Self-study
Support Food co-ops are a type of consumer cooperative. ████████ ████████████ █████ ███ ████ ████████ ██ █████ ██████ ███ ███████ ████ ████████ ██ ██ █████████ ████ ██████████ ██ ████ ██ █ ████ █████ ████ ██ █ ████████████
Method of Reasoning
The argument starts by naming a subset (food co-ops) of a larger group (consumer cooperatives). It then describes a characteristic held by all members of the larger group (consumer cooperatives offer the same products as other stores but usually more cheaply), and finally concludes by comparing the subset to something else (it’s more economical to shop at a food co-op than at a supermarket).
Identify and Describe Flaw
The argument errs because it fails to consider more than one factor in its analysis. Because consumer cooperatives tend to provide the same products as other stores but more cheaply, the author concludes that shopping at a food co-op would be cheaper than at a supermarket. However, it’s entirely possible that the supermarket may be unusually cheap or factors outside of product price could cause the food co-op to be more expensive to shop at than a supermarket (for instance, the food co-op could have an entry fee or it may cost a lot to travel to the food co-op).
22.
Which one of the following ██ ████ ███████████ ██ ██ ███████ █████████████ ████ ███ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ █████ ██ ███████
a
By that line ██ ██████████ ██ █████ ████████ ████ ██████ ███ ███ ██████ ████ ███ ████ ████ ████████ ██ █████ ████ ████ ██████ ███ ███ █████ █████ ██ █████ █████ ██████ ████ ███ ████ ████████ ███ ████ ████ ████ █████ █████
Wrong flaw. (A) reasons that since sports cars use more gasoline than most other cars, people who own sports cars use more gasoline in their cars than people who own other types of cars. We can’t conclude that sports car owners use more gasoline in their cars than people who own any other types of cars, as we only know that sports cars use more gasoline than most other types of cars. It’s possible that someone else owns a type of car that uses even more gas than sports cars. However, unlike the stimulus, (A) does not discuss a subset of a larger group in its argument.
b
By that line ██ ██████████ ██ █████ ████████ ████ ██ ██ ██████ ██ ███ ██████ ██████████ ████ █████ ███████████ █████ █████ ██████████ ███ ████ █████████ ████ ██████ ██████████ ███ █████ ████ ████████
Wrong flaw. (B) is flawed because of its ambiguous use of “better.” While some people may consider a food that’s cheaper and that spoils slower than another food to be the better option, some may not. Alternatively, the stimulus isn’t flawed because of ambiguity. The stimulus is flawed because of its failure to consider more than one factor in its analysis.
c
By that line ██ ██████████ ██ █████ ████████ ████ █ ██████ ███ █████ █ ███████ ██████ ████ █████████ ███ ████ ████████ ████ ███ ███ █████ █ ██████ ████ █████ █████████ ██ █ ███████ █████ ██ ██████████████ ███ ███████ █████ ██ ██████████████ ████ ██ ████████ ████ █████████ ███ ████ ████████ ████ ██ ██████ ██████
The argument names a subset (bicycles) of a larger group (private means of transportation). It describes a characteristic held by all members of the larger group (private means of transportation tend to generate more pollution per mile than public means) and concludes by comparing the subset to something else (a person who rides a bike causes more pollution per mile than one who rides a public bus). This commits the same flaw as the stimulus of failing to consider more than one factor in its analysis. Buses may produce more pollution than bikes for other reasons.
d
By that line ██ ██████████ ██ █████ ████████ ████ ████ ██████ ████ ██ ████████ ██ ██████ ████ ██████ ████ ████ ███████ █████ ██████ ████ ██ ██████ █████████ ████ ████ ███████████ ████ ██ ████ ██ ███ █████████ ████ ██████ ██ █████ ██ █████ ███ █████████ ████ █████ ██ ██████ ███████ ████ █████
Wrong flaw. (D) commits a cookie-cutter “relative v. absolute” flaw. Just because healthful food tastes better today than ever before (meaning it tastes “better” relative to its past forms), that doesn’t mean that it tastes at least as good as unhealthful food (just because healthful food tastes better now than in the past, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s as tasty as unhealthful food). The stimulus, meanwhile, doesn’t commit a relative v. absolute flaw.
e
By that line ██ ██████████ ██ █████ ████████ ████ ███ ████ ███ ██ ████ ██████ ██ ██ ████████ █████ ███████████ ██ ████████████ █████████ ██████ █████ ████████████ █████████ █████ ████ █████ ████████ ████ █████ █████████ ████ ██████ ███ █████████ ███████ ██████ ███████████ ██ ██████ █████
Wrong flaw. Just because artificially sweetened foods have fewer calories than foods sweetened with sugar, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the “best way” to lose weight. The stimulus, on the other hand, errs because it fails to consider more than one factor in its analysis.