Match each argument with the piece of new evidence that most effectively weakens its conclusion. Assume all evidence statements are true.
- Excavations at the ancient site of Kaelen yielded hundreds of bronze swords but no bronze agricultural tools. Historians conclude that the Kaelen people were primarily a warrior society that did not engage in farming.The acidic soil composition in the Kaelen region rapidly degrades the thin bronze used for utilitarian tools, while preserving the thick, heavy bronze of ceremonial weapons.
- In the year following the introduction of a premium loyalty program, a supermarket chain saw its total sales volume increase by 15%. Executives concluded that the new program successfully attracted a broader customer base.Three major competing regional grocers declared bankruptcy and closed all their local branches in the month immediately preceding the rollout of the loyalty program.
- One year after a corporate wellness initiative mandated ergonomic chairs, employee reports of chronic back pain rose by 25%. Management concluded that the new ergonomic chairs must be physically harmful.The wellness initiative introduced an accessible digital portal that removed the previous bureaucratic hurdles for filing workplace health complaints.
- A municipality deemed its recycling campaign a failure, noting that the percentage of total municipal waste successfully recycled fell from 30% to 22% over the campaign's duration. They concluded residents are recycling a smaller absolute amount of material.The city's recent industrial expansion caused the total volume of non-recyclable commercial waste to triple, while household waste output remained constant.
Answer
Argument 1 matches with the soil composition evidence. Argument 2 matches with the bankrupt competitors evidence. Argument 3 matches with the digital portal evidence. Argument 4 matches with the commercial waste expansion evidence.
Each correct pairing directly attacks the specific logical vulnerability in the argument's inferential leap without contradicting the stated premises. The soil preservation bias explains the missing tools; the closed competitors provide an alternate cause for the sales bump; the new portal explains the increased reports independently of actual pain; and the massive increase in total waste demonstrates how the recycling percentage could drop while the absolute amount recycled remained constant or increased.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Identifying and exploiting specific logical gaps (Alternative Explanations, Causal Flaws, Reporting Bias, and Percentage vs. Number errors) to undermine an argument's conclusion.