A
Many more of the entries in the contest were from amateurs than were from professionals.
B
The judges in the contest were amateurs, and amateurs tend to prefer photographs taken by other amateurs.
C
Amateurs tend to enter their best photographs while professionals tend to save their best work for their clients.
D
Each category in the contest was restricted to amateurs only or professionals only, and there were more categories open to amateurs.
E
Three times as many amateurs entered the contest as had entered in any previous year.
A
The claim is required to establish the conclusion.
B
The claim represents the point the conclusion is intended to refute.
C
The claim is compatible with the truth or falsity of the conclusion.
D
The claim points out an ambiguity in the phrase “at home.”
E
The claim inadvertently contradicts the conclusion.
A
the conclusion of the survey would be verified if the falsified data were excluded
B
the conclusion of the survey will be accepted by the public even though falsified data were used
C
other pollsters in other surveys also may have falsified data
D
some people who responded to the survey were lying
E
people’s opinions about investing in information technologies can change as new technologies develop
A
Persons who come from families that have enjoyed great longevity tend not to develop cardiovascular disease.
B
The stress and pollution found in large cities exacerbate existing cardiovascular disease, but there is little stress or pollution in Limone.
C
The residents of Limone have normal blood sugar levels, and very low blood sugar levels tend to cancel out the cardiovascular effects of a high cholesterol level.
D
The residents of Limone inherited from common ancestors a blood protein that prevents vascular blockage, which is a cause of cardiovascular disease.
E
Olive oil is a staple of the diet in some parts of Italy, but unlike butter, olive oil is a monosaturated fat, and monosaturated fats do not contribute to cardiovascular disease.
Ramona: One of the primary values of a university education is the intellectual growth that results from exposure to a wide range of ideas. Too many students miss this because they choose technical majors only to improve their chances on the job market. Recent pressures to graduate as quickly as possible only make matters worse.
Martin: But we have to be realistic. My brother graduated last year as an English major, but he’s working as a waiter. Anyway, you are forgetting that even students in technical majors are required to take some liberal arts classes.
Speaker 1 Summary
Ramona asserts three things about university education. First, one of the primary values of it is intellectual growth from exposure to a lot of different ideas. Second, too many students miss out on this growth because they choose technical majors. Third, pressures to graduate quickly encourage students to miss out on intellectual growth.
Speaker 2 Summary
Martin points out that job prospects matter. And, students in technical majors are still required to take some liberal arts classes, which suggests they might still be able to get intellectual growth.
Objective
We’re looking for a point of agreement. This is difficult to anticipate, because neither speaker makes an argument. They seem to agree that there are students who are choosing technical majors. They also agree that the choice of major may have some connection to job prospects.
A
students are stimulated to grow intellectually only in English classes
Neither expresses an opinion about this. Ramona doesn’t specify any particular non-technical major and whether that major alone can stimulate growth. Martin mentions English, but doesn’t indicate only English can stimulate intellectual growth.
B
only graduates with degrees in technical subjects get good jobs
Neither expresses an opinion about this. Ramona believes students choose technical majors to improve their job prospects. This doesn’t mean non-technical majors cannot get good jobs. Martin also doesn’t say anything about whether technical majors are required for good jobs.
C
not every university class exposes students to a wide range of ideas
The speakers agree. Ramona thinks some students in technical majors miss out on a wide range of ideas. Martin points to the fact technical majors must take some liberal arts classes. Thus, they both think some technical classes don’t expose students to a wide range of ideas.
D
intellectual growth is more important than financial security
The speakers arguably disagree. Ramona seems to value intellectual growth above job prospects / financial security. Martin suggest it’s OK for students to value financial security more than intellectual growth.
E
financial security is more important than intellectual growth
The speakers arguably disagree. Ramona seems to value intellectual growth above job prospects / financial security. Martin suggest it’s OK for students to value financial security more than intellectual growth.
