Reasoning - Analyzing Arguments - Discussion

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Q.

In the past, consumers would rarely walk into an ice cream store and order low-fat ice cream. But that isn't the case today. An increasing health consciousness combined with a much bigger selection of tasty low-fat foods in all categories has made low-fat ice cream a very profitable item for ice cream store owners. The image of a knitter as an older woman sitting in a comfortable, old-fashioned living room with a basket of yarn at her feet and a bun in her hair is one of the past. As knitting continues to become more popular and increasingly trendy, it is much more difficult to describe the average knitter. Knitters today might be 18, 28, 40, or 65. They might live in a big urban center and take classes in a knit- ting shop that doubles as a café or they may gather in suburban coffee shops to support one another in knitting and other aspects of life. They could be college roommates knitting in their dorm room or two senior citizens knitting in a church hall. Even men are getting in the act. It would be incredibly difficult to come up with an accurate profile of a contemporary knitter to replace that image of the old woman with the basket of yarn! If you're a fitness walker, there is no need for a commute to a health club. Your neighborhood can be your health club. You don't need a lot of fancy equipment to get a good workout either. All you need is a well-designed pair of athletic shoes. Close-up images of Mars by the Mariner 9 probe indicated networks of valleys that looked like the stream beds on Earth. These images also implied that Mars once had an atmosphere that was thick enough to trap the sun's heat. If this were true, something happened to Mars billions of years ago that stripped away the planet's atmosphere. Generation Xers are those people born roughly between 1965 and 1981. As employees, Generation Xers tend to be more challenged when they can carry out tasks independently. This makes Generation Xers the most entrepreneurial generation in history. One of the warmest winters on record has put consumers in the mood to spend money. Spending is likely to be the strongest in thirteen years. During the month of February, sales of existing single-family homes hit an annual record rate of 4.75 million. Originating in the 1920s, the Pyramid scheme is one of the oldest con games going. Honest people are often pulled in, thinking the scheme is a legitimate investment enterprise. The first customer to "fall for" the Pyramid scheme will actually make big money and will therefore persuade friends and relatives to join also. The chain then continues with the con artist who originated the scheme pocketing, rather than investing, the money. Finally, the pyramid collapses, but by that time, the scam artist will usually have moved out of town, leaving no forwarding address. One New York publisher has estimated that 50,000 to 60,000 people in the United States want an anthology that includes the complete works of William Shakespeare. And what accounts for this renewed interest in Shakespeare? As scholars point out, his psychological insights into both male and female characters are amazing even today. Most Reality TV centers on two common motivators: fame and money. The shows transform waitresses, hairdressers, investment bankers, counselors, and teachers, to name a few, from obscure figures to house-hold names. A lucky few successfully parlay their fifteen minutes of fame into celebrity. The luckiest stars of Reality TV also reap huge financial rewards for acts including eating large insects, marrying someone they barely know, and revealing their innermost thoughts to millions of people. On what does Dakota rely in making her argument?By the time they reach adulthood, most people can perform many different activities involving motor skills. Motor skills involve such diverse tasks as riding a bicycle, threading a needle, and cooking a dinner. What all these activities have in common is their dependence on precision and timing of muscular movement.On what does Quinn rely in making her argument?During the last six years, the number of practicing physicians has increased by about 20%. During the same time period, the number of healthcare managers has increased by more than 600%. These percentages mean that many doctors have lost the authority to make their own schedules, determine the fees that they charge, and decide on prescribed treatments.What is the point at issue between Quinn and Dakota?Forest fires feed on decades-long accumulations of debris and leap from the tops of young trees into the branches of mature trees. Fires that jump from treetop to treetop can be devastating. In old-growth forests, however, the shade of mature trees keeps thickets of small trees from sprouting, and the lower branches of mature trees are too high to catch the flames.Which of the following best expresses the main point of the passage?For too long, school cafeterias, in an effort to provide food they thought would be appetizing to young people, mimicked fast-food restaurants, serving items such as burgers and fries, pizza, hot dogs, and fried chicken. School districts nationwide are now addressing this trend by incorporating some simple and inexpensive options that will make cafeteria lunches healthier while still appealing to students.Which of the following, if true, would weaken the speaker's argument?Which of the following is similar to the argument made by the speaker?
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A. low-fat ice cream produces more revenue than other low-fat foods. B. ice cream store owners would be better off carrying only low-fat ice cream.
C. ice cream store owners no longer think that low-fat ice cream is an unpopular item. D. low-fat ice cream is more popular than other kinds of ice cream.

Answer: Option C
Explaination:

 


This choice is supported as the best answer because the paragraph indicates that low-fat ice cream was once an unpopular item, but now, because consumers are more health conscious and because there is a wider array of tasty low-fat foods, low-fat ice cream is a profitable item for ice cream store owners. There is no indication that choices a, b, d,or e are true based on the information given.




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