Self-study
Salmon farmer: Farm-raised salmon is preferable to wild salmon due to its year-round availability, consistent quality, and cheaper price. ███ ███ ████ ██████ ██ ██████ ██████ ██████ ██ ███████████ ██ ██████████ ██████ ███ ██████ ██████ ██████████ ███ ██████ ███ ██████████ ████ ██████ ██████ █████ ██ ████ █████ ██ ████ ████ ████ █████ ███████ ██ ████ ███ ████████ ███████ ████ ██████████ █████ ████████
Summarize Argument
The salmon farmer concludes that the best reason for choosing farmed salmon over wild salmon is that the farmed option is more eco-friendly. As support, he points to a cause-and-effect chain that suggests farmed salmon is the more eco-friendly choice. Specifically, preference for farmed salmon takes the pressure off of wild salmon, which allows wild populations to recover.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that there aren’t any significant ecological downsides to farmed salmon that would undermine its eco-friendliness.
Also, by concluding that eco-friendliness is the single best reason for choosing farmed salmon, she assumes that any other advantages that farmed salmon might have are less important when compared with the ecological advantages.
5.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ ████ ███████ ███ ██████ ████████ █████████
a
Farmed salmon are ███ ████ █████ ██████████ ██ █████ ████ ██████ ██ █████ █████ ████ ██████ ███████ ██ █████
This raises an ecological downside of preferring farmed salmon: it could reduce food sources for wild salmon, potentially harming those wild populations. This negative ecological effect weakens the author’s whole line of reasoning, as choosing farmed salmon may hurt wild salmon.
b
Though some wild ██████ ███ ██ ██ ██████ ███████ ████ ██████ ███████ ████ ██ ███ ███████
“Quality” is an irrelevant point of comparison—the conclusion only cares about the ecological benefits of farmed salmon. If anything, (B) slightly strengthens by helping to rule out quality as a competing “best reason” to choose farmed salmon.
Directionally wrong
Directionally wrong
Answers that, if they have any effect, do the opposite of what we want (weaken when we're trying to strengthen, or strengthen when we're trying to weaken).
c
Most people who ███ ██████ ███ ███ █████ ██ ███ ███████████ ███████ ███ █████ ██ ████ ██████ ███ ████ ██ ██████ ███████
This strengthens the argument. It helps to rule out taste as a competing “best reason” to choose farmed salmon.
Directionally wrong
Directionally wrong
Answers that, if they have any effect, do the opposite of what we want (weaken when we're trying to strengthen, or strengthen when we're trying to weaken).
d
Limits on the ██████ ██ ██████ ████ ███ ██ █████ ████ ███ ████ ████ ███ ██ █████████ ██ ███ █████ ██ ████ ███████
It’s unclear what effect this has on the argument. First, we don’t know what’s happening to the price of farmed salmon—is it also increasing? Second, nothing here suggests that price is now a “better reason,” or eco-friendliness a worse one, for choosing farmed salmon.
e
Wild salmon are ████ ██████ ████ ██████ ██████ ██ ████ ████████ ██████████ ████ ███ ██ ███████ ██ ███████
It’s unclear what effect this has on the argument, because nothing here suggests that human safety is now a “better reason,” or eco-friendliness a worse one, for choosing farmed salmon.