Mario: The field of cognitive science is not a genuinely autonomous discipline since it addresses issues also addressed by the disciplines of computer science, linguistics, and psychology. A genuinely autonomous discipline has a domain of inquiry all its own.
Lucy: Nonsense. You’ve always acknowledged that philosophy is a genuinely autonomous discipline and that, like most people, you think of philosophy as addressing issues also addressed by the disciplines of linguistics, mathematics, and psychology. A field of study is a genuinely autonomous discipline by virtue of its having a unique methodology rather than by virtue of its addressing issues that no other field of study addresses.
Speaker 1 Summary
Mario says that cognitive science is not a genuinely autonomous discipline. Why not? Because a genuinely autonomous discipline must have a unique domain of inquiry, but the domain of cognitive science overlaps with other disciplines.
Speaker 2 Summary
Lucy disagrees with Mario’s definition of what makes a discipline genuinely autonomous. She claims that a genuinely autonomous discipline is defined by a unique methodology, not a unique domain of inquiry. Lucy supports this with the example of philosophy, which Mario agrees is autonomous despite the fact that its domain overlaps with several other fields.
Objective
We need to find a point of disagreement. Mario and Lucy disagree on what defines a genuinely autonomous discipline. Mario thinks it’s a unique domain, but Lucy thinks it’s a unique methodology.
A
If a field of study that has a unique methodology lacks a domain of inquiry all its own, it can nonetheless be a genuinely autonomous discipline.
Mario disagrees with this, but Lucy agrees. Mario claims that a unique domain of inquiry is a necessary requirement for a genuinely autonomous discipline. Lucy thinks that a unique methodology is necessary but a unique domain is not. This is a point of disagreement.
B
If a field of study is not a genuinely autonomous discipline, it can still have a unique methodology.
Neither speaker mentions the characteristics that any field that is not a genuinely autonomous discipline can or cannot have. We just don’t know.
C
All fields of study that are characterized by a unique methodology and by a domain of inquiry all their own are genuinely autonomous disciplines.
Each speaker proposes one of these only as a necessary condition for a genuinely autonomous discipline. However, we don’t know if either speaker thinks that these conditions, together or apart, are sufficient to make a domain genuinely autonomous.
D
Any field of study that is not a genuinely autonomous discipline lacks both a unique domain of inquiry and a unique methodology.
Neither speaker gives an opinion on this entire statement. To each speaker, lacking one of these conditions is sufficient to make a field not autonomous. However, neither speaker implies that the lack of both conditions is necessary for a field not to be autonomous.
E
Any field of study that is not a genuinely autonomous discipline addresses issues also addressed by disciplines that are genuinely autonomous.
Neither speaker gives an opinion about this. Mario thinks that focusing on unique issues is necessary for a discipline to be genuinely autonomous, but we don’t know if he thinks there are other necessary conditions as well. We know even less about Lucy’s opinion.
Christina: I disagree with your view, even though I agree that a shift in economic policy is needed. If one wants to teach a horse to jump fences, one should train it to jump lower heights first.
A
a shift in economic policy is not needed
B
revising current economic policy incrementally is like teaching a horse to jump fences
C
the faster current economic policy is revised, the less painful the initial changes will be
D
the economic changes should not all be made at the same time
E
the current economic situation is grave
Commentator: A political constitution that provides the framework for the laws of a nation must be interpreted to apply to new situations not envisioned by its authors. Although these interpretations express the moral and political beliefs of the interpreters, they are usually portrayed as embodying the intentions of the authors. This fiction is vital because without it the illusion, so necessary for political stability, that laws are the bequest of a long tradition rather than the preferences of contemporary politicians would vanish.
Summary
Constitutions that provide the framework of laws for a nation must be interpreted to apply to new situations that the authors did not envision. These interpretations are portrayed as embodying the intentions of the original authors even though they represent the moral and political beliefs of the interpreters. This portrayal is necessary for political stability. Without the portrayal, laws that exist because of tradition, rather than the wishes of modern politicians, would vanish
Strongly Supported Conclusions
Interpreting a constitution to apply to new situations not envisioned by the framers is vital to political stability and the preservation of laws that exist due to tradition. Some interpretive fictions are vital. If people don’t think the constitution is being interpreted based on the intentions of its authors, political instability will increase.
