Self-study
Prolonged exposure to nonionizing radiation— electromagnetic radiation at or below the frequency of visible light—increases a person’s chances of developing soft-tissue cancer. ████████ █████ █████ ██ ████ ██ ████ ██████████ ██████████ ██ ████████ ████████ ███ █████████████ █████████ ███ ███████ ██ ███████████ ██████████
Objective: Identify a Strongly Supported Claim
To find our strongly supported answer, we'll take everything in the stimulus for granted. We can accept every claim as true, and then identify the answer those claims support. Let's start by laying out our facts:
(1) nonionizing radiation is radiation at or below the frequency of visible light;
(2) prolonged exposure to nonionizing radiation increases soft-tissue cancer risk;
(3) nonionizing radiation is emitted by electric power lines, and appliances including electric blankets and video-display terminals.
Answer Choice Strategy
Before we start with process of elimination, we can note any inferences we're able to make up-front. Here, we can combine claims (2) and (3) to infer that prolonged exposure to certain electrical appliances may increase soft-tissue cancer risk.
However, even if we can predict an answer, it's always possible the right answer might be unexpected. Keep in mind that it's not enough to be consistent with the stimulus—the correct answer should be actively supported, not just possible. Incorrect answers are those that could be false, even if they also could be true. We can also test support by identifying the specific facts in the stimulus that support an answer choice.
18.
Which one of the following ███████████ ██ ████ █████████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██████
a
People with short-term ████████ ██ ███████████ █████████ ███ ███ ██ ████ ██ ██████████ ███████████ ████████
(A) is a trap that confuses necessary and sufficient conditions from the stimulus' claim that
b
Soft-tissue cancers are ████ ██████ ████ █████ ████████
The stimulus doesn't give us any information about the relative frequency of different cancers. (B) goes beyond the scope of the stimulus, so isn't supported.
c
Soft-tissue cancers are ██████████ █████ █████████████ ████ ███████ ██ ███████████ █████████ ███ ███████ ████ ███ ███████████ █████
The stimulus only tells us that nonionizing radiation may increase the risk of getting soft-tissue cancer. We have no idea how one might cure soft-tissue cancer after it develops. (C) is way beyond the scope of the stimulus.
d
Certain electrical devices ███ ████ ██████ █████ ███ █████ ██████
The stimulus says that
e
Devices producing electromagnetic █████████ ██ ███████████ ██████ ████ ████ ██ ███████ █████ ██ ███ ████████ █ ██████████ ████ ██ ██████████ ███████████ ████████
(E) is a trap that confuses necessary and sufficient conditions from the stimulus' claim that