Summarize Argument
Specialization in international trade carries risk. Small countries often have a small number of products that make up the majority of their exports. Examples of risks that could hurt the economy of these countries are that raw material exports could be used up and foodstuffs could be destroyed by natural disasters.
Identify Conclusion
The conclusion is the author’s warning about specialization in international trade: “such specialization carries risks.”
A
Specialization within international trade comes with risks.
This accurately rephrases the conclusion that specialization within international trade carries risks.
B
A natural disaster can destroy a whole season’s production overnight, devastating a small country’s economy.
This is a premise. It is an example of a risk that faces countries who specialize.
C
A small country’s supply of raw materials can be used up in a short period.
This is a premise. It is another example of a risk that faces countries who specialize.
D
Some countries rely on a small number of products for the export-based sectors of their economies.
This is a premise. It demonstrates why specialization is risky. If countries rely on only a few products, their exports are not diversified against disaster.
E
When international trade is free, countries can specialize in what they export.
This is context that sets up the argument about the potential risks of specialization.
"Surprising" Phenomenon
The group who knew they were competing for prizes wrote stories that ranked significantly lower on average than the group who didn’t know they were writing for prizes.
Objective
The right answer will be a hypothesis explaining why the writing quality was different between people who knew they were being judged for prizes and people who didn’t know they were being judged. That explanation must result in people writing worse when they’re aware they’re being judged for prizes.
A
The cash prizes were too small to motivate an average adult to make a significant effort to produce stories of high quality.
First, we don’t know if any of the stories submitted were of high quality. Second, the cash prizes seemed to make a difference.
B
People writing to win prizes show a greater than usual tendency to produce stereotypical stories that show little creativity.
The group who knew they were writing for prizes wrote unoriginal stories, whereas the other group wrote with more relative creativity since they didn’t know they were competing. This explains the difference between the groups.
C
Most adults show little originality in writing stories on a topic suggested by someone else.
We need to know why one group wrote worse stories than the other. This lacks any comparative aspect.
D
The team of judges was biased in favor of stories that they judged to be more realistic.
We don’t know that the group who didn’t know they were writing for prizes wrote relatively realistic stories.
E
No one explained clearly to either group what standards would be used in judging their stories.
This doesn’t explain why one group wrote worse stories than the other. We need a comparative aspect in our answer.
Green: I disagree. Some of our salespeople with big territories wear out their cars in three years.
Hernandez: I meant three-year-old cars subjected to normal use.
Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
Hernandez concludes that staff cars should be replaced every four years instead of every three years. Why? Replacement every four years would save money, as three-year-old cars are still in good condition. Hernandez clarifies that this claim only applies to the subset of staff cars which are subject to normal use, in response to Green’s comment that some staff cars used in large areas are not still in good condition after three years.
Describe Method of Reasoning
Hernandez responds to Green by clarifying the set to which the premise that three-year-old cars are in good condition applies. By clarifying that it’s specifically the subset of three-year-old cars that have been subject to normal use which are still in good condition, Hernandez neutralizes Green’s objection.
A
by explicitly qualifying a premise used earlier
Hernandez explicitly qualifies the earlier premise that “three-year-old cars are still in good condition” to specify that the claim applies to the subset of cars which are used normally, rather than the entire set of three-year-old staff cars.
B
by criticizing salespeople who wear out their cars in three years
Hernandez does not criticize salespeople anywhere in the argument.
C
by disputing the accuracy of Green’s evidence
Hernandez does not dispute the accuracy of Green’s evidence, but claims that it is already compatible with the intentions of Hernandez’s original claims.
D
by changing the subject to the size of sales territories
Hernandez doesn’t talk about the size of sales territories, and stays focused on the original subject of staff cars.
E
by indicating that Green used a phrase ambiguously
Hernandez does not claim that Green’s language is ambiguous at any point, instead responding to the substance of Green’s objection.
Summarize Argument
The economist concludes that significantly raising the minimum wage will increase unemployment. This is because raising the minimum wage would make minimum-wage jobs more expensive for businesses, leading to layoffs.
Notable Assumptions
The economist assumes that businesses will shoulder the costs of the minimum wage raise, rather than increasing the price of their products and services to account for the new expense. She also assumes that most businesses aren’t currently seeking a substantial number of employees to fill their minimum wage jobs, which if true would suggest that layoffs aren’t imminent.
A
Businesses typically pass the cost of increased wages on to consumers without adversely affecting profits.
The minimum wage raise won’t affect profits. Employers therefore won’t need to lay off minimum-wage workers, at least not for the reason mentioned.
B
When the difference between minimum wage and a skilled worker’s wage is small, a greater percentage of a business’s employees will be skilled workers.
We don’t care about skilled workers. We have no idea if businesses are even looking for skilled workers.
C
A modest increase in unemployment is acceptable because the current minimum wage is not a livable wage.
The economist only cares about how the minimum wage affects unemployment. We don’t care about livable wages.
D
Most workers are earning more than the current minimum wage.
The economist never claimed minimum wage workers constitute the majority of workers. We don’t care that most people earn more than the minimum wage.
E
The unemployment rate has been declining steadily in recent years.
