PT83.S2.Q24 - Meteorologist: The number of tornadoes reported annually has more than doubled

mepstlsat

Is C right because its requires you to assume that since the number of large/med tornadoes reported has stayed the same, then the number of small tornadoes reported has increased? I'm not sure how one could see this answer strengthening the argument without making this assumption.

Leah M B

(FYI, this was section 3, not 2 )

This one is tough, so usually my first step in these is eliminating answer choices:

A: we're not talking about damage, just the number of tornadoes, so it's irrelevant
B: This seemed like a "trap" answer to me. More tornadoes hitting major cities would likely increase the number of tornadoes reported. But, the claim in the stimulus is that the cause of the increase in tornadoes reported is because of our better ability to track them. So while this sort of correlates, it doesn't strengthen because it's not the same conclusion as in the stimulus.
D : Again, we're not talking about deaths so this isn't helpful.
E: Also discussing a different point. Geographic range doesn't help us with the number of tornadoes.

Then reviewing C, yes I think you got it exactly right. If the number of large and medium tornadoes reported is the same, then that would imply that the increased number is only in small tornadoes. Therefore, improving our ability to find tornadoes accounts for the increase being only in small ones - those were likely harder to find with old systems.