Self-study
Support Although Damon had ample time earlier in the month to complete the paper he is scheduled to present at a professional conference tomorrow morning, he repeatedly put off doing it. █████ █████ █████ ███ ███ █████ █████ ██ █████ ███ ████ ██ ██ █████ ██ ██ ███ ███████ ███████ █████████████ ████████ ███ ██████████████ ████████████ █████████ ███████ █████ █████ ████ ████████ ███ █████ ███ ████████ ████ ██ ██████ ███ ██ ████ ███ ████████ ███ ███ ███████ ███ ███ ███ █████ ██████████ █████ ███████ ██ ███ ████████████████ █████ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ██████ ███████ ███ ████████████ ███ ███ ██████ █████████████████
Argument Summary
The stimulus explains Damon's situation: Damon has procrastinated on a paper he needs to present tomorrow morning. He can only get it done in time if he works on it all evening without being interrupted. But he has also promised to attend his daughter's recital and take her and her friends out for ice cream this evening. The stimulus concludes that because Damon procrastinated, he will now have to choose between "his professional and his family responsibilities" — i.e., he can't fulfill both.
Analysis: Method of Reasoning
The argument presents two options that are mutually exclusive. We know Damon can finish this paper only if he works on it all evening without being interrupted. So it follows that he can either finish this paper or attend his daughter's recital, as he promised — not both. Since the cause of Damon being in this situation is his procrastination, the argument concludes that Damon's procrastination will force him to have to choose between these two options.
9.
The argument proceeds by
a
providing evidence that ███ █████ ████ █████ ██ █████ ██ █████████ ████ ██ ███████████ █████ ██████ █████
Incorrect. The argument doesn't make any statements about which of the two options Damon will pick: whether he will work on his paper or go to his daughter's recital. It just says that Damon will have to choose between the two options and cannot do both.
b
showing that two ██████████ ███ ███████ ██ █████ ██ ███████ ███ █████ ████ ███████ ████ ███████ ████████████████ ██ ███ █████ █████████ ███ ███████ ████████████████ ██ ███ ██████ █████████
Incorrect. The argument doesn't claim that Damon's situation with this paper is somehow similar to his situation with his daughter, or that his responsibilities in the two situations are similar. It just says that he has two sets of responsibilities and will not be able to fulfill both.
c
invoking sympathy for ███████ ███ █████ ███████ ██ █ ███████ ██ █████ ██ ██████ ████ ██████████ ███████ ██ ████ ███ ██ ███ ████████████████
Incorrect. The argument doesn't seem to be trying to elicit sympathy, and nothing in the argument says Damon should be excused for being in this situation.
d
making clear the ██████ ██ █████ ███████████ ███████ ████████ ██ ████ ██ ██████ ██ █████ ██ ███████ ███ █████ ████ █████ ███████ ████ █████████████
Incorrect. The argument never calls Damon's actions irresponsible (though we might conclude separately that they were), nor does it say anything about harm resulting from Damon's actions — he hasn't taken those actions yet. Instead, the argument just explains why Damon will have to choose between the two courses of action.
e
demonstrating that two ██████████ ██████ ████ █████ ██ ███████ ████ █████████ █████████ ███ ███ ██ █████ ██████████ ██ ████████████ ████ █████████ █████████ ███ ███ █████ █████████
Correct. Damon can only finish his paper if he does nothing else this evening and works uninterrupted. This excludes him from going to his daughter's recital, which would require him to interrupt his work. So he will have to pick between the two options — he can't do both.