A
Unlike calls made to owners of answering machines, all telephone calls made to voice-mail subscribers are completed, even if the line called is in use at the time of the call.
B
The surge in sales of answering machines occurred shortly after they were first introduced to the electronics market.
C
Once a telephone customer decides to subscribe to voice mail, that customer can cancel the service at any time.
D
Answering machines enable the customer to hear who is calling before the customer decides whether to answer the telephone, a service voice mail does not provide.
E
The number of messages a telephone answering machine can record is limited by the length of the magnetic tape on which calls are recorded.
A
The social impact of the new antihistamine is much better understood than that of most new drugs being tested.
B
The social impact of some of the new drugs being tested is poorly understood.
C
The economic success of some drugs is inversely proportional to how well we understand their social impact.
D
The new antihistamine is chemically similar to some of the new drugs being tested.
E
The new antihistamine should be on the market only if most new drugs being tested should be on the market also.
People who have political power tend to see new technologies as a means of extending or protecting their power, whereas they generally see new ethical arguments and ideas as a threat to it. Therefore, technical ingenuity usually brings benefits to those who have this ingenuity, whereas ethical inventiveness brings only pain to those who have this inventiveness.
The author concludes two things:
(1) People with technical ingenuity are usually rewarded for that ingenuity. Why? Because the politically powerful tend to view new technologies as useful for reinforcing their own power.
(2) People with ethical inventiveness are only ever punished for that inventiveness. Why? Because the politically powerful tend to view new ethical ideas as a threat to their power.
The author makes two key assumptions:
(1) When people with political power view something as useful for reinforcing their own power (i.e., new technologies), the people responsible (i.e., those with technical ingenuity) somehow benefit.
(2) When people with political power view something as a threat to their power (i.e., new ethical ideas), the people responsible (i.e., those with ethical inventiveness) somehow always suffer.
A
Those who offer new ways of justifying current political power often reap the benefits of their own innovations.
B
Politically powerful people tend to reward those who they believe are useful to them and to punish those who they believe are a threat.
C
Ethical inventiveness and technical ingenuity are never possessed by the same individuals.
D
New technologies are often used by people who strive to defeat those who currently have political power.
E
Many people who possess ethical inventiveness conceal their novel ethical arguments for fear of retribution by the politically powerful.
Sales manager: The highest priority should be given to the needs of the sales department, because without successful sales the company as a whole would fail.
Shipping manager: There are several departments other than sales that also must function successfully for the company to succeed. It is impossible to give the highest priority to all of them.
Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
The sales manager concludes that the highest priority should be given to the sales department, because the company would fail without successful sales.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The shipping manager counters the sales manager’s argument by showing that he makes an unreasonable assumption. The sales manager assumes that the sales department should be given highest priority because it’s necessary to the company’s success. But the shipping manager points out that many departments are necessary, and giving them all the top priority would be impossible and illogical.
A
that the sales department taken by itself is not critical to the company’s success as a whole
The shipping manager never refutes the claim that the sales department is necessary to the company’s success. She just says that there are other departments that are also necessary to its success.
B
the ambiguity of the term “highest priority”
The shipping manager doesn't make this mistake; she uses the term “highest priority” consistently throughout her argument.
C
that departments other than sales are more vital to the company’s success
The shipping manager never claims that other departments are more important than sales; she just claims that there are other departments that are also necessary to the company’s success.
D
an absurd consequence of its apparent assumption that a department’s necessity earns it the highest priority
The sales manager assumes that a department’s necessity earns it the highest priority. The shipping manager points out an absurd consequence of this assumption by saying that there are many necessary departments, and it makes no sense to give everyone the highest priority.
E
that the sales manager makes a generalization from an atypical case
The shipping manager doesn’t argue that the sales manager makes a generalization from an atypical case. If anything, she argues that the sales department’s necessity is not an atypical case, because there are many necessary departments.
Laura: Your encyclopedia is out of date. Recently someone has in fact proved Fermat’s theorem. And since the theorem is provable, your claim—that Fermat was lying or mistaken—clearly is wrong.
A
an assumption for which no support is offered
B
a subsidiary conclusion on which his argument’s main conclusion is based
C
a potential objection that his argument anticipates and attempts to answer before it is raised
D
the principal claim that his argument is structured to refute
E
background information that neither supports nor undermines his argument’s conclusion
Critic: Emily Dickinson’s poetry demonstrates that meaning cannot reside entirely within a poem itself, but is always the unique result of an interaction between a reader’s system of beliefs and the poem; and, of course, any two readers from different cultures or eras have radically different systems of beliefs.
Summary
Emily Dickinson’s poetry demonstrates that meaning is not derived entirely from a poem itself, but that meaning is the unique result of the interaction between a poem and a reader’s beliefs. Any two readers from different cultures or time periods have radically different beliefs.
Notable Valid Inferences
A modern reader and an ancient reader would interpret a poem in exactly the same way.
A
A reader’s interpretation of a poem by Dickinson is affected by someone else’s interpretation of it.
Could be true. We know that any two readers have different beliefs, but it is possible that some readers’ interpretations could affect the interpretations of other readers.
B
A modern reader and a nineteenth-century reader interpret one of Shakespeare’s sonnets in the same way.
Must be false. We know that any two readers from different time periods have different beliefs. Therefore, it is impossible for a modern reader and a nineteenth-century reader to interpret a poem in exactly the same way.
C
A reader’s interpretation of a poem evolves over time.
Could be true. We know that every reader of a poem has a different interpretation, but this fact does not preclude the possibility of a reader’s interpretation changing over time. Interpretations could change over time and still be unique.
D
Two readers from the same era arrive at different interpretations of the same poem.
Could be true. We know that any two readers from different cultures have different beliefs. These different beliefs cause these readers to interpret a poem differently.
E
A reader’s enjoyment of a poem is enhanced by knowing the poet’s interpretation of it.
Could be true. We know that each reader has a unique interpretation based on each reader’s belief system. It is possible that a reader’s enjoyment is enhanced while maintaining a unique interpretation.