Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumWeaken

Food Scientist: Perishable fruits spoil primarily due to the accumulation of ethylene gas and moisture inside standard retail packaging. A newly developed bio-polymer film incorporates microporous zeolite minerals designed to continuously absorb ethylene and regulate internal humidity. In laboratory trials under standard refrigerated conditions, strawberries wrapped in this bio-polymer film remained fresh twice as long as strawberries wrapped in conventional plastic packaging. Therefore, commercial grocers can substantially reduce in-store strawberry spoilage by adopting this bio-polymer packaging.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the food scientist's argument?

  1. A
    When tested on other ethylene-sensitive fruits such as blackberries and peaches in refrigerated conditions, the bio-polymer film similarly delayed spoilage.
  2. B
    Ethylene gas and trapped moisture do not contribute significantly to the spoilage process of perishable fruits.
  3. C
    Conventional plastic packaging inevitably leads to total fruit spoilage within forty-eight hours regardless of storage temperature.
  4. Unlike the dark refrigerated units used in the laboratory trials, typical grocery display cases subject packaged fruit to continuous fluorescent lighting, which triggers the bio-polymer to break down and release moisture that fosters fungal decay.Answer
  5. E
    Many grocery shoppers report a preference for purchasing loose, unpackaged berries rather than berries sold in sealed containers.

Answer

The argument is most seriously weakened by pointing out that typical grocery display cases expose packaged fruit to continuous lighting that breaks down the bio-polymer and accelerates fungal decay.
The correct answer provides evidence that the operating conditions of retail grocery stores differ in a crucial way from the laboratory test environment. Specifically, continuous fluorescent lighting in stores triggers a chemical breakdown in the bio-polymer that releases moisture and promotes fungal rot, thereby invalidating the conclusion that grocers will experience a net reduction in strawberry spoilage.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the premises and conclusion of the argument.
Premises: Ethylene and moisture cause fruit spoilage; the bio-polymer absorbs both; in refrigerated laboratory trials, strawberries wrapped in this film lasted twice as long as those in plastic. Conclusion: Commercial grocers can reduce in-store strawberry spoilage by adopting this packaging.
Weaken questions require identifying the gap between the evidence provided and the author's ultimate claim.
2
Analyze the underlying assumption bridging the experimental evidence to the real-world application.
The author assumes that the performance observed in dark, refrigerated laboratory conditions will translate directly to commercial grocery store environments without unanticipated failure modes.
Arguments that generalize from controlled laboratory tests to commercial use are vulnerable to unconsidered real-world differences.
3
Evaluate the answer choices for new information that breaks this assumption.
The option noting that retail fluorescent lighting causes the bio-polymer to degrade and release moisture that fosters decay demonstrates that in-store conditions will actively negate the preservation benefits observed in the laboratory.
Introducing an operational failure specific to commercial grocery environments directly undermines the recommendation.

Key Concept

Evaluating causal generalizations from controlled laboratory trials to real-world commercial environments
Rate this question

Topics

Weaken

More questions from this topic