GWD-TN-14-16.
Aroca City currently funds its public schools through taxes on property. In place of this system, the city plans to introduce a sales tax of three percent on all retail sales in the city. Critics protest that three percent of current retail sales falls short of the amount raised for schools by property taxes. The critics are correct on this point. Nevertheless, implementing the plan will probably not reduce the money going to Aroca’s schools. Several large retailers have selected Aroca City as the site for huge new stores, and these are certain to draw large numbers of shoppers from neighboring municipalities, where sales are taxed at rates of six percent and more. In consequence, retail sales in Aroca City are bound to increase substantially.
In the argument given, the two potions in boldface play which of the following roles?
A. The first presents a plan that the argument seeks to defend against a certain criticism; the second gives part of the basis for that criticism.
B. The first presents a plan that the argument seeks to defend against a certain criticism; the second gives part of the basis for that defense.
C. The first presents a plan that the argument criticizes; the second is a consideration raised by the argument in support of that criticism.
D. The first presents a plan that the argument criticizes; the second presents a consideration that has been raised against that criticism.
E. The first presents a plan whose consequences the argument seeks to evaluate; the second is presented by the argument as one likely consequence that is undesirable.
GWD-TN-14-28.
Environmental organizations want to preserve the land surrounding the Wilgrinn Wilderness Area from residential development. They plan to do this by purchasing that land from the farmers who own it. That plan is ill-conceived: if the farmers did sell their land, they would sell it to the highest bidder, and developers would outbid any other bidders. On the other hand, these farmers will never actually sell any of the land, provided that farming it remains viable. But farming will not remain viable if the farms are left unmodernized, and most of the farmers lack the financial resources modernization requires. And that is exactly why a more sensible preservation strategy would be to assist the farmers to modernize their farms to the extent needed to maintain viability.
In the argument as a whole, the two boldface proportions play which of the following roles?
A. The first presents a goal that the argument rejects as ill-conceived; the second is evidence that is presented as grounds for that rejection.
B. The first presents a goal that the argument concludes cannot be attained; the second is a reason offered in support of that conclusion.
C. The first presents a goal that the argument concludes can be attained; the second is a judgment disputing that conclusion.
D. The first presents a goal, strategies for achieving which are being evaluated in the argument; the second is a judgment providing a basis for the argument’s advocacy of a particular strategy.
E. The first presents a goal that the argument endorses; the second presents a situation that the argument contends must be changed if that goal is to be met in the foreseeable future.
GWD-TN-14-41.
Last year a record number of new manufacturing jobs were created. Will this year bring another record? Well, any new manufacturing job is created either within an existing company or by the start-up of a new company. Within existing firms, new jobs have been created this year at well below last year’s record pace. At the same time, there is considerable evidence that the number of new companies starting up this year will be no higher than it was last year and there is no reason to think that the new companies starting up this year will create more jobs per company than did last year’s start-ups. So clearly, the number of new jobs created this year will fall short of last year’s record.
In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?
A. The first provides evidence in support of the main conclusion of the argument; the second is a claim that argument challenges.
B. The first is a generalization that the argument seeks to establish; the second is a conclusion that the argument draws in order to support that generalization.
C. The first is a generalization that the argument seeks to establish; the second is a judgment that has been advanced in order to challenge that generalization.
D. The first is presented as obvious truth on which the argument is based; the second is a claim that has been advanced in support of a position that the argument opposes.
E. The first is presented as obvious truth on which the argument is based; the second is a judgment advanced in support of the main conclusion of the argument.
GWD-TN-15-28.
Since it has become known that several of a bank’s top executives have been buying shares in their own bank, the bank’s depositors, who had been worried by rumors that the bank faced impending financial collapse, have been greatly relieved. They reason that since top executives evidently have faith in the bank’s financial soundness, those worrisome rumors must be false. They might well be overoptimistic, however since corporate executives have sometimes bought shares in their own company in a calculated attempt to dispel negative rumors about the company’s health.
In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?
A. The first summarizes the evidence used in the reasoning called into question by the argument; the second states the counterevidence on which the argument relies.
B. The first summarizes the evidence used in the reasoning called into question by the argument; the second is an intermediate conclusion supported by that evidence.
C. The first is an intermediate conclusion that forms part of the reasoning called into question by the argument; the second is evidence that undermines the support for this intermediate conclusion.
D. The first is an intermediate conclusion that forms part of the reasoning called into question by the argument; the second is the main conclusion of the argument.
E. The first is an intermediate conclusion that forms part of the reasoning called into question by the argument; the second states a further conclusion supported by this intermediate conclusion.
GWD-TN-16-3.
Mel: The official salary for judges has always been too low to attract the best candidates to the job. The legislature’s move to raise the salary has done nothing to improve the situation, because it was coupled with a ban on receiving money for lectures and teaching engagements.
Pat: No, the raise in salary really does improve the situation. Since very few judges teach or give lectures, the ban will have little or no negative effect.
Pat’s response to Mel is inadequate in that it
A. attempts to assess how a certain change will affect potential members of a group by providing evidence about its effect on the current members.
B. mistakenly takes the cause of a certain change to be an effect of that change
C. attempts to argue that a certain change will have a positive effect merely by pointing to the absence of negative effects
D. simply denies Mel’s claim without putting forward any evidence in support of that denial
E. assumes that changes that benefit the most able members of a group necessarily benefit all members of that group.
GWD-TN-16-11.
Criminologist: Some legislators advocate mandating a sentence of life in prison for anyone who, having twice served sentences for serious crimes, is subsequently convicted of a third serious crime. These legislators argue that such a policy would reduce crime dramatically, since it would take people with a proven tendency to commit crimes off the streets permanently. What this reasoning overlooks, however, is that people old enough to have served two prison sentences for serious crimes rarely commit more than one subsequent crime. Filling our prisons with such individuals would have exactly the opposite of the desired effect, since it would limit our ability to incarcerate younger criminals, who commit a far greater proportion of serious crimes.
In the argument as a whole, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?
A. The first is a conclusion that the argument as a whole seeks to refute; the second is a claim that has been advanced in support of that conclusion.
B. The first is a conclusion that the argument as a whole seeks to refute; the second is the main conclusion of the argument.
C. The first is the main conclusion of the argument; the second is an objection that has been raised against that conclusion.
D. The first is the main conclusion of the argument; the second is a prediction made on the basis of that conclusion.
E. The first is a generalization about the likely effect of a policy under consideration in the argument; the second points out a group of exceptional cases to which that generalization does not apply.
GWD-TN-16-30.
Museums that house Renaissance oil paintings typically store them in environments that are carefully kept within narrow margins of temperature and humidity to inhibit any deterioration. Laboratory tests have shown that the kind of oil paint used in these paintings actually adjusts to climatic changes quite well. If, as some museum directors believe, paint is the most sensitive substance in these works, then by relaxing the standards for temperature and humidity control, museums can reduce energy costs without risking damage to these paintings. Museums would be rash to relax those standards, however, since results of preliminary tests indicate that gesso, a compound routinely used by Renaissance artists to help paint adhere to the canvas, is unable to withstand significant variations in humidity.
In the argument above, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?
(A) The first is an objection that has been raised against the position taken by the argument; the second is the position taken by the argument.
(B) The first is the position taken by the argument; the second is the position that the argument calls into question.
(C) The first is a judgment that has been offered in support of the position that the argument calls into question; the second is a circumstance on which that judgment is, in part, based.
(D) The first is a judgment that has been offered in support of the position that the argument calls into question; the second is that position.
(E) The first is a claim that the argument calls into question; the second is the position taken by the argument.
