Self-study
Fishing columnist: When an independent research firm compared the five best-selling baits, Support it found that Benton baits work best for catching trout. ██ █████ █ █████ ███ ███████ ██ ███ ███ ███ ████ ████████████ █████ ██ ████ ██████ ███ ████████ █████ ██ █ ████████ ████████ ███████ ███ █████ ██████ ███ ███ ████ ███████ ████ █ ██████ █████ █████ ███████ ████ ████ ██████ ██ ███ ████ ████ ███ ██████ ███ ██ ███████ ███ ██████
Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The columnist concludes that Benton is the best bait for anyone who is fishing for trout. Why? Because an independent research firm found it to be the best of the 5 top-selling baits in an experiment. The experiment was conducted by top anglers who fished for speckled trout in a pristine northern stream.
Identify and Describe Flaw
This is the cookie-cutter flaw of making a hasty generalization. The columnist concludes that Benton baits are universally the best for catching trout. But his basis for doing so is an experiment that only measures the five top-selling baits, only tests them in a pristine stream with top anglers, and only attempts to catch speckled trout.
19.
Each of the following describes █ ████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ███ ███████ ███████████ ████████ ███████
a
The argument overlooks ███ ███████████ ████ ████ █████ ████ ██ ████ ██████████ ████ ███ ██ ███ ████ ████████████ ██████
The test cited by the columnist only examined the five best-selling baits. A less popular bait could be more effective—which would undermine the conclusion.
b
The argument overlooks ███ ███████████ ████ ████ █████ ████ ███ ██████ ███████ ████ ███ ████ ████ ███ ████████ ████████
The test cited by the columnist was conducted by expert anglers. If ordinary anglers differ from experts, we can’t be sure the results will apply to them.
c
The argument overlooks ███ ███████████ ████ ███ ████████ █████████████ ██ █████████ █████ ███████ ████ ████ ██ █████████ ██████████
The test cited by the columnist only examined a pristine northern stream—results might different in non-pristine, non-northern streams.
d
The argument overlooks ███ ███████████ ████ ███ ████████████ ██████ ██ ████ ███ ██ ███████ ██████████
The columnist does consider this possibility: the test compared the five best-selling brands of bait.
e
The argument overlooks ███ ███████████ ████ █████ ████ ████ ████ ████ █ ██████████ ███████ ██ ████ ███ ███ ████ ████ ████ █████ █████████ ██ ████ █████
The test cited by the columnist only examined speckled trout. Bait efficacy might differ for other varieties of trout.