Self-study
Pollution is a problem wherever there are people who are indifferent to their environment, and nature's balance is harmed wherever there is pollution. So wherever there are people who are indifferent to their environment, nature's balance is harmed.
13.
The reasoning in which one of the following arguments is most similar to that in the argument above?
a
Any dessert with chocolate is high in calories, and any dessert high in calories is fattening. So any dessert with chocolate is fattening.
(A) presents a conditional chain (Chocolate Dessert→High Calories→Fattening), and then validly concludes that the first variable leads to the last variable.
b
Every dessert with chocolate is high in calories, and every fattening dessert is also high in calories. So any dessert with chocolate is fattening.
Mismatched premises and conclusion. (B) presents two conditional statements that each lead to the same necessary condition. It then invalidly concludes that one of the sufficient conditions leads to the other sufficient condition. The stimulus, meanwhile, presents a conditional chain before validly concluding that the first variable leads to the last variable.
c
Any dessert that is high in calories has chocolate in it, and any dessert that is high in calories is fattening. So every dessert with chocolate is fattening.
Mismatched premises and conclusion. (C) presents two conditional statements that each have the same sufficient condition (desserts high in calories), before invalidly concluding that one of the necessary conditions leads to the other necessary condition. The stimulus, meanwhile, presents a conditional chain before validly concluding that the first variable leads to the last variable.
d
Every dessert with chocolate is high in calories, and every dessert that is high in calories is fattening. So every fattening dessert has chocolate in it.
Mismatched conclusion. (D) presents a conditional chain (Chocolate Dessert→High Calories→Fattening), before invalidly concluding that the last variable leads to the first. The stimulus, however, presents a conditional chain before validly concluding that the first variable leads to the last, so (D) is backwards.
e
Any dessert with chocolate is high in calories, and many desserts that are high in calories are fattening. So many desserts with chocolate are fattening.
(E) presents a conditional statement and a “some” statement, before combining them to form an invalid “some” conclusion. The stimulus, however, presents a conditional chain before validly concluding that the first variable leads to the last variable.