argument construction 43

1. Argument Construction Situation To cut in half the residual ash produced at its incinerator, the city will separate for recycling enough refuse to cut in half the number of truckloads of refuse going to the incinerator. Reasoning Which option is required if the city’s revamped collection program is to achieve its aim? Cutting the number of truckloads of refuse in half must reduce the amount of residual ash to half last year’s level. But if removal of the recycled refuse does not proportionately reduce the amount of ash, this will not happen. So if the amount of residual ash produced per truckload increases after recycling, then the amount of ash produced will not be cut in half by cutting in half the number of truckloads. 2. Argument Construction Situation Using the symbol > to mean “has (or have) more nutritional value than,” this statement can be expressed as kale > spinach, and collard greens > lettuce. The conclusion that kale > lettuce remains valid if all but one of the premises is added. Reasoning Which premise makes the conclusion incorrect? The information given in the passage is that kale > spinach and that collard greens > lettuce. This is not enough to conclude that kale > lettuce; another premise is needed to establish the relative nutritional value of kale and lettuce. Look at each premise offered in the answers to see whether the conclusion kale > lettuce remains valid. The ranking of vegetables may change with the additional premises; the conclusion, kale > lettuce, must not change. Find the one answer that does NOT support the conclusion. 3. Argument Construction Situation One country’s manufacturing costs for a product are 10 percent higher than another country’s. Even with tariffs and transportation costs, importing is a less expensive option than local production. Reasoning What conclusion can be drawn from this information? Because production costs are 10 percent higher in Country Y than in Country Q , importing radios is less expensive only if the combined costs of tariffs and transportation are less than 10 percent of the manufacturing costs. 4. Argument Construction Situation The director of the local production of La Finestrina says it is as similar to the original production as is possible in a modern theater. The actor playing Harlequin gives a performance reminiscent of Groucho Marx, whose comic style falls within an acting tradition which began in sixteenth-century Italy. Reasoning For which of the options would the consideration given best serve as an argument? The actor’s performance was reminiscent of someone who fell within a tradition going back to sixteenth-century Italy. The play was written, and therefore was likely first performed, in eighteenth-century Italy. All of this suggests that there could be a similarity between the performances of Harlequin in the local production and in the original production. While the two performances might have been quite dissimilar, there is nothing here that supports that. 5. Argument Construction Situation The success of a trade embargo requires both international accord and the ability to enforce the embargo. In the case of Patria, an embargo would require a total blockade of the ports, but the blockade itself would likely lead to international discord. Reasoning What conclusion can be drawn from this information? A conclusion must be based only on the information provided. Since the given information discusses the general conditions for a successful trade embargo and the conditions specific to the possible embargo in Patria, the conclusion should be about the likelihood of success for a trade embargo against Patria. Since international accord is necessary for the success of an embargo but the blockade required in this case would create international discord, the contradictions of this paradoxical situation make any embargo unlikely to succeed. 6. Argument Construction Situation “Benchmarking” is a technique for judging the performance of a company by comparing it with other companies. The goal is to find and adopt better industrial practices. Reasoning Which one condition does NOT recommend benchmarking against non-competitors? Which one condition IS a well-founded reason to benchmark against competitors? First, sort through the given information and the answer choices for the question to gain an understanding of the potential advantages or disadvantages of comparing a company to its competitors or to non-competitors. What are the reasons in favor of benchmarking against non-competitors? Information about noncompeting companies is easier to obtain; it can offer new insights; and it may be easier to put into practice. Why then might a manager choose to benchmark against competitors? Competing companies do share special circumstances involving products and markets. If companies are often successful because of practices related to these special circumstances within their industry, then benchmarking against competitors will reveal these practices and so be more fruitful than benchmarking against no competitors. 7. Argument Construction Situation Irradiation kills bacteria but it also lowers the amount of nutrients—including vitamin B1—in foods. Proponents try to dismiss this concern by arguing that cooking destroys B1 as well. That point is said to be misleading. Reasoning Which option most logically completes the argument? For the proponents’ claim to be misleading it needs to be suggesting something about irradiation that is false. By stating that irradiation destroys no more B1 than cooking does, the proponent seems to be suggesting that any food that is going to be cooked might as well be irradiated because it will end up with the same amount of B1 either way. But if the effects of radiation and cooking combine to destroy more B1 than cooking or irradiation alone would, then the proponents’ claim suggests something that is false. 8. Argument Construction Situation Experimental subjects worked with pattern recognition and completion. The subjects who performed best showed the lowest expenditure of energy in neurons in the brain. Reasoning Which hypothesis best accounts for the findings? In order to account for the findings, the hypothesis must suggest a plausible link between successful performance and the energy expenditure of neurons in the brain. Consider each answer choice, and evaluate its plausibility and logic. Where is there a reasonably direct relationship between the given factors and the conclusion that is drawn? Understand that hypotheses based on factors not included in the experiment cannot be used to account for the findings. 