by: Rashie1
17 mins
by: bhanu29
21 mins
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Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
55%
(hard)
Question Stats:
57% (01:23) correct
43%
(01:36)
wrong
based on 433
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
In the last year, biologists have learned that there are many more species of amphibians in existence than had previously been known. This definitely undermines environmentalists' claim that pollution is eliminating many of these species every year.
The reasoning in the argument above is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it involves a confusion between
(A) kinds of things and the things that are of those kinds
(B) a condition necessary for a phenomenon and one that is sufficient for it
(C) a cause and an effect
(D) a correlation between two phenomena and a causal relationship between them
(E) changes in our knowledge of objects and changes in the objects themselves
The reasoning in the argument above is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it involves a confusion between
(A) kinds of things and the things that are of those kinds
(B) a condition necessary for a phenomenon and one that is sufficient for it
(C) a cause and an effect
(D) a correlation between two phenomena and a causal relationship between them
(E) changes in our knowledge of objects and changes in the objects themselves
raunakd11
Joined: 30 Jan 2020
Last visit: 25 Nov 2020
Posts: 139
Location: India
Schools: ISB YLP 2020 NUS '23
GPA: 4
Schools: ISB YLP 2020 NUS '23
Posts: 139
Hovkial
Hello guys!
The question seemed moderate.
Eliminate Option A, this can be a holistic approach towards it. Doesn't specify the concern here.
Eliminate Option B, this is not a condition first of all. Drop this.
Eliminate Option C, it might seem like its a cause and effect relationship. But it turns out that it takes place, When X occurs, so Y fails to occur. We do not experience any such scenario here.
Option D, could be a close one here. Let's look at other options.
Option E is on point. 'Changes in our knowledge and changes of objects themselves' takes place, we can very well relate to such a scenario here.
Official Answer:- Option E
Thank you!
Regards,
Raunak Damle
Posts: 88
Powerscore explanation:
Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (E)
This stimulus begins with the fact that over the past year, it has been discovered that there a lot more species of amphibians than had been thought. The author asserts that this premise weakens the environmentalist claim that each year, many amphibian species are killed by pollution:
Premise: Environmentalists claim that many species of amphibians die each year as a result of pollution.
Premise: Over the past year, however, scientists have discovered that there are more amphibian species in existence that had been previously thought.
Conclusion: Thus, the environmentalist claim is undermined.
The problem with this argument is that one does not preclude the other in any way; regardless of the big recent discoveries, pollution could certainly be killing many amphibian species each year. As you might have seen coming, the stimulus in this case is followed by a Flaw question, so the correct answer choice should describe the misunderstanding reflected in the author’s reasoning.
Answer choice (A): This choice describes confusion between categories and those things that are categorized. This does not describe the issue with the author’s reasoning, so it should be ruled out of contention.
Answer choice (B): This choice describes the classic conditional error of Mistaken Reversal—mistaking a necessary condition for a sufficient one. The stimulus’ flaw, however, is not a conditional reasoning error, so this cannot be the correct answer choice.
Answer choice (C): The author’s argument is based on a misunderstanding of the numbers, rather than something to do with cause and effect. Since the argumentation is not based on causal reasoning, this cannot be the choice that describes the flaw.
Answer choice (D): This choice, like incorrect answer choice (C), describes a causal reasoning flaw. The author’s argument, however, is not based on causal reasoning, so this choice does not describe the flaw.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. We now know about many more amphibian species, but clearly that doesn’t mean that the number that exists hasn’t continued to dwindle.
Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (E)
This stimulus begins with the fact that over the past year, it has been discovered that there a lot more species of amphibians than had been thought. The author asserts that this premise weakens the environmentalist claim that each year, many amphibian species are killed by pollution:
Premise: Environmentalists claim that many species of amphibians die each year as a result of pollution.
Premise: Over the past year, however, scientists have discovered that there are more amphibian species in existence that had been previously thought.
Conclusion: Thus, the environmentalist claim is undermined.
The problem with this argument is that one does not preclude the other in any way; regardless of the big recent discoveries, pollution could certainly be killing many amphibian species each year. As you might have seen coming, the stimulus in this case is followed by a Flaw question, so the correct answer choice should describe the misunderstanding reflected in the author’s reasoning.
Answer choice (A): This choice describes confusion between categories and those things that are categorized. This does not describe the issue with the author’s reasoning, so it should be ruled out of contention.
Answer choice (B): This choice describes the classic conditional error of Mistaken Reversal—mistaking a necessary condition for a sufficient one. The stimulus’ flaw, however, is not a conditional reasoning error, so this cannot be the correct answer choice.
Answer choice (C): The author’s argument is based on a misunderstanding of the numbers, rather than something to do with cause and effect. Since the argumentation is not based on causal reasoning, this cannot be the choice that describes the flaw.
Answer choice (D): This choice, like incorrect answer choice (C), describes a causal reasoning flaw. The author’s argument, however, is not based on causal reasoning, so this choice does not describe the flaw.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. We now know about many more amphibian species, but clearly that doesn’t mean that the number that exists hasn’t continued to dwindle.
MartyMurray Will you please discuss option C and E ?
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