Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumStrengthen

Match each logical argument (left) with the piece of evidence (right) that most strengthens its conclusion.

  • Since the city launched its new recycling initiative, the tonnage of waste sent to the municipal landfill has decreased by 20%. The mayor concludes that the recycling initiative successfully diverted waste.During the period the initiative was active, the overall tonnage of trash generated by the city's residents did not decrease.
  • A study found that adults who regularly consume dark chocolate have a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease. Researchers hypothesize that dark chocolate protects against cardiovascular disease.Those who regularly eat dark chocolate are no more likely to maintain other heart-healthy habits than those who rarely eat it.
  • The local cafe saw a revenue increase after offering free Wi-Fi. To combat declining sales, the bookstore next door should also offer free Wi-Fi.Like the cafe's patrons, the bookstore's target customers are highly motivated by the availability of internet access when choosing a destination.
  • SkyHigh Airlines plans to remove one row of seats from its planes to increase legroom, and charge a 15% higher ticket price for the remaining seats to improve overall profit margins.The additional revenue generated by the 15% ticket price premium will more than offset the loss of revenue from selling fewer seats per flight.

Answer

The recycling argument matches with the evidence about overall trash tonnage. The dark chocolate argument matches with the evidence about other heart-healthy habits. The bookstore argument matches with the evidence about customer internet motivation. The airline argument matches with the evidence about revenue offsetting seat losses.
Each correct pairing successfully addresses the primary logical vulnerability inherent in its respective argument. The recycling evidence eliminates an alternate cause; the chocolate evidence eliminates a confounding variable; the bookstore evidence confirms a relevant similarity for an analogy; and the airline evidence validates a core cost-benefit assumption.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the Recycling Argument
Identify the causal claim: The recycling program caused the 20% drop in landfill waste. The gap: What if residents simply produced less trash overall? The evidence stating that overall trash tonnage did not decrease resolves this vulnerability.
Ruling out alternative causes is a primary method for strengthening causal arguments.
2
Analyze the Dark Chocolate Argument
Identify the correlation-to-causation claim. The gap: People who eat dark chocolate might have healthier diets or exercise more, causing the lower disease rate. The evidence eliminating this confounding variable strengthens the claim.
Eliminating a third variable that could cause both the observed phenomenon and the effect strengthens the hypothesized causal link.
3
Analyze the Bookstore Argument
Identify the argument by analogy: What worked for the cafe will work for the bookstore. The gap: Are their customers similarly motivated by Wi-Fi? The evidence confirming they are highly motivated by internet access strengthens the analogy.
Arguments by analogy are strengthened by showing that the two cases share the specific traits relevant to the conclusion.
4
Analyze the Airline Argument
Identify the plan's goal: Improve profit margins. The gap: Will the 15% ticket price premium cover the revenue lost from the removed row of seats? The evidence explicitly confirming this offsets the loss strengthens the plan.
Business plans and strategies are strengthened by evidence showing that their expected financial benefits outweigh their inherent costs.

Key Concept

Strengthening an argument requires identifying its core logical gap or assumption, and selecting evidence that bridges that gap, rules out alternative explanations, or validates the premise.
Rate this question

Topics

Strengthen

More questions from this topic