Necessary Assumptions Flashcards
(10 cards)
Finnish author Jaakko Mikkeli was accused by
Norwegian author Kirsten Halden of plagiarizing a
book that she had written and that had been
published 20 years before Mikkeli’s. The two books,
although set in different periods and regions, contain
enough plot similarities to make coincidental
resemblance unlikely. Mikkeli’s defense rests on his
argument that plagiarism was impossible in this case
because Halden’s book has been published only in
Norwegian, a language Mikkeli does not understand,
and because no reviews of Halden’s book have ever
been published.
The argument in Mikkeli’s defense depends on the
assumption that
(A) Mikkeli has never met Halden
(B) Halden’s book did not become popular in
Norway
(C) nobody related the plot of Halden’s book in
detail to Mikkeli before Mikkeli wrote his
book
(D) there is a common European myth to which
both authors referred subconsciously in the
books in question
(E) Mikkeli is not familiar with Old Icelandic, an
extinct language related to an earlier form of
Norwegian
(C) Nobody related the plot of Halden’s book in detail to Mikkeli before Mikkeli wrote his book.
Moderate exercise lowers the risk of blockage of the
arteries due to blood clots, since anything that lowers
blood cholesterol levels also lowers the risk of
hardening of the arteries, which in turn lowers the
risk of arterial blockage due to blood clots; and, if the
data reported in a recent study are correct, moderate
exercise lowers blood cholesterol levels.
The conclusion drawn above follows logically if
which one of the following is assumed?
(A) The recent study investigated the relationship
between exercise and blood cholesterol levels.
(B) Blockage of the arteries due to blood clots can
be prevented.
(C) Lowering blood cholesterol levels lowers the
risk of blockage of the arteries.
(D) The data reported in the recent study are
correct.
(E) Hardening of the arteries increases the risk of
blockage of the arteries due to blood clots.
(D) The data reported in the recent study are correct.
Train service suffers when a railroad combines commuter and freight service. By dividing its attention between its freight and commuter customers, a railroad serves neither particularly well. Therefore, if a railroad is going to be a successful business, then it must concentrate exclusively on one of these two markers.
For the argument to be logically correct, it must make which one of the following assumptions?
(A) Commuter and Freight service have little in common with each other.
(B) The first priority of a railroad is to be a successful business.
(C) Unless a railroad serves its customers well, it will not be a successful business.
(D) If a railroad concentrates on commuter service, it will be a successful business.
(E) Railroad commuters rarely want freight service as well.
(C) Unless a railroad serves its customers well, it will not be a successful business.
Editorialist: To ensure justice in the legal system,
citizens must be capable of criticizing anyone
involved in determining the punishment of
criminals. But when the legal system’s purpose
is seen as deterrence, the system falls into the
hands of experts whose specialty is to assess
how potential lawbreakers are affected by the
system’s punishments. Because most citizens
lack knowledge about such matters, justice is
not then ensured in the legal system.
The editorialist’s argument requires assuming which
one of the following?
(A) Most citizens view justice as primarily
concerned with the assignment of
punishment to those who deserve it.
(B) In order to be just, a legal system must
consider the effect that punishment will have
on individual criminals.
(C) The primary concern in a legal system is to
administer punishments that are just.
(D) In a legal system, a concern for punishment is
incompatible with an emphasis on deterrence.
(E) Citizens without knowledge about how the
legal system’s punishments affect potential
lawbreakers are incapable of criticizing
experts in that area.
(E) Citizens without knowledge about how the
legal system’s punishments affect potential
lawbreakers are incapable of criticizing
experts in that area.
In the paintings by seventeenth-century Dutch artist
Vermeer, we find several recurrent items: a satin
jacket, a certain Turkish carpet, and wooden chairs
with lion’s head finials. These reappearing objects
might seem to evince a dearth of props. Yet we know
that many of the props Vermeer used were expensive.
Thus, while we might speculate about exactly why
Vermeer worked with a small number of familiar
objects, it was clearly not for lack of props that the
recurrent items were used.
The conclusion follows logically if which one of the
following is assumed?
(A) Vermeer often borrowed the expensive props
he represented in his paintings.
(B) The props that recur in Vermeer’s paintings
were always available to him.
(C) The satin jacket and wooden chairs that recur
in the paintings were owned by Vermeer’s
sister.
(D) The several recurrent items that appeared in
Vermeer’s paintings had special sentimental
importance for him.
(E) If a dearth of props accounted for the
recurrent objects in Vermeer’s paintings, we
would not see expensive props in any of them.
