"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why do we grow most North American pumpkins in regions with long, cold winters when there are many North American regions with longer growing seasons where pumpkins wouldn’t be exposed to early autumn frosts?
Objective
The right answer will describe some benefit of growing pumpkins in regions with long, cold winters, or else some drawback to growing pumpkins in the North American regions where there’s no risk of frost well into autumn.
A
Pumpkins are usually grown to reach maturity in autumn.
This is the opposite of what we need. If pumpkins reach maturity in autumn, we would presumably want a longer autumn in order to allow more pumpkins to reach maturity during the season.
B
Pumpkins depend on bees for pollination, and bees are active only in warm weather.
This is the opposite of what we need. If pumpkins depend on bees and warm weather for pollination, we would expect that it makes more sense to grow them in regions without long, cold winters.
C
More pumpkins are sold to consumers in regions of North America with long growing seasons than to those in regions with short growing seasons.
This is the opposite of what we need. If there were greater demand for pumpkins in regions with long growing seasons, that might be another reason why it would make sense to grow pumpkins there, rather than having to ship them from regions with shorter growing seasons.
D
Prolonged cold temperatures kill soil-borne fungus and other sources of disease that would kill or seriously damage pumpkins.
This is a benefit of growing pumpkins in regions with long, cold winters: during the winter, soil-borne fungus and other disease sources are killed off, leaving the soil safer for pumpkins during growing seasons. It makes more sense, then, that we grow pumpkins in these regions!
E
Most of the pumpkin seed used by growers in North America is produced in areas where the growing season is long, and plants used for seed production are protected in greenhouses.
This is the opposite of what we need. If pumpkin seeds were produced in regions with long growing seasons, that might be another reason why it would make sense to grow pumpkins there, rather than having to ship the seeds to other regions.
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that we need to adopt the alternate code. This is because the traditional code contains a lot of obscure, unnecessary rules, which lead to debates over procedural details, which in turn leads to a decline in public confidence in the council. Public confidence is necessary for the council to be successful. In addition, the alternate code has been used successfully elsewhere.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that there are no downsides to the alternate code that would outweigh the harm caused by the traditional code. The author also assumes that, if we want to avoid the problems of the traditional code, there’s no other option besides adopting the alternate code.
A
The council’s use of the problematic rules in the traditional code is intermittent.
Whether the problematic rules are used intermittently or continuously, there are still negative aspects of the traditional rule. The fact a problem might occur intermittently does not suggest the problem is minor or does not need to be fixed.
B
Those who have adopted the alternate code sometimes attempt to use it to obscure their opponents’ understanding of procedures.
Attempts to use the other code to confuse opponents does not suggest these attempts are successful or that they would lead to the same debates and decline in public confidence that the traditional rules lead to.
C
Revision of the traditional code is underway that will eliminate the problematic rules.
This undermines the assumption that avoiding the problem of the traditional code requires adopting the alternate one. (C) presents an alternative — if we can just remove the problematic rules from the traditional code, then it’s no longer “imperative” to adopt the alternate code.
D
It is not always reasonable to adopt a different code in order to maintain the public’s confidence.
We get a specific reason to think that changing codes to maintain public confidence is reasonable here — the council’s success depends on the public’s having confidence. Changing might not always be reasonable, but the author gives a specific reason to think it may be here.
E
The alternate code contains few provisions that have thus far been criticized as obscure or unnecessary.
(E) tells us that the alternate code doesn’t have many provisions that are criticized as obscure/unnecessary. This is a point in favor of the alternate code, because we know the traditional code has a “large number” of obscure/unnecessary rules.
Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
The author concludes that the movie Firepower was intended to provoke antisocial behavior. This is based on the fact that the movie has produced antisocial behavior among many who have seen it.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author assumes that the fact Firepower produced antisocial behavior proves it intended to produce that effect. This overlooks the possibility that something can produce unintended effects.
A
rejects an argument on the grounds that it was offered by a person who was biased
The author doesn’t claim that Jenkins was biased.
B
concludes from a mere correlation between certain phenomena that those phenomena are causally related
The premise establishes that the movie caused antisocial effects. So the argument doesn’t move from correlation to cause.
C
infers that something is true of a whole solely on the grounds that it is true of a part of the whole
The argument doesn’t commit a part-to-whole fallacy. The premises concern the effects of Firepower, and the conclusion concerns the intention behind Firepower.
D
overlooks the possibility that people can act in a way that is contrary to their expressed interest
The author’s argument doesn’t relate to the director’s interest. Jenkins’s position involved a claim about the director’s interest; but the author’s rejection of Jenkin’s argument doesn’t relate to the director’s interest.
E
concludes from the mere fact that an action had a certain effect that the effect was intended by the person who performed the action
The author concludes that the movie was intended to produce antisocial effects merely from the fact that the movie produced such effects. This is flawed, because the movie might have produced unintended effects.
Summarize Argument
The expert concludes that widespread food shortages will definitely happen. This is based on the claim that the planet’s resources will only allow for only a certain amount of increase in food production from now, after which no more increases will be possible.
Notable Assumptions
The expert assumes that the world population will eventually grow past the point where the maximum food production allowed by the planet’s resources is enough.
A
The world’s food resources, though limited, are renewable.
This doesn’t help the argument, because it doesn’t establish that the world’s population will ever exceed the level supported by maximum food production. In fact, it tells us nothing at all about population.
B
Food resources from the world’s oceans will eventually be fully utilized.
This is irrelevant, since the expert has already established that there is a maximum amount of food production allowed by the planet’s resources; it doesn’t make a difference to point out where those resources might come from.
C
The world’s population has recently remained fairly stable because of falling birth rates.
This weakens by undermining the expert’s assumption that the world population’s food needs will surpass what the earth can produce. If the population continues to be stable, even the planet’s current food production should still be enough to prevent food shortages.
D
Periodic regional food shortages have occurred at least briefly throughout history.
This is irrelevant, since the expert’s prediction of widespread food shortages in the future doesn’t rely on any evidence of regional food shortages occurring in the past.
E
Population will continue to grow at least briefly when food production has reached its maximum level.
This strengthens by affirming the expert’s assumption that the world population’s food needs will surpass what the earth can produce.