PT132.S2.Q8

PrepTest 132 - Section 2 - Question 8

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A leading critic of space exploration contends that it would be wrong, given current technology, to send a group of explorers to Mars, since the explorers would be unlikely to survive the trip. ███ ████ ███████████ ███ █████ █████ █████ ██ █ ███████████████ ██████ ██████ ██ █████ █████ ██ ███ ████ ███ ███████████ ████████ █ █████ ███████████ ██ █████ ████████ ██ ███ █████ █████ ██ ████ █ ██████ ██████ ██ ██ ██████

Summarize Argument: Counter-Position

The author concludes that explorers to Mars would not be unlikely to survive the trip to Mars. This is based on the fact that there would be a well-engineered backup system at every stage of the trip. In addition, at each stage of the trip, a fatal accident is unlikely if the backup system is in place.

Identify and Describe Flaw

The author overlooks the possibility that the risk of a fatal accident for the trip overall is greater than 50%, even if the risk at each individual stage is less than 50%. In other words, the author overlooks the possibility that what is true about the part (having a less than 50% chance of accident) might not be true about the overall whole.

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8.

The reasoning in the argument ██ ██████ ██ ████ ███ ████████

a

infers that something ██ ████ ██ █ █████ ██████ ████ ███ ████ ████ ██ ██ ████ ██ ████ ██ ███ █████

b

infers that something ██████ █████ ██████ ████ ███ ████ ████ ██ ██ ████████ ██ █████

c

draws a conclusion █████ ████ ████ ██ ███ ████ █████ ██ ████████ █████ ████ ██ ████████ ███ ████

d

infers that something ████ ████ ██████ ███████ ██ █████ ████

e

rejects a view ██████ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ██ ██████████ ████████ ███ ████ ████ ███ ██

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