The use of space-based satellites to study environmental conditions on Earth is an important development in the conservation movement's history. Environmental problems may now be observed long before they otherwise would be noticed, allowing for intervention before they reach the crisis stage. It is no wonder that environmentalists fail to consider both that spacecraft may damage the ozone layer and that this damage could be serious enough to warrant discontinuing spaceflight.The reasoning above most closely conforms to which one of the following principles?
Answer(s): A
Environmentalists rely on satellite data to help them anticipate environmental crises. That their indifference to the dangers posed by satellites "is no wonder" must have something to do with people's tunnel-vision concern with whatever serves their own interest. The data "support [environmentalists'] activities" and hence they "ignore possible objectionable consequences" of the data.
Historian: The spread of literacy informs more people of injustices and, in the right circumstances, leads to increased capacity to distinguish true reformers from mere opportunists. However, widespread literacy invariably emerges before any comprehensive system of general education; thus, in the interim, the populace is vulnerable to clever demagogues calling for change. Consequently, some relatively benign regimes may ironically be toppled by their own "enlightened" move to increase literacy.Which one of the following is an assumption on which the historian's argument depends?
Answer(s): D
The historian believes that a country's move towards literacy, a condition that makes the public more informed and skeptical of opportunists, can ironically make the country more vulnerable to opportunists. His reasoning is that widespread literacy tends to predate the establishment of general education, and during that middle period, the public is ripe to be hoodwinked. This assessment hinges on the premise that there is something about general education that, when combined with literacy, renders protection against scoundrels, and option [A lack of general education affects...] points out that very premise.
Recently discovered prehistoric rock paintings on small islands off the northern coast of Norway have archaeologists puzzled. The predominant theory about northern cave paintings was that they were largely a description of the current diets of the painters. This theory cannot be right, because the painters must have needed to eat the sea animals populating the waters north of Norway if they were to make the long journey to and from the islands, and there are no paintings that unambiguously depict such creatures.Each of the following, if true, weakens the argument against the predominant theory about northern cave paintings EXCEPT:
Answer(s): C
In essence we have to find four ways to weaken the argument against the predominant theory, meaning that we have to weaken the view of the author. He says that the paintings cannot have depicted the diets of their creators, because of the absence of depictions of sea creatures that would've been necessary to the painters' diets. He doesn't say what creatures are depicted in the caves, but option [The cave paintings that...] does, and by asserting the predominance of land animals on the cave walls option [The cave paintings that...] leaves the author's objection untouched at least, and bolsters it at most.
Attacks on an opponent's character should be avoided in political debates. Such attacks do not confront the opponent's argument; instead they attempt to cast doubt on the opponent's moral right to be in the debate at all.Which one of the following principles, if valid, most helps to justify the reasoning above?
The implication of the second sentence, especially the first clause, suggests that the author believes that a necessary condition for making a personal attack during a political debate is that the personal reference be germane to the issue at hand. If option [The cave paintings that...] is a valid principle, then the author is on solid ground in recommending that ad hominemattacks have no place in political debate.
Lawyer: Did Congleton assign the best available graphic artist to the project? Witness: Yes.Lawyer: And the best writer?Witness: Yes.Lawyer: In fact everyone she assigned to work on the project was top notch? Witness: That's true.Lawyer: So, you lied to the court when you said, earlier, that Congleton wanted the project to fail?Each of the following accurately describes a flaw in the lawyer's reasoning displayed above EXCEPT:
Answer(s): B
The biggest single flaw -- and it appears as three flaws among the wrong choices--is the lawyer's failure to recognize that notwithstanding all the indications of Congleton's support, Congleton still could have wanted the project to fail and the witness is not lying. The possibility that Congleton tried to sabotage the project by hiring incompatible people, or by underbudgeting for it option [It ignores the possibility that...] certainly exists, as does the possibility that Congleton didn't have the freedom to choose people who might sabotage the project object [It takes for granted that...].The remaining wrong choice deals with the lawyer's inference about the witness. It's not the witness's fault if he looks at all of the listed facts and for whatever reason fails to infer that Congleton wasn't rooting for the project's failure. In that case, the witness wasn't lying; he simply does believe that Congleton wanted the project doomed [It ignores the possibility that...].
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