Self-study
Developer: Support The builders of the Glen Veil apartment complex will not complete the complex unless a road connecting it to the town of Sierra is built. ███ █████████ █████████ ███████ █████ ██████████ ████████ ████████ ███ █ ████████ ███████ █████ ███████ █████ ██████ █████████ ██████████ ███ █████████ ██ ██████ ██████ ████ ██ █████ ██ █ █████ ███ ██ ████ ████████████ ██ ███ ████████ █████
Summary
The author concludes that the residents of Sierra should vote in favor of a local tax to fund construction of the proposed road.
Why?
Because in order for the Glen Veil apartment complex to be built, a road connecting it to the town of Sierra must be built.
The apartment complex, if completed, would strengthen Sierra’s economy, which would benefit every Sierra resident.
Notable Assumptions
The conclusion asserts that the residents of Sierra “should vote” for something. But the premises don’t tell us when the residents “should vote” for something. We want a principle that gets us from the premises to the conclusion that the residents “should vote” for a local tax for the proposed road.
What are the features of the proposed road, as described by the premises? We want to connect those features to why the residents should vote for the local tax.
The proposed road is described as necessary for the apartment complex, which is something that would benefit every Sierra resident.
Here’s an example of a principle that would strengthen the argument:
If something is necessary for another thing, and that other thing would help every resident of a town, then the residents of that town should vote for a local tax to fund the necessary thing.
Let’s keep an open mind, since the correct answer doesn’t have to look exactly like that example principle.
21.
Which one of the following ███████████ ██ ██████ █████ ████ ████ ██ ███████ ███ ███████████ ██████████
a
If a construction ███████ ██ █████████ ██ █████ ██ ██████████ █ ██████ ████████ ████ ███ █████████ ██ ████ ████ ██████ ████ ██ █████ ██ █ █████ ███ ██ ████ ████ ████████████ ████████
Wrong trigger. Although we know that the road is necessary for completing the apartment complex, we don’t know that the road (or the apartment complex) is necessary to strengthen the town’s economy. We do know that an apartment complex would strengthen the economy, but that just means it’s sufficient to strengthen the economy. We don’t know that there aren’t other ways to strengthen the economy.
b
The residents of █ ████ ██████ ███ ████ ██ █████ ██ █ █████ ███ ██ ████ █ ████████████ ███████ ██████ ████ ████████████ ███████ ████ ███████ ███████ ████ ███████ ███ ██ █████ ██████████
(B) confuses sufficient and necessary conditions. It helps us reach a conclusion that the residents of a town should NOT vote in favor of a tax. But we’re trying to reach the conclusion that they SHOULD vote in favor of a local tax.
c
Whenever a town █████ █ ████████████ ████████ ██ ██████ ██ ██ ██ █████ ██ █ ███ ██████ ████ █████
(C) doesn’t tell us anything about when residents of a town should vote for a tax.
d
Only those residents ███ ████ ███████ ████ ███ ███████ ██ █ ████████████ ███████ ██████ ██ ████████ ██ ███ █ ███ ██ ████ ████ ████████
(D) allows us to reach a conclusion that certain residents shouldn’t be required to pay for a tax. But we’re trying to reach the conclusion that the residents SHOULD vote for a tax.
e
Anyone who would ███████ ████ ███ ███████ ██ █ ████████████ ███████ ██████ ████ ██ █████ ██ █ █████ ███ ██ ████ ████ ████████
Helps connect the premises to the conclusion. We know the apartment complex won’t be completed unless the road is built. And we know the apartment complex would benefit Sierra residents by providing something that is necessary for the complex to be completed. That supports the characterization of the road as something that would benefit the residents of Sierra. According to (E), then, the residents of Sierra should vote in favor of a local tax to fund the road.