Self-study
Derek: We must exploit available resources in developing effective anticancer drugs such as the one made from mature Pacific yew trees. ████████ ███ ███ ██████████ █████ ██ ███████████ ███ █████ ██████ ██ █████████ ████ █████ ██ █████████ █████████ ███████ ██ ███ ███████ ██████████ ████████ █████ ████ █████ ██ ████████
█████ ███ ████ ███ ██████ ████ ████ █████ ███ ████ ███ ███████ ██ █████ █████ ███████ ██ ██████████ ██ ███████ ███ ███████ ██ ███ ██████████ ███████ ████ ███████ ███ █████████ ██ ████ █████████ ██ █ ███ ███████ █████████████ ██ ██████ ████ ███ █ █████████ ████ ██████ ████ ████████ ███ ████████ ██ ████ ███ ███ ███ ███ ████ █████ █████ ████ ████████████ ████████████ ███ ██ ██████ ██████████
Point At Issue: Disagree
We treat Point At Issue questions like double-MSS. In this disagree question, the correct answer needs to receive positive support (✅) from one speaker and negative support (❌) from the other. Mere silence on the issue (❓) doesn’t cut it.
In this particular stimulus, anticipating the issue is pretty doable – Derek and Lola disagree about whether we should harvest the trees now or wait to do so.
6.
Which one of the following ██ ███ ████ █████ ██ █████ ███████ ████ ███ ██████
a
whether the harvesting ██ █████████ ███████ ████ █████ ████ ████████████ █████████████ █████████████
Would harvesting the yews have far-reaching environmental repercussions?
Derek:❓Lola: ✅
b
whether the drugs ████ ███ █████████ ███████ ███████████ ██████ ████████ ██████ ██ █████ ██ █████████ ██████ ████ █████████ █████████ █████████
Should effective drugs be based on synthetic chemicals?
Derek:❓Lola: ❓
If (B) asked whether the anticancer drugs we use in the short term should be based on synthetic rather than naturally-occurring chemicals, we’d be getting somewhere. But (B) is a statement about effective drugs in general. Neither speaker takes a stance on this general claim.
c
whether it is ███████████ ██ ████ █████ █ █████████ ████ ███ ██ █████████ ████ ███ ████████ ███ █████████ ███ ███████████ ████ ███████ ██████
Should we wait for synthetic drugs even though we can make yew-based drugs now?
Derek: ❌Lola: ✅
Derek thinks
d
the extent of ███ █████████████ ████████ ████ █████ ██████ ██ ████ ███ ███████ ███ ███ ███ ███████ ███ ████ ██ ██████ ███████
Would the environmental disaster be really extensive?
Derek:❓Lola: ✅
e
whether environmental considerations ██████ ████ ████ ███ ██████ ████ █████ █████ ███ ██ █████
Should environmental considerations ever have any weight?
Derek:❓Lola: ✅
Lola’s position implies she thinks the answer is yes – she bases her “we should wait” position on environmental considerations, so she must think they have weight.
Derek is silent because (E) is quite a weak claim, so disagreeing with it would mean taking the very strong position that “no environmental considerations should ever have any weight when human lives are at stake.” We have evidence that Derek thinks these environmental considerations are outweighed by other, more important considerations, but that’s a much weaker position.
If anything, Derek