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Zorluk: OrtaIdentifying Necessary Assumptions

Historian: A newly deciphered administrative tablet from the ancient city of Oakhaven lists the daily rations given to the city's palace guards. These rations consisted entirely of barley and dried fish. In contrast, military records from the neighboring city of Riverton from the same period explicitly mention supplementary rations of figs and olives for their guards. Therefore, Oakhaven's palace guards must have had a less varied diet than Riverton's guards.

Which one of the following is an assumption required by the historian's argument?

  1. The palace guards in Oakhaven did not regularly consume a wide variety of foods other than those listed on the deciphered administrative tablet.Cevap
  2. B
    The diets of the guards in both Oakhaven and Riverton were restricted entirely to their officially provided government rations.
  3. C
    All surviving administrative records from Oakhaven accurately reflect the exact quantities of food distributed to the city's inhabitants.
  4. D
    A diet consisting of barley and dried fish provides less nutritional value than a diet that includes figs and olives.
  5. E
    The deciphered administrative tablet from Oakhaven is the only existing historical record that details the food provided in that ancient city.

Cevap

The correct answer is the option stating that Oakhaven's guards did not regularly consume a wide variety of foods outside of their official rations.
The correct answer bridges the gap between the evidence (official rations) and the conclusion (total diet). By establishing that the guards did not obtain a wide variety of alternative foods, it defends the conclusion against the possibility that the guards supplemented their monotonous rations with other items. If we apply the Negation Test and assume the guards DID consume a wide variety of other foods, the historian's conclusion that their diet was less varied is destroyed.

Adım Adım Çözüm

1
Analyze the structure of the argument.
Premise: Oakhaven's official rations were limited to barley and fish, while Riverton's included figs and olives. Conclusion: Oakhaven's guards had a less varied diet.
Identifying the premises and conclusion makes it easier to spot the logical gap.
2
Identify the gap in the reasoning.
The historian treats 'official rations' as synonymous with 'overall diet.'
A diet consists of everything a person eats, whereas rations are just what the government provides. The author assumes the guards didn't get food from other sources.
3
Apply the Negation Technique to the options.
Negating the correct option reveals that if Oakhaven guards consumed a wide variety of unrecorded foods, the conclusion that their diet was less varied than Riverton's is completely undermined.
A necessary assumption is a statement that MUST be true for the conclusion to logically hold.

Anahtar Kavram

Identifying a 'Defender' Necessary Assumption that protects the argument by eliminating a potential weakness (in this case, an alternative source of food).
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Konular

Identifying Necessary Assumptions

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