Tüm alıştırma soruları

Music Historian: The oldest surviving specimens of the Torathi lute feature a soundbox carved entirely from the heartwood of the Veldt oak. Shaping Veldt oak heartwood requires high-carbon steel chisels, which historical records indicate were not available in the Torathi region until the fifth century. Therefore, the Torathi lute must have been invented no earlier than the fifth century.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the music historian's argument depends?

Review the four distinct arguments provided below. For each argument, identify the corresponding abstract principle that, if assumed to be true, logically guarantees the argument's conclusion.

Epidemiologist: To evaluate the long-term safety of the new dietary supplement Novagen, researchers conducted a comprehensive five-year study. They tracked 5,000 individuals who consumed Novagen daily for the entire five-year period and compared them to a control group of 5,000 individuals who never consumed it. The researchers ensured both groups were strictly matched for age, diet, exercise habits, and initial cardiovascular health. The data shows that the individuals who consumed Novagen daily for five years had a 40 percent lower incidence of cardiovascular disease than the control group. This conclusively demonstrates that long-term, daily consumption of Novagen provides significant protection against cardiovascular disease.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the epidemiologist’s argument?

Financial analyst: Any regional bank that aggressively expands its commercial lending operations faces increased regulatory scrutiny. Over the past year, Sentinel Bank has aggressively expanded its commercial lending operations. It is clear, therefore, that Sentinel Bank will have to hire additional internal compliance officers.

The conclusion of the financial analyst's argument follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

The city recently replaced all traditional toll booths on the busy cross-town bridge with a high-speed electronic tolling system, which allows cars to pass without slowing down. Interestingly, even though the total number of cars using the bridge daily has not increased, the average time it takes a vehicle to cross the bridge during rush hour has actually increased since the new system was installed.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy?

An industry report compared employee advancement at two major technology firms, ApexTech and Zenith Dynamics. According to the report, both companies categorize all of their employees into exactly two departments: software engineering and administrative staff.

The report noted that ApexTech promoted $15\%$ of its total workforce last year, while Zenith Dynamics promoted only $8\%$ of its total workforce. However, the data also revealed that Zenith Dynamics promoted a higher percentage of its software engineers than ApexTech did, and Zenith Dynamics also promoted a higher percentage of its administrative staff than ApexTech did.

Which of the following statements, if true, jointly provide a complete mathematical resolution to the apparent discrepancy described above? (Select exactly two options)

Analyze the reasoning in each of the following flawed arguments. Match each argument with the abstract description that most accurately identifies its logical flaw.

Philosopher: An individual can be held morally blameworthy for an outcome only if the actions leading to that outcome were the product of conscious deliberation. Neurological studies demonstrate that the physical movements involved in routine driving are initiated by the brain milliseconds before the driver becomes consciously aware of the intention to perform them. Therefore, drivers cannot be held morally blameworthy for traffic accidents caused by their physical movements during routine driving.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the philosopher's argument depends?

Ethicist: Dr. Lin is conducting a sociological study that involves observing the behavior of people in public parks without their knowledge or explicit consent. Some critics argue that this violates the subjects' right to privacy. However, Dr. Lin records only generalized, anonymized data, capturing no identifying characteristics whatsoever. Furthermore, the individuals being observed have chosen to enter a completely public space where they can be seen by anyone. Therefore, Dr. Lin's study does not violate the subjects' right to privacy.

Which one of the following principles, if valid, most helps to justify the ethicist's reasoning?

Over the past decade, the survival rate of juvenile snow leopards in the highland habitat of the Altai Mountains has steadily decreased. Similarly, the survival rate of juvenile snow leopards in the lowland habitat of the same mountain range has also steadily decreased. These two habitats account for the entirety of the snow leopard population in the region. Yet, contrary to expectations, wildlife biologists report that the overall survival rate of juvenile snow leopards across the entire Altai region has actually increased over this ten-year period.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy described above?

Legal Scholar: A contract is morally binding on a consumer only if the consumer was afforded a reasonable opportunity to negotiate its terms. Software end-user license agreements (EULAs) are presented to consumers strictly on a "take-it-or-leave-it" basis. However, failing to enforce EULAs would lead to rampant software piracy, ultimately destroying the software industry. Therefore, because the software company Vertex required its customers to explicitly click "I agree" before accessing its latest program, Vertex is morally justified in enforcing its EULA against users who pirate the software.

Which one of the following principles, if valid, most helps to justify the legal scholar's reasoning?

Anthropologist: The recent excavation of sophisticated bone tools at the Marak cave site, located in a soil stratum dating back 80,000 years, challenges the accepted timeline of human cognitive development. Because shaping these tools requires the ability to conceptualize a multi-step manufacturing process, humans must have developed advanced abstract reasoning abilities much earlier than the widely accepted 50,000-year mark.

Statement: The anthropologist's argument necessarily assumes that the bone tools were not introduced into the 80,000-year-old soil stratum by human populations living at a significantly later date.

A healthy ecosystem requires a diverse population of apex predators. Without a diverse population of apex predators, herbivore populations grow unchecked. Therefore, if a forest contains a healthy ecosystem, its herbivore populations will not grow unchecked.

Which one of the following arguments contains a flawed pattern of reasoning most similar to the one exhibited in the argument above?

Urban Planner: The city charter mandates that all new residential developments must preserve the 'historical character' of the neighborhood. The developers of the proposed high-rise apartment complex argue that their building preserves historical character because it will securely house an extensive library of local historical archives. Since the new building will indeed preserve these archives, we must conclude that the developers' proposal strictly adheres to the city charter's mandate.

The urban planner's reasoning is flawed because it trades on an ambiguity with respect to the phrase 'historical character'.

In the city of Oakhaven, a new municipal policy successfully reduced the per capita water consumption of its residents by 20 percent over a five-year period. During this same five-year period, the city did not expand its borders, and the total water supply available to the city remained perfectly constant. Nevertheless, by the end of the five-year period, the city's water reservoirs had experienced a severe depletion, reaching historically low levels.

Which one of the following most accurately identifies the apparent discrepancy presented in the information above?

During the last decade, the number of industrial accidents at factories implementing the Alpha safety protocol decreased by 40 percent. Meanwhile, the number of industrial accidents at factories using the Beta safety protocol decreased by only 15 percent. Consequently, factories using the Alpha protocol must now experience fewer industrial accidents than those using the Beta protocol.

Which one of the following arguments contains a flawed pattern of reasoning most similar to the one exhibited in the argument above?

Below are four short arguments that exhibit different errors in reasoning. Connect each argument on the left with the abstract principle on the right that best explains why its conclusion does not logically follow.

Below are four excerpts from public policy and economic debates. For each argument on the left, identify the single factual statement on the right that, if true, would pose the most severe logical challenge to the speaker's conclusion.

A public health organization recently analyzed the incidence of a specific respiratory ailment across the adult populations of two neighboring regions, Westvale and Eastboro. The data revealed that the incidence rate of the ailment among adults over 65 is significantly higher in Westvale than in Eastboro. Similarly, the incidence rate of the ailment among adults 65 and under is also higher in Westvale than in Eastboro. Despite these findings, the organization concluded that the overall incidence rate of the respiratory ailment for the entire adult population is substantially higher in Eastboro than in Westvale.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy described above?

Match each of the following incomplete arguments with the sufficient assumption that, if added as a premise, would logically guarantee its conclusion.