9. Argument Construction Situation The argument states that parapsychology is a genuine science because it uses scientific methods. Reasoning What assumption does the argument make? The argument asserts that parapsychology is a science, for it uses scientific methods. The argument thus assumes that the use of scientific methods proves that a field of study is a genuine science. 10. Argument Construction Situation The theory of trade retaliation is explained as the action and reaction of closing markets between trading nations; no country would ever trade with another, the observation is offered, if every country acted according to the theory. Reasoning What assumption underlies this argument? What makes the commentator conclude that no country would be trading if the theory were operative? The commentator must perceive of some condition as a given here. The argument assumes an initial action, a country’s closing of a market to a trading partner, that is followed by a reaction, the retaliatory closing of a market by that partner. In this unending pattern of action-reaction, at least one of the two countries must have a market closed to the other. 11. Argument Construction Situation A public official argues that increased catches show that marine fish are no longer endangered. An environmentalist attacks the position and cites technology as the cause of the increased catch. Reasoning What conclusion do the environmentalist’s statements support? The environmentalist casts doubt by saying the commissioner would have the public believe that the increased catch shows that the fish are no longer endangered; the phrasing indicates that the environmentalist believes just the reverse. The environmentalist does believe the marine fish are endangered, and, after attacking the commissioner’s argument as specious, or false, and offering an analogy to make that argument look ridiculous, the environmentalist gives an alternate explanation for the increased catch that is consistent with that belief. 12. Argument Construction Situation Keith argues that the cost of new regulations will result in a loss of jobs and profits, hurting the national economy. Laura points out that while one industry will suffer, others will gain by supplying the goods and services required by the regulations. Reasoning What is the strategy Laura uses in the counterargument? Laura uses the same evidence, the $25 billion spent on meeting new regulations, but comes to a different conclusion. While Keith focuses on the losses to one industry, Laura looks at the gains to other industries. By suggesting a consequence that Keith did not mention, she places the outcome in a more positive light. 13. Argument Construction Situation People who are allergic to certain sulfites can avoid risking an allergic reaction by drinking wine from one of the several producers that does not add sulfites. Reasoning On what assumption does the argument depend? Drinking wine to which no sulfites have been added will not prevent exposure to sulfites if, for instance, sulfites occur naturally in wines. In particular, if the wines that do not have sulfites added have sulfites present naturally in quantities sufficient to produce an allergic reaction, drinking these wines will not prevent an allergic reaction. The argument therefore depends on assuming that this is not the case. 14. Argument Construction Situation Although only 3 percent of drivers on Maryland’s highways have radar detectors in their vehicles, 33 percent of vehicles recently ticketed for driving over the speed limit on Maryland highways have had radar detectors. Drivers who have radar detectors are thus more likely to exceed the speed limit regularly than drivers who do not. Reasoning What assumption must be true for the conclusion to be drawn? The argument moves from a particular example, that is, the percentage of vehicles ticketed for exceeding the speed limit that were equipped with radar detectors, to a generalization about the regular driving behaviors of all drivers who have radar detectors in their vehicles. The reasoning links the example to the generalization with an assumption. What can the assumption be? Only if the drivers ticketed in this instance are assumed to make a regular habit of exceeding the speed limit can the conclusion be drawn that drivers with radar detectors are more likely to do so regularly than drivers who are not ticketed. 15. Argument Construction Situation No employee wants to report bad news to a superior, so information about problems is softened and distorted as it goes up the ranks of management. As a result, chief executives know less about problems at lower levels than their subordinates do. Reasoning What assumption is being made in this argument? This passage contends that information travels step by step upward through an organization, and that information becomes increasingly distorted along the route with each additional individual’s reluctance to be candid with a superior about problems. What must be true about this information flow to support the conclusion? In order to conclude that chief executives are less well informed about problems than their subordinates, the argument must logically assume that they have no source of information except their subordinates. 16. Argument Construction Situation Roland is alarmed that 90 percent of the population knows someone who is out of work. Sharon replies that a normal level of unemployment is 5 percent, illustrating her point by saying that if a person knows 50 workers, at least one of them is likely to be unemployed. Reasoning What assumption does Sharon make in putting together her argument? Sharon makes a general statement claiming that if a person knows 50 workers, it is likely that at least one of them is unemployed. Sharon’s generalization would not likely be true if unemployment were concentrated in certain geographically isolated areas. 