Below are four distinct arguments (left) and four potential pieces of counter-evidence (right). Identify which specific fact provides the strongest logical challenge to each argument's central conclusion.
- Since the municipal water treatment plant upgraded its filtration system, reports of waterborne illnesses have dropped by 50%. The new filtration system is clearly responsible for the improved public health.Concurrent with the filtration upgrade, a widespread public awareness campaign led residents to begin boiling all drinking water before consumption.
- A poll conducted among attendees of the annual Tech Innovators Conference found that 90% believe artificial intelligence will replace most administrative jobs within five years. Therefore, the vast majority of the workforce expects AI to eliminate administrative roles.Professionals who attend specialized technology conferences have vastly different perspectives on workplace automation than the general working population.
- The total number of workplace safety violations cited by inspectors at the local manufacturing plant decreased significantly this year. It is evident that the factory's workers are adhering more strictly to safety protocols.Due to severe budget constraints, the regulatory agency was forced to conduct only half as many factory inspections this year compared to previous years.
- In laboratory trials, Compound Z successfully eradicated a newly discovered strain of bacteria in isolated tissue cultures. Thus, administering Compound Z to human patients infected with this bacterial strain will be an effective cure.The human digestive system completely neutralizes Compound Z before it can enter the bloodstream and reach the site of a bacterial infection.
Answer
The arguments logically match with the counter-evidence as follows: The water filtration argument pairs with the public boiling water campaign. The tech poll argument pairs with the statement about specialized professionals having different perspectives. The safety violations argument pairs with the fact about reduced factory inspections. The Compound Z argument pairs with the evidence about the human digestive system neutralizing the compound.
Each argument contains a classic logical flaw. The correct pairings map the specific vulnerability of each argument to the one piece of evidence that directly targets that vulnerability: an alternative cause for a causal flaw, unrepresentative data for a sampling flaw, changing measurement conditions for a numerical flaw, and relevant differences for an analogy.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Identifying specific logical flaws (causation, sampling bias, numbers vs. rates, and faulty analogies) and selecting counter-evidence that exploits those exact vulnerabilities.