1. The current high demand is due to the public’s perception that the watches are in short supply.
2. This is because they are produced in very small quantities.
3. The scarcity of these watches drives desire.
4. If the supply were increased, the perceived scarcity of the watches would diminish
5. This would decrease the demand for the watches.
A
an introductory claim that describes the position to be refuted by the argument
B
a justification of the relevance of the evidence cited
C
a premise of the argument
D
an opinion offered in support of one of the argument’s premises
E
the conclusion toward which the argument is directed
A
Large warm-blooded animals keep their core body temperature slightly higher than the body temperature in their limbs.
B
The fossilization process introduces changes to bones such that their original oxygen isotope ratios cannot be predicted.
C
Oxygen was more abundant in Earth’s atmosphere during the period in which the dinosaurs lived.
D
Small warm-blooded animals like mice tend to have more uniform body temperatures than do large warm-blooded animals like elephants.
E
Warm-blooded animals are more active and use more oxygen than cold-blooded animals.
A
Small rats are more likely than large rats to suffer from fatal diseases that tend to strike earlier than do heart problems.
B
Small rats generally have smaller blood vessels than do large rats, vessels that can more easily be clogged with fatty deposits.
C
The larger a rat is, the more successful it will be at defending itself, and therefore the less stressful its existence will be.
D
In addition to being the leading cause of weak hearts in adult rats, malnutrition at early stages of development causes rats to be undersized.
E
Although large rats are no more active than rats of average size, they tend to be much more active than small rats, resulting in greater cardiovascular conditioning.
Medical researcher: Studies in North America have shown that the incidence of heart disease in a population is closely related to the average fat consumption for individuals in that population. However, although residents of France consume, on average, as much fat as residents of North America, heart disease presently occurs half as frequently among the French as among North Americans.
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why do residents of France have a rate of heart disease half that of North Americans, even though they eat as much fat as North Americans, and studies in North America show that the rate of heart disease in a population is closely related to the average fat consumption of individuals in that population?
Objective
The correct answer should tell us something special about the French compared to North Americans that would lead to a lower rate of heart disease.
A
The average level of fat consumption by the French has been falling for several decades.
This doesn’t differentiate the French from North Americans. In addition, we already know the French eat just as much fat as North Americans. We have no reason to think that higher rates of fat consumption in the past have any impact.
B
Other factors of diet besides high consumption of fat have not been similarly linked with incidence of heart disease.
If this has any impact, it deepens our confusion. If other diet factors haven’t been linked to heart disease, then it’s harder to explain the discrepancy by pointing to a difference in other foods eaten by the French and North Americans.
C
Heart disease takes years to develop and the average level of fat consumption in France increased to North American levels only a few years ago.
This points out a difference between French and North Americans that could explain the French people’s lower heart rate. They only recently reached the same level of fat consumption as North Americans, so the French’s heart disease rate may not have had enough time to rise.
D
Certain diseases other than heart disease have also been linked to average fat consumption, and the French have a higher incidence of these than do North Americans.
We’re trying to explain the discrepancy in heart disease rate. Lack of difference in rates of other disease doesn’t help explain why the French have a different rate of heart disease from North Americans.
E
Cigarette smoking significantly increases the risk of heart disease and France has a higher percentage of cigarette smokers in its population than does North America.
This deepens our confusion, because it would lead us to expect the French to have a higher rate of heart disease than North Americans. But they actually have a lower rate.