(E) If a dearth of props accounted for the
recurrent objects in Vermeer’s paintings, we
would not see expensive props in any of them.
Vague laws set vague limits on people’s freedom,
which makes it impossible for them to know for
certain whether their actions are legal. Thus, under
vague laws people cannot feel secure.
The conclusion follows logically if which one of the
following is assumed?
(A) People can feel secure only if they know for
certain whether their actions are legal.
(B) If people do not know for certain whether
their actions are legal, then they might not
feel secure.
(C) If people know for certain whether their
actions are legal, they can feel secure.
(D) People can feel secure if they are governed by
laws that are not vague.
(E) Only people who feel secure can know for
certain whether their actions are legal.
A) People can feel secure only if they know for
certain whether their actions are legal.
We learn to use most of the machines in our lives
through written instructions, without knowledge of
the machines’ inner workings, because most
machines are specifically designed for use by
nonexperts. So, in general, attaining technological
expertise would prepare students for tomorrow’s job
market no better than would a more traditional
education stressing verbal and quantitative skills.
The argument depends on assuming which one of
the following?
(A) Fewer people receive a traditional education
stressing verbal and quantitative skills now
than did 20 years ago.
(B) Facility in operating machines designed for use
by nonexperts is almost never enhanced by
expert knowledge of the machines’ inner
workings.
(C) Most jobs in tomorrow’s job market will not
demand the ability to operate many machines
that are designed for use only by experts.
(D) Students cannot attain technological expertise
and also receive an education that does not
neglect verbal and quantitative skills.
(E) When learning to use a machine, technological
expertise is never more important than verbal
and quantitative skills.
(C) Most jobs in tomorrow’s job market will not
demand the ability to operate many machines
that are designed for use only by experts.
Herpetologist: Some psychologists attribute
complex reasoning to reptiles, claiming that
simple stimulus-response explanations of
some reptiles’ behaviors, such as food
gathering, cannot account for the complexity
of such behavior. But since experiments show
that reptiles are incapable of making major
alterations in their behavior, for example,
when faced with significant changes in their
environment, these animals must be incapable
of complex reasoning.
Which one of the following is an assumption
required by the herpetologist’s argument?
(A) Animals could make major changes in their
behavior only if they were capable of complex
reasoning.
(B) Simple stimulus-response explanations can in
principle account for all reptile behaviors.
(C) Reptile behavior appears more complex in the
field than laboratory experiments reveal it to
be.
(D) If reptiles were capable of complex reasoning,
they would sometimes be able to make major
changes in their behavior.
(E) Complex reasoning and responses to stimuli
cannot both contribute to the same behavior
(D) If reptiles were capable of complex reasoning,
they would sometimes be able to make major
changes in their behavior.
It is said that people should accept themselves as they
are instead of being dissatisfied with their own
abilities. But this is clearly a bad principle if the goal
is a society whose citizens are genuinely happy, for
no one can be genuinely happy if he or she is not
pursuing personal excellence and is unwilling to
undergo personal change of any kind.
Which one of the following is an assumption
required by the argument?
(A) Those who are willing to change will probably
find genuine happiness.
(B) People who are not dissatisfied with
themselves are less likely than others to
pursue personal excellence.
(C) Personal excellence cannot be acquired by
those who lack genuine confidence in their
own abilities.
(D) People are justified in feeling content with
themselves when they have achieved some
degree of personal excellence.
(E) Happiness is not genuine unless it is based on
something that is painful to obtain.
(B) People who are not dissatisfied with
themselves are less likely than others to
pursue personal excellence.
The retail price of decaffeinated coffee is considerably
higher than that of regular coffee. However, the process
by which coffee beans are decaffeinated is fairly simple
and not very costly. Therefore, the price difference
cannot be accounted for by the greater cost of
providing decaffeinated coffee to the consumer.
The argument relies on assuming which one of the
following?
(A) Processing regular coffee costs more than
processing decaffeinated coffee.
(B) Price differences between products can
generally be accounted for by such factors as
supply and demand, not by differences in
production costs.
(C) There is little competition among companies
that process decaffeinated coffee.
(D) Retail coffee-sellers do not expect that
consumers are content to pay more for
decaffeinated coffee than for regular coffee.
(E) The beans used for producing decaffeinated
coffee do not cost much more before
processing than the beans used for producing
regular coffee.
(E) The beans used for producing decaffeinated
coffee do not cost much more before
processing than the beans used for producing
regular coffee.
