Summary
Global warming has caused a rise in global sea level. This rise results from melting glaciers and ice sheets, as well as the fact water volume increases when its temperature increases. This rise in global sea level is lower than it otherwise could have been, because over the years we have built reservoirs around the world that capture water that would otherwise reach the sea.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
It is possible to slow down the rate at which the sea level rises.
We can do things to change the impact of global warming on the sea level.
We can do things to change the impact of global warming on the sea level.
A
The exact magnitude of the rise in global sea level is in dispute.
Unsupported. The exact rise in sea level might be universally agreed on. We know nothing about the level of consensus or dispute regarding how much the sea level has risen.
B
Rises in global sea level that occurred before the world’s reservoirs were built are difficult to explain.
Unsupported. Rises in sea level before reservoirs were built could have been due to global warming. The stimulus doesn’t suggest we have a lack of understanding of any rise in sea level before reservoirs were built.
C
Little is known about the contribution of global warming to the rise in global sea level.
Unsupported. We know that the rise in sea level is not as great as it could have been. And we might know the exact amount of the rise that’s attributable to global warming. The stimulus doesn’t provide any evidence to the contrary.
D
The amount of water in the world’s reservoirs is about equal to the amount of water that results from the melting of glaciers and ice sheets.
Unsupported. We know reservoirs contain water that would have gone into the sea. We have no evidence concerning how the amount in the reservoirs compares to the amount that melts.
E
The amount of water that results from the melting of glaciers and ice sheets cannot be determined by looking at the rise in global sea level alone.
Supported. The rise in sea level is a product of melting glaciers, expanding water volume, and water being redirected to reservoirs. So, you can’t look at the rise in sea level alone and know how much each factor contributes (or took away, in the case of reservoirs) to the rise.
Summary
Cats fed canned food eat fewer ounces per day on average than cats fed dry food. Canned food has more calories per ounce than dry food. Feeding a cat canned food usually costs more per day than feeding a cat dry food.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
Canned food costs more per ounce than dry food, such that the extra cost offsets the reduced amount of food that cats have to eat when fed canned food.
A
On average, cats fed canned cat food eat more calories per day than do cats fed dry cat food.
This is unsupported because despite the higher caloric content of canned food, cats eating canned food eat fewer ounces of food per day. These values may offset such that the calories per day for cats are the same regardless of which food they eat.
B
Typically, cats are fed either canned cat food or dry cat food, or both.
This is unsupported because there may exist a third type of food that the stimulus hasn’t mentioned.
C
How much it costs to feed a cat a given kind of food depends only on how many calories per ounce that food contains.
This is unsupported because the overall cost could also depend on the cost of the food per ounce.
D
On average, it costs no less to feed a cat that eats fewer ounces of food per day than it does to feed a cat that eats more ounces of food per day.
This is unsupported because it is possible that cats have overall different average amounts of calories that they eat regardless of food type. Eating fewer ounces of food per day isn’t necessarily confined to the cats that eat wet food.
E
Canned cat food typically costs more per ounce than does dry cat food.
This is strongly supported because even though cats eat less per day when fed canned food than fed dry food, the cost is higher for canned food each day. This means the higher cost is offsetting the reduced amount that cats eat of canned food.