Self-study
In a car accident, air bags greatly reduce the risk of serious injury. ████████ ██████████ ████ ████ ████ ███████ ███ ████ ███ ████ ██████ ██ ██ ████████ ██ █████████ ████ ███ ████ ████ ███ █████ █████ ████ ████ ███ ████ ███ ██ █████ ████ ████ ███████ ███ █████
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that cars with air bags are no safer than those without, since cars without air bags are less likely to be in accidents.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author assumes that cars with air bags are no safer than cars without air bags, simply because they’re more likely to be involved in accidents. However, she overlooks two important points:
(1) How much more likely are cars with air bags to be in accidents?
(2) How serious are the accidents for each type of car? If cars without air bags have fewer accidents but those accidents are more dangerous or fatal, the author can’t assume that cars without air bags are just as safe. Essentially, she treats the likelihood of getting into an accident as equally important as the severity of the accident.
25.
The argument is most vulnerable ██ █████████ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ██
a
assumes, without providing ██████████████ ████ ███ ███ ████ ███ ████ ████ ████████ ██████ ████████ ██ ██ ████████
The author doesn’t make this assumption. She claims that cars with air bags are more likely to be involved in accidents, but she never claims that all of them will be involved in accidents.
b
denies the possibility ████ ████ ███████ ███ ████ ████ █████ ██████ ████████ ████ ██████ ███ ████ ██ ███████ ██████ ██ █████ ██ ████ ██ ██ ███ ████
The author neither addresses nor denies this possibility. Also, she claims that cars without air bags are no less safe than cars with them. So, if anything, she might accept the possibility that they have some other effective safety features.
c
overlooks the possibility ████ ████ █████████ ███████ ████ ████ ████ ███ ████ ███ ████ ███████ ███ ████
The author admits that both kinds of cars can be involved in accidents; she just says that cars without air bags are less likely to be in them. She never overlooks the possibility that some accidents involve both kinds of cars.
d
assumes, without providing ██████████████ ████ ███ ██████████ ██ ██ ██████████ █████████ ██████ █████ ██ █████ ██ ███████ ██ ███ ███████████ ██ ███ █████████ ██████ ██ █████████ ██ ████████ ██████
The author assumes that, when estimating the relative safety of a car, the likelihood of getting into an accident is at least as important as the seriousness of any injuries from an accident. But what if cars without air bags have fewer but more fatal accidents?
e
takes for granted ████ ███ █████████ █████ █████ ███ ████ ██ ██ ████████
The author simply doesn’t make this assumption. She claims that cars with air bags are more likely to be in accidents, but she never assumes that all of those accidents would cause the air bags to be deployed.