Garbage in this neighborhood probably will not be collected until Thur

Question

Garbage in this neighborhood probably will not be collected until Thursday this week. Garbage is usually collected here on Wednesdays, and the garbage collectors in this city are extremely reliable. However, Monday was a public holiday, and after a public holiday that falls on a Monday, garbage throughout the city is supposed to be collected one day later than usual.

The argument proceeds by

(A) treating several pieces of irrelevant evidence as though they provide support for the conclusion

(B) indirectly establishing that one thing is likely to occur by directly ruling out all of the alternative possibilities

(C) providing information that allows application of a general rule to a specific case

(D) generalizing about all actions of a certain kind on the basis of a description of one such action

(E) treating something that is probable as though it were inevitable

anothermillenial · Answer

Conclusion,   Premise,   Counter Premise

Garbage in this neighbourhood probably will not be collected until Thursday this week.   Garbage is usually collected here on Wednesdays, and the garbage collectors in this city are extremely reliable.   However, Monday was a public holiday,   and after a public holiday that falls on a Monday, garbage throughout the city is supposed to be collected one day later than usual.

Basically the author uses factual evidence (from premise 1 and 2) and the counter premise to conclude the date garbage will be collected given the fact nested in the counter premise that “Monday was a public holiday”. Seems like a pretty solid argument to me.

The argument proceeds by

(A) treating  several pieces of irrelevant evidence  as though they provide support for the conclusion 
The pieces of evidence ARE relevant and do SUPPORT conclusion.

(B)  indirectly  establishing that one thing is likely to occur by directly  ruling out all of the alternative possibilities  
The author does not rule out any alternative possibilities. There's nothing "indirect" here. 
 
(C) providing information that allows application of  a general rule to a specific case  
Seemed like a close choice at first between (B) and (C) at first glance, but (C) follows the general rule from the evidence provided (premise 1, 2, and counter premise) and then applies it to a case (i.e. Monday is a holiday).

(D)  generalizing  about all actions of a certain kind on the basis of a description of one such action 
The author is not making generalisations about ALL actions. The evidence provided is pretty factual. Never does the author describe one action/example.

(E) treating something that is  probable as though it were inevitable  
Never does the author assume that the pickup will inevitably happen on Thursday. The author states that it “will probably be collected” on Thursday, not “definitely” or “inevitably”.

CEdward · Answer

Garbage in this neighborhood probably will not be collected until Thursday this week. Garbage is usually collected here on Wednesdays, and the garbage collectors in this city are extremely reliable. However, Monday was a public holiday, and after a public holiday that falls on a Monday, garbage throughout the city is supposed to be collected one day later than usual.

The argument proceeds by

(A) treating several pieces of  irrelevant  evidence as though they provide support for the conclusion
-blatantly false

(B) indirectly establishing that one thing is likely to occur by directly ruling  out all  of the alternative possibilities
-extreme language

(C) providing information that allows application of a general rule to a specific case  CORRECT

(D)  generalizing  about  all  actions of a certain kind on the basis of a description of one such action
-wrong verb
-extremism

(E) treating something that is probable as though it were  inevitable 
-false accusation

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

We begin by analyzing the structure of the problem: Premise: Garbage is usually collected here on Wednesdays, and the garbage collectors in this city are extremely reliable. Premise: Monday was a public holiday. Premise: After a public holiday that falls on a Monday, garbage throughout the city is supposed to be collected one day later than usual. Conclusion: Garbage in this neighborhood probably will not be collected until Thursday this week. The argument is sound and the conclusion seems reasonable. The language in the conclusion is not absolute (“probably”), and this is justified since the language used in the argument—“usually” and “supposed to be”—is also probabilistic. Knowing that the argument is valid, the question you must ask yourself is, “How would I describe the structure of this argument?”

Answer choice (A): This answer forces you to make an assessment of the premises (the “evidence”) as they relate to the conclusion. Are the premises irrelevant to the conclusion? Clearly not. Therefore, this answer is incorrect.