A
If the people of a nation do not believe that the laws under which they live express the intentions of their political leaders, that nation will become more politically unstable.
This is unsupported because it refers to the intentions of political leaders rather than political leaders interpreting the constitution in line with its authors’ intentions.
B
Political instability will increase if the people of a nation cease to believe that their constitution is being interpreted consistently with the intentions of its authors.
This is strongly supported because the stimulus states that the portrayal of a constitution being interpreted in accordance with its authors’ intentions is necessary for political stability.
C
Political instability will ensue if people come to believe there is a divergence between the beliefs of the authors of their constitution and those of their present political leaders.
This is unsupported because the stimulus doesn’t claim that modern politicians must believe the same thing as the authors of a constitution. It only states that modern politicians must interpret a constitution in accordance with the authors’ intentions.
D
A written constitution preserves the illusion that laws are the bequest of a long tradition rather than the creations of modern politicians.
This is unsupported because a written constitution doesn’t inherently preserve any illusion - it’s how modern politicians interpret the constitution that matters.
E
The perceived lack of a long legal tradition in a nation makes the political stability of that nation dependent upon the fiction that its present political leaders share the intentions of the authors of the constitution of that nation.
This is unsupported because modern politicians don’t have to share the intentions of the constitution’s authors. The stimulus only states that modern politicians must interpret the constitution in a way that aligns with the authors’ intentions.
Many people joke about Friday the thirteenth being an unlucky day, but a study showed that in one year approximately 17 percent of people scheduled to fly canceled or did not show up for their flights on Friday the thirteenth—a rate higher than that on any other day and date in that year. This shows that a significant percentage of the population would rather disrupt their travel plans than risk flying on a supposedly unlucky day.
Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author hypothesizes that a significant proportion of the population are willing to disrupt their plans to avoid flying on an “unlucky” Friday the thirteenth. This hypothesis is based on the observation that during a particular year, more people cancelled or didn’t show up to their flights on Friday the thirteenth than on any other day that year.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that the reason people didn’t show up for their flights on Friday the thirteenth was the unlucky date, and not some other reason. There aren’t that many Fridays the thirteenth in a single year, so maybe some other significant factor just happened to arise on one or more Fridays the thirteenth that year.
A
People who fly tend to be professionals who as a group are less superstitious than the general public.
Even if people who fly are less superstitious, that doesn’t mean they’re not superstitious—maybe an even higher percentage of the general public would have skipped their flights. This doesn’t provide an alternative explanation, or make the author’s explanation any less likely.
B
Surveys show that less than 5 percent of the population report that they believe that Friday the thirteenth is an unlucky day.
This just doesn’t give us enough context to know how it relates to the 17 percent of people who missed their flights on Friday the thirteenth. Maybe only a very tiny percentage of people fly, and they’re unusually likely to be superstitious—we don’t know.
C
Weather conditions at several major airports were severe on the Fridays that fell on the thirteenth in the year of the study.
This weakens by providing an alternative explanation for why more people missed their flights on Friday the thirteenth. If there happened to be severe weather those days, it makes sense that people would miss their flights even without superstition being involved.
D
In the year of the study, automobile traffic was no lighter on Friday the thirteenth than on other Fridays.
This does not weaken, because the domain of the argument is specific to flights. It would be perfectly reasonable for people to fear flying on an unlucky day but not fear driving, because driving is a much more routine activity.
E
The absentee rate among airline workers was not significantly higher than normal on the Fridays that fell on the thirteenth in the year of the study.
This does not weaken, because there are other factors that explain why airline workers might show up to work on an “unlucky” day. So this doesn’t really contradict the observed data about passengers, and still doesn’t explain the phenomenon.