A group of unusual meteorites was found in Shergotty, India. █████ █████████ █████████ ████ ████ ██████████ ██ ███ ██ ███ ████████████ ██████ ████████ ████████ ██████ ██ █████ ███████ ██ █████████ █████████ ██ ███ ████ ███ ████████ █████████ ████ ████ ████████ ███████ █████ ████ ████ ████████ ██ ███ ████ ██████ ████ ███████ ██ █████ ██ ███████████ ███ █████ █████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ███ ███████████ ███████ ███ ███████ █████ ████ █████████ █████████ ████████ ████ ████████ ████ ██████ ███ ███████████ ██████████ ████████ ████ ██ █████ █████ █████ █████████ ████ █████ ███████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ █ █████████ ████ █ █████ ███████
The author concludes that a group of unusual meteorites found in Shergotty, India probably came from Mars. As support, the author says that the structure of the meteorites suggests that they came from Mercury, Venus, or Mars. Any material from Mercury would have been captured by the Sun and any material from Venus would not have escaped into space, which leaves Mars as the likely source of the meteroites.
The author’s argument works by laying out three possible options (Mercury, Venus, and Mars), and eliminating two of the options (Mercury and Venus), leaving Mars as the likely source of the meteorites.
The argument derives its conclusion ██
offering a counterexample ██ █ ██████
The author does not offer a counterexample. Instead, the author outlines a question (the origin of the unusual meteorites) and makes a conclusion about the answer to this question (that the meteorites probably came from Mars).
eliminating competing alternative ████████████
The author’s argument works by eliminating Mercury and Venus as potential alternate explanations of the origin of the meteorites.
contrasting present circumstances ████ ████ █████████████
The author does not contrast present circumstances with past circumstances; there is no distinction between how things are now and how things were in the past.
questioning an assumption
The author does not question any assumptions. Instead, the author lists Mercury and Venus as two of the possible sources of the meteorites because of the meteorites’ structure, then explains that material from Mercury and Venus would not have reached Earth.
abstracting a general █████████ ████ ████████ ████
The author does not discuss any general principles, nor does the author mention specific data.
Answer five questions and we'll estimate your score.
It takes about five minutes.
Take the free diagnostic