Below are four distinct logical arguments (Left) and four pieces of evidence (Right). Match each argument to the single piece of evidence that most directly strengthens its conclusion by addressing its specific logical gap.
- A study found that corporate executives who meditate daily report lower stress levels. Thus, the act of meditating reduces stress among executives.The executives in the study who meditated daily did not have inherently less demanding workloads or fewer baseline responsibilities than those who did not meditate.
- The newly developed synthetic fabric demonstrated a 40% higher tensile strength in laboratory stress tests. Therefore, consumers will find garments made from this fabric to be significantly more durable in everyday wear.Increases in the tensile strength of synthetic fabrics consistently translate into proportionally longer lifespans for garments under normal, everyday wearing conditions.
- A poll conducted among attendees of an avant-garde film festival revealed overwhelming support for increased municipal arts funding. Clearly, most city taxpayers favor raising the arts budget.Demographic analyses confirm that attendees of the avant-garde film festival accurately mirror the economic and political demographics of the city's overall taxpayer base.
- Following the implementation of a new inventory tracking software, Warehouse Q saw a 25% drop in fulfillment errors. The warehouse director concludes the new software caused this improvement.Other regional warehouses that maintained the old inventory tracking software experienced no decrease in fulfillment errors during the identical time period.
Answer
The correct pairings align each argument's specific logical flaw with evidence that resolves it: the meditation correlation is strengthened by ruling out alternative workloads, the fabric test is strengthened by bridging laboratory results to everyday wear, the arts poll is strengthened by confirming sample representativeness, and the warehouse software is strengthened by showing a control group.
Each correct match directly addresses the specific logical vulnerability of its corresponding argument. The meditation argument's causal claim is supported by ruling out a confounding variable (workload). The fabric argument is supported by explicitly linking the premise's metric (tensile strength) to the conclusion's metric (durability). The arts funding argument is supported by proving its biased-seeming sample is actually representative. The warehouse argument is supported by providing a control group that eliminates alternative temporal explanations.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Identifying specific logical gaps in arguments and selecting evidence that directly addresses those vulnerabilities.