17. Argument Construction Situation Many doctors do not recommend taking aspirin for moderate fever associated with illness because moderate fever activates the immune systems and hinders the growth of disease carrying bacteria. Reasoning Which claim is best supported by this information? This passage maintains that moderate fever can help fight some diseases by activating the immune system and inhibiting the growth of some bacteria that cause disease. Aspirin suppresses moderate fever. By doing so, aspirin can be viewed as hindering a beneficial process and prolonging an illness. 18. Argument Construction Situation Country Z bans the importation of products that would compete with those that some of its new industries are beginning to make. Consequently, the export-dependent local industries that buy these products must pay more for them, and these exporters are now less competitive in their markets. Reasoning What conclusion can be drawn about the export-dependent industries? Any conclusion must be supported by the facts in the passage. The export-dependent industries could no longer compete effectively when they had to purchase necessary products at greater expense from local industries. The export-dependent industries’ inability to adjust successfully to the rise in costs suggests that staying competitive in their markets required tight cost control to maintain their profit margins. It is reasonable to conclude then that their profit margins were not high enough for them to be able to absorb the increased costs caused by their new need to purchase domestically made products. 19. Argument Construction Situation When Australian rivers flow slowly due to little rain, algae populations in those rivers increase. But after periods of extreme drought, algae levels are low even in water moving at speeds that would normally show population increases. Reasoning What would explain the contrast between algae levels in slow-moving water resulting from little rain and slow-moving water after a drought? There must be some difference between what happens during periods in which there is simply less rainfall than normal and periods in which there is extreme drought, a difference that affects the algae population. 20. Argument Construction Situation Juvenile horseshoe crabs withstand tidal currents by burrowing in the sand. This action makes barnacles less likely to cling to their shells. Adult horseshoe crabs can withstand currents, so they do not burrow, and barnacles become more likely to cling to their shells. Surprisingly, however, juvenile horseshoe crabs that do not burrow, because tidal currents do not threaten them, do not have significant numbers of barnacles clinging to their shells. Reasoning What would most help explain the finding that non-burrowing juvenile horseshoe crabs do not have significant barnacle populations? The finding suggests that there is some way in which non-burrowing juvenile horseshoe crabs either discourage barnacles from clinging to their shells, or get rid of the barnacles that do cling to their shells. Identifying how this is accomplished will explain the finding. 21. Argument Construction Situation Faculty members get the royalties from their books, but universities get the royalties from faculty inventions. Faculty members should get the royalties from their educational computer software. Reasoning What premise should be added to the argument? This argument does not support its conclusion very well without an underlying assumption regarding the nature of computer programs. If, in terms of the criteria used to award royalties, educational computer programs are more like books and articles than like inventions, faculty members should retain the royalties. On the other hand, if they are more like inventions, then universities should retain the royalties. The conclusion states that faculty members should receive royalties for educational software without stating that software is more comparable to books and articles than to inventions. The missing premise must show the relationship between educational software and either inventions or books and articles. 22. Argument Construction Situation People in isolated communities who eat low-salt diets tend not to have high blood pressure or to experience age-related increases in blood pressure. When these people move to industrialized areas and adopt high-salt diets, many do develop high blood pressure. Nevertheless, (for a reason the argument omits) one cannot conclude that salt causes high blood pressure. Reasoning What idea would logically complete the argument? It may seem reasonable to say that salt causes high blood pressure when it is observed that when people who eat little salt begin eating salt, they develop high blood pressure. But look more closely at the circumstances under which these people began eating more salt: They moved from isolated rain-forest communities, where they ate vegetarian diets, to cities. It is most likely the case that such a move would entail dietary changes other than just an increase in salt consumption, and so it is possible that those changes contribute to their developing high blood pressure. 23. Argument Construction Situation Consumer legal costs will be reduced if the state removes even one restriction on lawyers’ advertisements because the fewer the restrictions, the greater the number of lawyers who advertise, and lawyers who advertise charge less than lawyers who do not advertise. Reasoning What conclusion can logically be drawn? The argument sets up an inverse proportion: the fewer the number of restrictions on ads, the greater the number of lawyers who advertise. This is true of all restrictions and all lawyers. Therefore, removing any one restriction necessarily increases the number of lawyers who advertise. 24. Argument Construction Situation The journalist argues that because more journalists who have printed articles critical of the government have been imprisoned under the new government than under the old government, the old government was more tolerant of criticism. The politician points out that journalists routinely criticize the government now, while under the old government far fewer did so, and all of those who did were imprisoned. Reasoning How does the politician challenge the journalist’s argument? The politician brings up a fact that the journalist did not mention: that the six journalists who were imprisoned under the old government were the only journalists who criticized the government. The politicia