Answer choice (B): This is a half-right, half-wrong answer. The argument does establish “that one thing is likely to occur.” But, is this established by ruling out all of the alternative possibilities? No, to do that would mean presenting arguments against the garbage being collected on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, etc. Since this section of the answer choice does not occur, this answer is incorrect. Also, because the argument does not rule out all the alternatives, the conclusion is not established “indirectly.”

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer. Consider each piece of the argument: “providing information”—a variety of information about the garbage situation is provided. “application of a general rule”—the general rule is that “After a public holiday that falls on a Monday, garbage throughout the city is supposed to be collected one day later than usual.” “to a specific case”—the specific case is the pickup of garbage this week in this neighborhood. Given that all elements occurred and the answer presents an accurate description of the way the author made his or her argument, this answer is correct. Now, take a moment and compare this answer to the prephrase you made after reading the stimulus. How similar are the two? Given that you may not be familiar with the language used by the test makers, the two may not be very similar. As your preparation continues, you will become more comfortable with the language and your Method of Reasoning pre-phrasing will improve. For example, note the use in this answer of “general rule” to describe the last sentence of the stimulus. The test makers could also have used a phrase like “basic principle” to achieve the same result. Your job is to match their language to what occurred in the stimulus.

Answer choice (D): This answer is an over generalization—a situation where one instance is used to make a broad based conclusion. This is a Reverse Answer since the stimulus actually uses a general principle and applies it to one instance. In addition, the language in the answer is far too strong in saying “all actions of a certain kind” when the language in the stimulus was probabilistic.

Answer choice (E):This is an Exaggerated Answer. The conclusion states that “Garbage in this neighborhood probably will not be collected until Thursday this week” and the use of “probably” is a clear and obvious indication that the author does not think the Thursday garbage pickup is inevitable.

unraveled · Answer

Garbage in this neighborhood probably will not be collected until Thursday this week. Garbage is usually collected here on Wednesdays, and the garbage collectors in this city are extremely reliable. However, Monday was a public holiday, and after a public holiday that falls on a Monday, garbage throughout the city is supposed to be collected one day later than usual.

The argument proceeds by

(A) treating several  pieces of irrelevant evidence  as though they provide support for the conclusion - WRONG. No irrelevant evidence. Evidence and conclusion based on that make sense.

(B) indirectly establishing that one thing is likely to occur by directly  ruling out all of the alternative possibilities  - WRONG. One possibility is focused upon but nowhere other possibilities are discussed or ruled out.

(C)  providing information  that allows application of a general rule to  a specific case  - CORRECT. POE helps. Specific case is Thursday but how it is not elaborated. How, though, is not important.

(D) generalizing about all actions of a certain kind  on the basis of a description of one such action  - WRONG. What one such action? Nowhere it was provided with any evidence.

(E) treating something that is probable as though  it were inevitable  - WRONG. "Probably" suggests it was not.

Answer C.

SM15 · Answer

(A) treating several pieces of irrelevant evidence as though they provide support for the conclusion -  Incorrect; Several pieces of irrelevant evidence is incorrect. Everything given in the argument is relevant to conclusion.

(B) indirectly establishing that one thing is likely to occur by directly ruling out all of the alternative possibilities -  Incorrect; Ruling out all of the alternative possibilities is not discussed.

(C) providing information that allows application of a general rule to a specific case -  Correct; General rule of public holiday coming on Monday is applied to current scenario of the week.

(D) generalizing about all actions of a certain kind on the basis of a description of one such action -  Incorrect; All actions ? ( Only one action is discussed that is about the garbage collection )

(E) treating something that is probable as though it were inevitable -  Incorrect; Nothing inevitable is discussed in the argument

Garbage in this neighborhood probably will not be collected until Thur

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Garbage in this neighborhood probably will not be collected until Thur

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