Even if unemployment has been declining, a minimum wage raise may make it rise again. We don’t care about general trends.
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Rather than growing as expected once viruses were removed from the environment, the plankton population shrank.
Objective
The correct answer will be a hypothesis that explains why the plankton population shrank. The explanation must explain why plankton do better in an environment with viruses rather than one without viruses, likely through some beneficial feature of viruses.
A
Viruses in seawater help to keep the plankton population below the maximum level that the resources in the water will support.
Without viruses, plankton still would’t be able to expand beyond the maximum level water resources support. We need to know why the plankton population actually shrank.
B
Plankton and viruses in seawater compete for some of the same nutrients.
If plankton and viruses are competitors, then the plankton population should’ve grown without the viruses. Instead, it shrank.
C
Plankton utilize the nutrients released by the death of organisms killed by viruses.
Viruses kill organisms which in turn feed plankton. Without viruses, the plankton population starved. This explains why the plankton population shrank.
D
The absence of viruses can facilitate the flourishing of bacteria that sometimes damage other organisms.
The language here is very weak. We don’t know if bacteria flourished without the viruses, or if plankton are one of the organisms those bacteria can damage.
E
At any given time, a considerable portion of the plankton in seawater are already infected by viruses.
This doesn’t explain why the plankton population shrank without the viruses. If many members were already infected, we need some other reason why the plankton population shrank further once the viruses were gone.
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that health experts would be able to get people to eat wholesome foods if they emphasized flavor over health. This is because people generally choose what they eat based on flavor rather than health.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes people would genuinely like foods like broccoli and lentils taste enough to start incorporating them into their diets. The author also assumes most people don’t choose some small portion of their diet based on nutrition rather than taste, in which case recommending foods based on their nutritional value may in fact be a more successful strategy.
A
Most people currently believe that wholesome foods are more flavorful, on average, than unwholesome foods are.
Most people would presumably be eating wholesome foods, given that most people choose what they eat based on taste. We need to strengthen the claim that emphasizing flavor will encourage more people to eat wholesome foods.
B
Few people, when given a choice between foods that are flavorful but not nutritious and foods that are nutritious but not flavorful, will choose the foods that are nutritious but not flavorful.
This is basically stated. People generally choose based on flavor.
C
Health experts’ attempts to encourage people to eat wholesome foods by emphasizing how nutritious those foods are have been moderately successful.
We need to strengthen the claim that emphasizing how these foods taste will be even more successful.
D
The studies that revealed that people choose the foods they eat primarily on the basis of flavor also revealed that people rated as most flavorful those foods that were least nutritious.
This doesn’t help the author’s argument. People who eat based on flavor like unhealthy foods most of all.
E
In a study, subjects who were told that a given food was very flavorful were more willing to try the food and more likely to enjoy it than were subjects who were told that the food was nutritious.
People are more likely to try and enjoy foods they’re told are flavorful than foods they’re told are nutritious. Thus, it’s probably a good idea for health experts to emphasize flavor over taste.
Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
Dictation software, which allows computers to transcribe spoken sentences, is advertised as a labor-saving invention, but it fails to live up to this promise. The most labor-intensive part of writing is thinking and editing, not typing. Furthermore, the time spent double-checking the dictation software outweighs the time saved by not typing it.
Identify Argument Part
This is the main conclusion of the argument
A
It is the argument’s main conclusion but not its only conclusion.
Although this is the main conclusion, there are no other conclusions in this argument. All of the premises support this statement.
B
It is the argument’s only conclusion.
This is the main (and only) conclusion. All of the premises support the conclusion that dictation software does not save time when working.
C
It is an intermediate conclusion that is offered as direct support for the argument’s main conclusion.
This is the only conclusion in the argument. It is also not an intermediate conclusion because it does not give support to another conclusion (because it is the only one)
D
It is a premise offered in support of the argument’s conclusion.
This is not a premise; it does not support any conclusion. This statement only receives support, making it the argument’s main conclusion.
E
It is a premise offered as direct support for an intermediate conclusion of the argument.
This is not a premise; this is the argument's main (and only) conclusion. It does not give any support, so it cannot be a premise.
Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
While some administrators believe that computers will enable schools to teach far more courses with fewer teachers, this belief is mistaken. Computerized instruction actually requires more time from teachers. This indicates that reducing the amount of teachers would also reduce the number of courses offered.
Identify Argument Part
This is a claim that the argument sets out to refute.
A
It is presented as a possible explanation for an observation that follows it.
The purpose of this claim is not to explain the following sentence. The claim is mentioned because the rest of the argument is designed to refute this statement.
B
It is a statement of the problem the argument sets out to solve.
The argument does not seek to “solve” this problem; it is focused on correcting a misconception. This statement is a belief that the argument disputes.
C
It is a statement that the argument is designed to refute.
The argument’s purpose is to refute this claim. The author directly challenges this belief by claiming that computerizing education would have the opposite effect.
D
It is a statement offered in support of the argument’s main conclusion.
This statement does not support the main conclusion. The main conclusion is directly opposed to this belief.
E
It is the argument’s main conclusion.
This is not the main conclusion because it is not supported by any premises. The main conclusion directly contradicts this statement.