Self-study
Support To be considered for this year's Gillespie Grant, applications must be received in Gillespie City by October 1. ██ ███ ████ ██ ██ ███ ████ ███ ███████ ████ ████ █████████ ██ █████ █████████ █████ ██ ██ ████ ██ ███████ ██ ███████████ ██ ███████ ████ ████ ██████████ ███ ████ ██ ██████████ ███ ███ █████ ████ ██ ███ ███████████ ██ ██████ ███ ████ ██████ ███ ███ █████
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that, if she’s using regular mail from Greendale, Mary must mail her application ten days before the due date to be considered for the grant. He supports this with the following premises:
(1) Applications must arrive in Gillespie City by October 1 to be considered.
(2) Regular mail from Greendale can take up to ten days to reach Gillespie City.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author concludes that Mary must mail her application ten days before the due date to be considered for the grant. But his premises state that regular mail from Greendale can take up to ten days to reach Gillespie City. So he overlooks the possibility that some mail might take less than ten days.
What if Mary’s application only takes five days to arrive? In that case, he can’t conclude that she’ll only be considered if she mails it ten days before the due date.
11.
The reasoning in the argument ██ ██████ ██ ████ ███ ████████
a
does not establish ████ ████ ██ ████████ ███ ███ █████████ █████ ██ ███████ ████████ ████ █████████
It’s true that the author never establishes this, but he doesn’t need to. He’s only addressing what would happen if Mary sends in an application from Greendale. Whether she actually does apply is irrelevant.
b
does not determine ███ ████ ██ █████ ███████ ████ ██ █████ █████████ ████ ████ █████████
It doesn’t matter how long it takes express mail to reach Gillespie City from Greendale. The author is only addressing what would happen if Mary sends her application by regular mail from Greendale.
c
does not consider ███ ███████ ██████ ██ ████ ██ █████ ███████ ████ ████ █████████ ██ █████ █████████ ████
What if the minimum amount of time it takes regular mail from Greendale to reach Gillespie City is five days? In that case, Mary might not need to send in her application ten days before the due date in order to be considered.
d
presumes, without providing ██████████████ ████ ██ ██████ ███████████ ██ ████████ ██ █████████ ████ ██ ███████ ██ ███ ████ ███████ ███ ██ ███ █████ ████████████ ██ ███ █████████ █████ ███████████
The author doesn’t assume that Mary will satisfy all the requirements if her application is received on time. She might mail her application on time and still not be considered for the grant. The author just argues that if she is considered, she must mail her application on time.
e
overlooks the possibility ████ ████ ██████ ██ ███████ ████ ███ ███████████ ████ ██████ ██ █████████ ████ ██████ ███ █████ ██ ██ ███████ ████
The author only addresses Mary sending her application by regular mail; express mail is irrelevant. Also, even if she can’t be sure that it will arrive by regular mail, this doesn't impact the conclusion that if it is considered, she must send it ten days before the due date.