Self-study
Support Inflation rates will not stabilize unless the rate of economic growth decreases. ███ ██ █████ ██ ████ ███ ████████ ███ ████ ███████████ ██ █████ ███████ ████ ██ █████████ █████ ██ █████ ██ ██████ ██████████ ██ ██████ ██████ █████████ █████ ██ ███ ████ ███████
Method of Reasoning
The premises establish a chain of conditional relationships. In order for inflation rates to stabilize, the rate of economic growth must decrease, which in turn requires the full cooperation of world leaders. The conclusion asserts that it we shouldn’t expect stable inflation rates. This is based an assumption that we probably won’t get full cooperation of world leaders.
Let’s look for an argument with this structure:
X requires Y, which requirez Z. So, we shouldn’t expect X to happen.
25.
Which one of the following ██ ████ ███████ ████████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████
a
If factory safety ██ █ ███████ ████████ ████ ████████ ████ ██████ ███████████ █████████ ███████████ ████ ████ ████ ████████ █████████████ ██ ███ ██████ ███████ ████ █████ ███████ ██ █████████ ███ █████████ ██ ██████████ █████ ███████ ██████████ ███████████ ██ ██████ ██████ ████████ ███████ ███████
The premises do not connect to form an “X requires Y, which requires Z” relationship. We’re told that if factory safety is a serious concern, then everyone must report potentially dangerous situations. Then we’re told that everyone reporting on dangerous situations is necessary for something else. Structurally, the premises look like this:
If X, then Y.
If Z, then Y.
b
If the board ██ ███████ █████ █████████ ██████████ ███████████ ██ ████ █████████ ██████████████ ███████████ ██████████████ ██ ████ ███ ██ ████████ ██ █████████ ████████ ██████████ ███████ ██████████ █ ██████ ██ ██████ ██████████ █████ ██ ██████ ██ █████████ ███ ██ ███████ ████ ██████ ██████████
Although the argument has the “X requires Y, which requires Z” structure, the conclusion is about Z, rather than X. We wanted a conclusion that we shouldn’t expect X to be true.
c
Only if we ██████████ ███████ ███ ███████ ████ ██ ██ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ███ ███████ █████████ ████ █ ████████ ████████████ ████████ ████ ███████████ █ █████ ██ ███ ████████████ ██ ███ █████████ ██████████ ██ ████ ██ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ██ ███████ ████████ ████ ██ ██ █████ ███ ████████████ ██ ███ █████████
This isn’t parallel because the conclusion presents a conditional relationship rather than an assertion of probable fact. Structurally (C) looks like this: X requires Y, which requires Z. So X requires Z.
But we wanted this: X requires Y, which requires Z. So we shouldn’t expect X.
d
If we are ██ ███████ ███ ██████ ████████ █████████ ██ ████ ███████ █████████ ██████████ ██████ ████████ ███ ███████████ ██ ████ █████████ █████ ████ ██████████ ██████ ██ ████ ████ █████████ ██ ██ █████████ ███████████ ████ ███ █████ ██ ███████ ██████ ████ ███ ██ ████████
X (produce safest vehicles) requires Y (conduct tests), which requires Z (huge cost overruns). Thus, we won’t have X (produce safest vehicles). Although this answer expresses the conclusion with more certainty than the stimulus, which isn’t a perfect parallel, (D) is the most parallel compared to the other answers. It’s the only one that presents a conditional chain (X requires Y, which requires Z) in the premises and concludes that X isn’t true.
e
If honesty is ███ ████ ███████ ██ ██████ ██████ ███ █████████ ████ ███████████ ██ ███ ████ █████ ███ ██ ██ ██ ███ ██ ████ ███ ███ ████ ██ ████ ███ ███ ████████████ ████ █████████ ██████████ ██ ████ ███ ██████ ███ ████ ████████████
Although this has the X requires Y, which requires Z structure, the conclusion doesn’t match. Structurally, (E)’s conclusion asserts that we shouldn’t do Y. But we’re looking for a conclusion that says we shouldn’t expect X to be true.