Summarize Argument
The author concludes that offering a rebate on Grow-Again will not increase sales. No support is offered for this conclusion.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes there’s some reason why the rebate wouldn’t be profitable for the company. If the ointment usually cost $20 and cost $10 after the rebate, then it would seem customers are being offered a cheaper product. We need to know why this wouldn’t increase sales.
A
When using an ointment, people tend to believe that applying it in greater quantities can make it more effective.
We don’t care about how people use the ointment. We’re concerned with the rebate.
B
Grow-Again is more effective on some of the men who use it than it is on others.
We don’t care about how effective the ointment is. We care about the rebate.
C
The rebate, if offered, would not attract purchasers who otherwise might not use Grow-Again.
The rebate will not attract any new customers. Thus, by offering the rebate, the company would simply be losing some potential profit on every ointment sold.
D
Baldness in men can be caused by a variety of factors, only one of which is heredity.
We don’t care about what causes baldness. We care about the rebate.
E
Grow-Again is a product whose per-unit manufacturing cost does not fall significantly when the product is produced in large quantities.
We don’t care about the manufacturing cost. We care about the rebate, and why the rebate wouldn’t increase sales.
Summary
The Biocarb Company’s president concludes that a new sterilization plant will not cause pollution. Why not? Because the medical waste treated at the plant will be sterilized by exposure to superheated steam until it is cleaner than food could ever be.
Notable Assumptions
The president broadly assumes that there won’t be any potential sources of pollution from operating the plant, other than waste which has been fully sterilized. For example, there won’t be byproducts from the process of running the plant’s autoclave which could constitute pollution.
The president also assumes that the waste won’t pose a risk of pollution even after sterilization, for example if it contains plastics or heavy metals that might be harmful despite being free of pathogen contamination.
The president also assumes that the waste won’t pose a risk of pollution even after sterilization, for example if it contains plastics or heavy metals that might be harmful despite being free of pathogen contamination.
A
Environmental activists believe that waste treated with steam will not pollute.
Whether or not the president’s argument holds up doesn’t depend on what the environmental activists believe, so this is not necessary.
B
Handling of the waste before treatment in the proposed facility will not pose a threat of pollution to the area.
This falls under the broad assumption that there aren’t potential pollution risks other than the fully sterilized waste. If this were negated, and the handling of unsterilized waste posed a threat of pollution, the premises about sterilization couldn’t support the conclusion.
C
Fear of pollution is the only argument against construction of an autoclave facility for medical waste.
The argument isn’t about the overall cost-benefit of the factory, just about whether it poses a pollution risk, so the presence or absence of other arguments is irrelevant.
D
No others besides environmental activists are concerned about pollution hazards that can result from processing medical waste.
Any beliefs that people do or don’t have about the factory wouldn’t affect the president’s argument, which is about material reality, so this is not necessary either way.
E
Treatment by superheated steam represents the surest method of sterilization.
As long as the waste will reliably be sterilized, it doesn’t matter whether steam treatment is the surest method or just a very, very sure method. In other words, this isn’t necessary to assume.
Summary
The author explains that most ant species use pheromone trails to find the way between their nest and food sources. However, the power of pheromones is limited: they are destroyed by temperatures over 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit). Incidentally, afternoons in the Sahara Desert usually rise above this temperature.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
The stimulus strongly supports these inferences:
Pheromone trails would be destroyed by heat during most Sahara afternoons.
Ants are not able to navigate using pheromone trails when the temperature is above 45 Celsius/113 Fahrenheit.
If any ants forage in the Sahara in the afternoon, for the most part they can’t use pheromones to navigate during that time.
Pheromone trails would be destroyed by heat during most Sahara afternoons.
Ants are not able to navigate using pheromone trails when the temperature is above 45 Celsius/113 Fahrenheit.
If any ants forage in the Sahara in the afternoon, for the most part they can’t use pheromones to navigate during that time.
A
Most ants forage for food either only in the morning or only during the night.
This is not supported. The stimulus doesn’t talk directly about when ants forage. We also can’t draw a conclusion from temperatures, because we only know about Sahara afternoon temperatures. When and where is it cool enough for pheromones? We have no clue.
B
Most ants that do not use pheromones to mark the paths they take between their nest and food live in the Sahara Desert.
This is not supported. The stimulus doesn’t indicate if any ants live in the Sahara at all, much less that most non-pheromone-using ants do.
C
If any ants live in the Sahara Desert and forage for food at no time but in the afternoon, those ants generally do not use pheromones to guide themselves between food and their nest.
This is strongly supported. We know that ants can’t use pheromones to navigate during most Sahara afternoons. This means that if any ants only forage during Sahara afternoons, they generally can’t—so don’t—navigate using pheromones.
D
If any ants do not use pheromones to navigate between food and their nest, those ants use a different substance that does not evaporate in temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius.
This is not supported. The author never suggests how ants might navigate other than by using pheromones. We have no idea if it’s a different substance or some other method altogether.
E
If any Saharan ants forage for food in the afternoon, those ants forage for food less efficiently when temperatures are above 45 degrees Celsius than they do when temperatures are lower.
This is not supported. It might seem like not being able to use pheromones in high temperatures would lead to less-efficient foraging, but we don’t know about other ways ants could navigate. Maybe there are equally or more-efficient methods than pheromones.
Summary
The author concludes that at most 25% of the films released in 1992 were based on books published in 1991. His reasoning is that 25% of the films released in 1992 were based on novels published in 1991.
Missing Connection
The author’s conclusion is about books, but his premise is about novels. What if there were movies based on books (e.g. biographies) that aren’t novels? We need to close this gap in the argument. We could do so by adding the assumption that all movies released in 1992 that were based on 1991 books were based on novels.
A
None of the scripts used in films released in 1992 were written by professional novelists.
This is irrelevant, because the conclusion is about the source material of the films (novels vs. other kinds of books), not the professional background of the screenwriters.
B
None of the films released in country Z in 1992 were based on books other than novels.
This is saying that, if a film based on a book was released in 1992, then it was based on a novel. If so, the 25% of 1992 films based on 1991 novels are the only films based on 1991 books. And the conclusion that 25% is the max percentage of such films is guaranteed.
C
None of the books that were published in country Z in 1992 were based on plots of films released in 1991.
This doesn’t close the gap in the argument: there could still be 1992 films based on 1991 books that aren’t novels. And thus the percentage of 1992 films based on 1991 books could be higher than 25%.
D
Some of the films released in country Z in 1992 were based on older films that had been released for the first time many years earlier.
This doesn’t close the gap in the argument: there could still be 1992 films based on 1991 books that aren’t novels. And thus the percentage of 1992 films based on 1991 books could be higher than 25%.
E
Some of the films released in 1991 in country Z were based on novels that were published in 1991.
The conclusion is about 1992 films, so 1991 films are irrelevant.