Self-study
Conclusion The best explanation for Mozart's death involves the recently detected fracture in his skull. ███ ██████ ████ ██████ ███ ██████ ██ ██ █████████ █████ ████ ██████ ████ █████ ██ ███ ██████ ████████ █████ ██ ████ ████ ███ ██████ ████ ████ ████████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ███ █████ ██████ ████ ██ ███ ███████ █████████ ██████ ████████ █████████ ██████ ███ ████████████ ███████ ██ ██████ ████ ███████████ ██ ████████ █████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ████ ████ ███ ████████ █████ █████ ██ ███████ ████████
Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author is attempting to provide an explanation for Mozart’s death. He hypothesizes that it involved the recently detected fracture in his skill. Why should we believe this explanation? The crack could easily tear veins in the brain, causing blood to leak and dry in the brain, damaging brain function. This process commonly leads to death, but not immediately. Therefore, the partial healing of the fracture supports this explanation.
Identify Argument Part
This is evidence that supports the author’s explanation of Mozart’s death. The stimulus tells us that the skull fracture would lead to death on a delay. Therefore, the partial healing shows there was time between when the fracture occurred and Mozart’s later death. This makes the author’s explanation more plausible by giving us information about when the fracture occurred.
5.
The claim that the fracture █████ █████ ██ ███████ ███████ ███████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ █████
a
It shows that ████████ █████ █████ ████ ████ ████████
This is not the point of the argument - the argument is trying to provide an explanation for Mozart’s death. No claims are made about whether it could have been avoided.
b
It shows that ███ ████████ ███ ███ █████ █████ ████████ ██████
We know this supports the argument by providing information about when the fracture occurred: sometime prior to Mozart’s death. Therefore, it does let us know that it did not occur after his death, which would have been a problem, since then it could not be the cause.
c
It shows that ███ █████ █████ ████████ ████████ ███████ ██████████
The fact that the fracture was healing does not give us information about Mozart’s faculties. It only gives us information about when the fracture occurred.
d
It shows that ████████ █████ ████████ █████████
The opposite is true - the author tells us that death caused by this fracture is delayed. By placing the fracture sometime before his death, it makes the delayed cause of mortality more likely.
e
It suggests that ████████ █████ ███ ███████████
There is no support for the author’s claim that the crack was likely due to an accident - that is just context about where a crack would come from. The healing supports the fracture hypothesis, not whether it was accidental.