Self-study
Although we could replace the beautiful—but dilapidated—old bridge across Black River with a concrete skyway, Conclusion we should instead replace it with a cable bridge even though this would be more expensive than building a concrete skyway. ███ █████ ████ ██ ███████ █████████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██ ███████████ ███ ██████ ██ ███ █████ █████████
Summary
The author concludes that a cable bridge, rather than a concrete skyway, should be built to replace the old bridge. He admits that a cable bridge would be more expensive. But he thinks it’s more important to preserve the beauty of the river crossing.
Notable Assumptions
The author’s support is that beauty justifies the cost of a cable bridge. But how do we know that cable bridges are always more beautiful than concrete skyways? If some concrete skyways are comparably beautiful, it would undermine the author’s reasoning. So the author must assume that cable bridges are more beautiful than concrete skyways.
6.
Which one of the following ██ ██ ██████████ ██ █████ ███ ████████ ████████
a
It is no ████ ██████ ██ ████████ █ █████ ██████ ████ █ ████████ ███████
The author’s entire justification for preferring a cable bridge is that beauty is worth some added cost. So this isn’t necessary for him to assume. He very well might think that a cable bridge is worth added maintenance costs.
b
A concrete skyway █████ ███ ████ ███ █████████ ██████████ ████ █ █████ ███████
The author concedes that a concrete skyway has the practical advantage of being cheaper than a cable bridge. So clearly he isn’t assuming that they have no practical advantages whatsoever over cable bridges.
c
The beauty of ███ █████ ████████ ████ ██ ██████████
The author believes that the beauty of the river crossing should be preserved, not that it must be preserved. The difference is that “must” indicates that there’s no alternative to it being preserved. Whereas “should” only means that it’s desirable to preserve.
d
If the new █████ ██████ ██ ██████ ████ ██████ ███ ███ ██ ████ █████ ███ █████ █████ ████ ██████
The author’s conclusion is based on his own beliefs about beauty, not on popular opinion. Even if most people disagreed, he might still think that a cable bridge is preferable to a concrete skyway.
e
Building a cable ██████ ██████ █████ █████ █████ ███████ █ ████ █████████████ ████████ ██████ ████ ████████ █ ████████ ███████
This must be true for the author to conclude that beauty justifies the added cost of a cable bridge. If it weren’t true, a concrete skyway could be as beautiful as a cable bridge, as well as cheaper. This would undermine the author’s reasoning.