Self-study
Researchers have developed a membrane that quickly removes the oxygen from a refrigerator, thereby killing bacteria and enabling food to be stored almost indefinitely. █████ ████ ████ ███ ██ ████ ██ ████ ██ ███████ █████████ ██████ █████ ████ ██ ███████ ████████ █████ ████ ███ ████ ████ ███████████████ █████████████ ████ █████ ███ ████ █████████ ████ ███████ ███████
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that, over the long run, oxygen-removing refrigerators will be far less expensive than current models. He arrives at this conclusion by pointing out that food inside of oxygen-removing refrigerators won’t need to be kept as cold and energy costs will be reduced.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author argues that since oxygen-removing refrigerators won’t need to be kept as cold as current refrigerator models, oxygen-removing refrigerators will be far cheaper than current models in the long term. However, the author’s reasoning is vulnerable to criticism because it doesn’t consider the possibility that other expenses associated with oxygen-removing refrigerators will cause them to not be significantly less expensive than current models in the long term.
5.
The reasoning in the argument ██ ████ ██████████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ██ ████ ███
a
address the expense ██ ████████ ██ █████████ █ ████████████ ████ ███ ███ ██████████
This is a key possibility that the argument ignores. If these expenses outweigh the money saved from keeping the food in the oxygen-removing refrigerators at a warmer temperature, the oxygen-removing models may not be significantly cheaper than current models in the long term.
b
address the possibility ██ ████████ ██████████ ████ ███ ███ █████████████
Consumer discomfort with the new refrigerators is irrelevant. The argument is only concerned with how much cheaper the new refrigerators could potentially be than current models.
c
explain the technology ████ ███████ ███ ███████████████ ████████ ██ ██ █████████
The technology doesn’t need to be explained. The author is just making the case that refrigerators fitted with this technology will be cheaper, in the long run, than current refrigerator models.
d
take into account ███ █████████████ ██ ███████ ████████████ ██████████ ██ ██████████ ████ ████████
It’s not clear that the author doesn’t take this into account, but even if he doesn’t, the effectiveness of current refrigerator technology in preventing food spoilage has no bearing on whether oxygen-removing models will be cheaper in the long term.
e
take into account ███ █████████████ ██████ ██ ████ ████████ ██ ███████ █████████████
It’s not clear that the author doesn’t take this into account, but even if he doesn’t, the inconvenience caused by food spoilage in current refrigerators has no bearing on whether oxygen-removing models will be cheaper in the long term.