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Difficulty:
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Question Stats:
64% (01:47) correct
36%
(02:08)
wrong
based on 11884
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Farmer: Several people in the past few years have claimed to have seen a mountain lion in the suburban outskirts—the latest just last month—and, while mountain lions were thought to have been driven from this entire region about twenty years ago, there is no reason for the people who reported seeing a mountain lion to have deliberately concocted a false report. Therefore, local wildlife managers should begin to urgently address the mountain lion's presence.
Which of the following would, if true, most seriously weaken the farmer's argument?
(A) Farmers in the suburban outskirts mostly raise cattle and hogs, which when fully grown are generally not attacked by mountain lions.
(B) Mountain lions are dissimilar in size and color to other wild animals found near the suburban outskirts.
(C) No person who claimed to have seen a mountain lion had anyone else with them at the purported sighting.
(D) There have been no regional reports in the past year of mountain lions migrating to the area.
(E) Recent surveys show that more than half of the people in the region report that they have never seen a mountain lion before.
CR90061.01
OG2020 NEW QUESTION
Which of the following would, if true, most seriously weaken the farmer's argument?
(A) Farmers in the suburban outskirts mostly raise cattle and hogs, which when fully grown are generally not attacked by mountain lions.
(B) Mountain lions are dissimilar in size and color to other wild animals found near the suburban outskirts.
(C) No person who claimed to have seen a mountain lion had anyone else with them at the purported sighting.
(D) There have been no regional reports in the past year of mountain lions migrating to the area.
(E) Recent surveys show that more than half of the people in the region report that they have never seen a mountain lion before.
CR90061.01
OG2020 NEW QUESTION
Argument Evaluation
Situation
A farmer argues that, because several people in recent years, including someone just last month, have claimed to have seen a mountain lion in the suburban outskirts, local wildlife managers need to address the mountain lion's presence. The farmer claims that people would not intentionally create a false story about seeing a mountain lion.
Reasoning
What would most seriously call into question the farmer's argument that because there have been reports of mountain lion sightings, wildlife managers should address the issue? Even if it is true that people would not intentionally create a false report of having seen a mountain lion, it is possible that people have mistakenly believed they have seen a mountain lion when in fact what they saw was something else. If some fact called into question the accuracy of the reports of mountain lion sightings, then the farmer's conclusion would have weaker support.
(A) Even if most fully grown animals raised by farmers would not be attacked by mountain lions, there could still be good reason to be concerned about the presence of mountain lions in the suburban outskirts. The mountain lion might attack animals before they are fully grown.
(B) A dissimilarity in size and color between mountain lions and other wild animals in the area where the mountain lions were purportedly sighted would make it less likely that people mistakenly believed that an animal they spotted was a mountain lion. So, this would strengthen the farmer's argument, not weaken it.
(C) Correct. If there actually were at least one mountain lion in the area, and several people over a period of a few years accurately claim to have seen one, then it seems likely that on at least some occasions a person would have been in the presence of someone else at the time, given the frequency with which people are in the company of others. So, if there have been no instances of a person reporting seeing a mountain lion when in the company of another, perhaps that is because when someone has mistakenly believed that an animal is a mountain lion, the other person helps correct the mistaken belief. With no one else present, an illusory sighting would be less likely to be corrected.
(D) There have been purported sightings of a mountain lion in the area for several years, so presumably, if the sightings are accurate, there has been at least one mountain lion for several years, so the sightings could be accurate even if no mountain lion has migrated to the area in the past year.
(E) It might be likely that most people living in the area would not have seen a mountain lion even if one lived in the area. For instance, the mountain lion might intentionally try to avoid people.
Situation
A farmer argues that, because several people in recent years, including someone just last month, have claimed to have seen a mountain lion in the suburban outskirts, local wildlife managers need to address the mountain lion's presence. The farmer claims that people would not intentionally create a false story about seeing a mountain lion.
Reasoning
What would most seriously call into question the farmer's argument that because there have been reports of mountain lion sightings, wildlife managers should address the issue? Even if it is true that people would not intentionally create a false report of having seen a mountain lion, it is possible that people have mistakenly believed they have seen a mountain lion when in fact what they saw was something else. If some fact called into question the accuracy of the reports of mountain lion sightings, then the farmer's conclusion would have weaker support.
(A) Even if most fully grown animals raised by farmers would not be attacked by mountain lions, there could still be good reason to be concerned about the presence of mountain lions in the suburban outskirts. The mountain lion might attack animals before they are fully grown.
(B) A dissimilarity in size and color between mountain lions and other wild animals in the area where the mountain lions were purportedly sighted would make it less likely that people mistakenly believed that an animal they spotted was a mountain lion. So, this would strengthen the farmer's argument, not weaken it.
(C) Correct. If there actually were at least one mountain lion in the area, and several people over a period of a few years accurately claim to have seen one, then it seems likely that on at least some occasions a person would have been in the presence of someone else at the time, given the frequency with which people are in the company of others. So, if there have been no instances of a person reporting seeing a mountain lion when in the company of another, perhaps that is because when someone has mistakenly believed that an animal is a mountain lion, the other person helps correct the mistaken belief. With no one else present, an illusory sighting would be less likely to be corrected.
(D) There have been purported sightings of a mountain lion in the area for several years, so presumably, if the sightings are accurate, there has been at least one mountain lion for several years, so the sightings could be accurate even if no mountain lion has migrated to the area in the past year.
(E) It might be likely that most people living in the area would not have seen a mountain lion even if one lived in the area. For instance, the mountain lion might intentionally try to avoid people.
Bunuel
Argument:
- Several people claimed to have seen a mountain lion in this region.
- These people have no reason to lie.
Conclusion: Hence, we should start addressing this problem (implying mountain lions are present in this region)
To weaken this, we need to doubt the claim of "several people".
C. No person who claimed to have seen a mountain lion had anyone else with them at the purported sighting.
Whenever a person claimed to have seen a mountain lion, there was no one with him who could corroborate. Certainly seems to make the claim weak. Could it be that these people were under the influence of some drug and hence mistook another animal for a lion etc? It does seem to make us question the validity of the claim if in every instant, there was no second person around. It is a weak weakener, I agree, but it is relevant.
E. Recent surveys show that more than half of the people in the region report that they have never seen a mountain lion before.
More than half of the people reported that they have never seen a mountain lion before. But are these the people who reported to have seen the mountain lion? If the people who claimed to have spotted the lion had not seen a mountain lion before, then it makes their claim weak. But who these "more than half of the people" are, we don't know.
Answer (C)
Check out this video in which I discuss how this official question is different from another similar looking official question:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55QgRwZmFRo
10 Jun 2019, 20:41
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AkshdeepS
I agree that this is a weak weakener.
Let's try replacing "mountain lion" with "aliens".
1. Several people in the past few years have claimed to have seen aliens.
2. There is no reason for the people who reported seeing an alien to have deliberately concocted a false report.
3. Therefore, the government should begin to urgently address the presence of aliens.
If it turns out that every single person who reported seeing aliens was alone at the time, we'd probably be less likely to believe them. And this is not to say that we'd think that all of them were lying. It's just that having more "eyes" on something is generally better.
Most importantly, we must remember what our task is. We are not looking to find an option that is (on its own) convincing. Instead, we are looking for the best of the 5 options presented to us. The correct option, therefore, just needs to be better than the other 4 options.
