Self-study
Support A large amount of rainfall in April and May typically leads to an increase in the mosquito population Support and thus to an increased threat of encephalitis. ██████ ██████ ██████ ███ ████████ ████ ██████ ██████ ████████ ███ ██████ ██ █████████████
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that people can’t decrease the threat of encephalitis. She supports this by saying that heavy rainfall in April and May leads to more mosquitoes, which increases the threat of encephalitis, and people cannot change the weather.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author assumes that people can't decrease the threat of encephalitis because they can't control the weather, which can increase the threat. However, she overlooks other factors that could increase the threat of encephalitis, like not using bug spray or wearing long sleeves, which people can control.
In other words, she assumes that because people can't control one factor that can lead to a certain outcome, they can't influence the outcome at all.
17.
The reasoning in the argument █████ ██ ██████ ██ ████ ███ ████████
a
takes for granted ████ ███████ ███ █████ ████████ ███████ ███ ██████ ████ ██ ███ █████ ██ ███ ██████
The author’s premises explicitly state that heavy rainfall in April and May can cause an increased risk of encephalitis. So she isn’t assuming a causal relationship where none exists.
b
presumes, without providing ██████████████ ████ █ ███████ ███████ █████ ██ █████████
Presumably encephalitis is an undesirable outcome, but regardless, the author never makes any claims or assumptions about whether a certain outcome would be desirable. She just argues that people can’t affect that outcome.
c
ignores the possibility ████ █ ███████ ████ ██ ███████ ██ █████████ ██ ████ ████ ███ ██████
The author ignores the possibility that the threat of encephalitis is dependent on more than just heavy rainfall. Perhaps people can still decrease the threat of encephalitis by controlling other factors, like wearing bug spray, even though they can’t control the weather.
d
takes for granted ████ █ ██████ ████ ██ ██████████ ██ ███████ ███████ █████ ███ █████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ █████ ███████
The author never assumes that encephalitis could not occur without heavy rainfall in April and May. She just argues that heavy rainfall leads to more mosquitoes, which increases the threat of encephalitis.
e
draws a conclusion █████ ████ ██ ████████ ████ █ ███████ █████ ████ ██ ████████ ███ ████
The author does draw a conclusion about what’s possible— that it’s impossible for people to decrease the threat of encephalitis— from premises about what is actually the case. But the flaw is that she fails to address other factors that can also affect the threat of encephalitis.