategy. The author also assumes that stagehands, actors, and managers don’t already like the way theaters operate. If this was the case, then there would be nothing to differentiate repertory theater from the status quo.
A
In a repertory theater, a large capital outlay is required at the beginning of each season.
It might be difficult for some theaters to acquire a large capital outlay. This seems to weaken the author’s argument.
B
In a repertory theater, patrons need to pay overly close attention to the schedule in order to make their theater plans.
This suggests patrons are less likely to come to repertory theaters. Who pays overly close attention to their schedules just to go see a play?
C
In a repertory theater, storage space for sets for more than one production must be available.
This points to a problem with repertory theater. Many theaters might not have adequate storage space to accomodate.
D
In a repertory theater, plays can be rescheduled to meet audience demand.
Not only do stagehands, actors, and theater managers like repertory theater, but repertory theater also offers a key advantage: plays can be schedule to meet demand. Thus, repertory theaters won’t be running plays with profit-decreasingly low ticket sales.
E
In a repertory theater, some actors who change roles from night to night find it difficult to master all of the roles they play.
While actors like the variety, they struggle to master the roles they play. This makes the plays worse, which likely has negative effects on ticket sales.
Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The researcher concludes that whenever a child exhibits a learning deficit, the hippocampus is malfunctioning. Why? Because, if memory fails to work correctly, it leads to a learning deficit. And all short-term memory failures are caused by hippocampus malfunctions.
Identify and Describe Flaw
This is the cookie-cutter flaw of confusing sufficiency and necessity. The author implicitly argues that hippocampus memory malfunctions always lead to learning deficits. Therefore, learning deficits are always the result of hippocampus malfunctions.
The problem is that we don’t know that—there could be learning deficits that are the result of factors other than hippocampus malfunctions.
The problem is that we don’t know that—there could be learning deficits that are the result of factors other than hippocampus malfunctions.
A
draws a general conclusion based on too small a sample of learning deficits
We have no indication that the researcher’s sample size of learning deficits is insufficient.
B
presumes, without giving justification, that all learning deficits in children involve short-term memory
The author has to presume this: if he doesn’t, there could be learning deficits not caused by memory problems, and therefore not necessarily caused by hippocampus malfunctions.
C
presumes, without giving justification, that short-term memory is disabled whenever the hippocampus is disabled
This is the reverse of what the author presumes. Namely, he thinks that the hippocampus is disabled whenever short-term memory is disabled.
D
fails to quantify precisely the length of time during which the mind holds a piece of information in short-term memory
The precise length of time is irrelevant; all the author needs to establish for his argument is that the length of time is limited.
E
takes for granted that learning deficits in adults have a cause unrelated to the cause of learning deficits in children
The author doesn’t presume this—learning deficits in adults aren’t mentioned here—so it can’t be the flaw.
Summarize Argument
The novelist concludes that grammar books are useless as references for authors. He argues in support that sentences fall into two categories: those writers believe to be grammatical and those they believe to be ungrammatical. In either case, he claims, authors have no reason to consult a grammar book.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The novelist suggests there are only two options: being sure that a sentence is grammatical or being sure that it’s ungrammatical. This is the cookie-cutter flaw of creating a false dichotomy. What if you’re unsure whether a sentence is grammatical? Perhaps you’d find a grammar book useful in that case.
A
infers, from the claim that authors should not consult grammar books, that they will not in fact do so
This is the cookie-cutter flaw of confusing "is" for "ought;" it’s not applicable here, because the novelist never indicates that authors should not consult grammar books.
B
infers, from the claim that an author does not mistakenly think that a sentence is ungrammatical, that the author will feel sure that it is grammatical
The word "mistakenly" implies a judgment about a sentence's true grammatical status. But the novelist doesn't say anything about what sentences are truly grammatical or ungrammatical—only what authors believe to be grammatical.
C
overlooks the possibility that grammar books are useful as reference sources for people who are not authors
The novelist’s conclusion is about the use of grammar books by authors specifically. So their use by non-authors is irrelevant.
D
presumes, without providing justification, that grammar books cannot have any use except as reference sources
The novelist’s conclusion is about using grammar books as reference sources—whether they have other uses is irrelevant.
E
ignores the possibility that there is a middle ground between being sure that a sentence is grammatical and thinking that it is ungrammatical
This is the cookie-cutter flaw of creating a false dichotomy. The novelist commits this by overlooking a third option: instead of being certain that a sentence is grammatical or ungrammatical, one can simply be unsure.
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why does most of the movie industry’s total revenue come from low-budget movies when big-budget movies often gross two to three times their cost of production and marketing?
Objective
The correct answer must help to explain why the majority of the movie industry’s revenue comes from low-budget films when big-budget films often gross multiple times their cost of production and marketing. The answer must identify how low-budget movies can generate more revenue than big-budget movies even though low-budget movies gross very little money individually.
A
Big-budget movies need to sell many more tickets than do low-budget movies, just to recoup their production costs.
It doesn’t matter how many more tickets big-budget movies must sell than low-budget movies to achieve profitability. The stimulus confirmed that big-budget movies often gross two or three times the cost of their production and marketing, so (A) is irrelevant.
B
There are many more low-budget movies produced than there are big- and medium-budget movies.
If this is true, low-budget movies could generate the movie industry more revenue than big-budget movies even if individual big-budget movies tend to net more profit than individual low-budget movies. There would be more low-budget movies generating profit than big-budget movies.
C
The movie industry’s revenues, when adjusted for inflation, have declined sharply in the last 30 years.
It doesn’t matter if the movie industry’s overall revenues have decreased in the last 30 years. We’re only concerned with why most of the movie industry’s revenue comes from low-budget movies.
D
Big-budget movies, because of their elaborate special effects, cost more in insurance premiums than low-budget movies do.
It doesn’t matter how much big-budget movie insurance premiums cost compared to low-budget movie premiums. The stimulus confirmed that big-budget movies often gross two or three times the cost of their production and marketing, so (D) is irrelevant.
E
The more time a company spends on making a movie the more expensive the movie is.
The stimulus never discusses how long it takes to produce big-budget or low-budget movies. This information doesn’t help us.