Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Analyzing Arguments And Answers

Part 1
1. 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. This paragraph best supports the statement that
a. fitness walking is a better form of exercise
than weight lifting.
b. a membership in a health club is a poor
investment.
c. walking outdoors provides a better workout
than walking indoors.
d. fitness walking is a convenient and valuable
form of exercise.
e. poorly designed athletic shoes can cause
major foot injuries.
2. It is well known that the world urgently needs adequate distribution of food, so that
everyone gets enough. Adequate distribution of medicine is just as urgent. Medical expertise and medical supplies need to be redistributed throughout the world so that people in emerging nations will have proper medical care. This paragraph best supports the statement that
a. the majority of the people in the world have
never been seen by a doctor.
b. food production in emerging nations has
slowed during the past several years.
c. most of the world’s doctors are selfish
about giving time and money to the poor.
d. the medical-supply industry should step up
production of its products.
e. many people who live in emerging nations
are not receiving proper medical care.
3. The criminal justice system needs to change. The system could be more just if it allowed victims the opportunity to confront the person who has harmed them. Also, mediation between victims and their offenders would give the offenders a chance to apologize for the harm they have done. This paragraph best supports the statement
that victims of a crime should
a. learn to forgive their offenders.
b. have the right to confront their offenders.
c. learn the art of mediation.
d. insist that their offenders be punished.
e. have the right to impose a sentence on their
offenders.
4. In the past, consumers would rarely walk into an ice cream store and order low-fat ice. 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. This paragraph best supports the statement that
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.
e. consumers are fickle and it is impossible to
please them.

5. A few states in this country are considering legislation that would prohibit schools from using calculators before the sixth grade. Other states take a different position. Some
states are insisting on the purchase of graphing calculators for every student in middle
school. This paragraph best supports the statement that in this country
a. there are at least two opinions about the use
of calculators in schools.
b. calculators are frequently a detriment to
learning math.
c. state legislators are more involved in education
than ever before.
d. the price of graphing calculators is less
when schools buy in bulk.
e. the argument against calculators in schools
is unfounded.
6. 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. This paragraph best supports the statement that
a. consumer spending will be higher thirteen
years from now than it is today.
b. more people buy houses in the month of
February than in any other month.
c. during the winter months, the prices of
single-family homes are the lowest.
d. there were about 4 million homes for sale
during the month of February.
e. warm winter weather is likely to affect the
rate of home sales.
7. 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.
This paragraph best supports the statement that
a. Shakespeare’s characters are more interesting
than fictional characters today.
b. people today are interested in Shakespeare’s
work because of the characters.
c. academic scholars are putting together an
anthology of Shakespeare’s work.
d. New Yorkers have a renewed interested in
the work of Shakespeare.
e. Shakespeare was a psychiatrist as well as a
playwright.
8. Today’s workforce has a new set of social values. Ten years ago, a manager who was offered a promotion in a distant city would not have questioned the move. Today, a manager in that same situation might choose family happiness instead of career advancement. This paragraph best supports the statement that
a. most managers are not loyal to the corporations
for which they work.
b. businesses today do not understand their
employees’ needs.
c. employees’ social values have changed over
the past ten years.
d. career advancement is not important to
today’s business managers.
e. companies should require their employees
to accept promotions.
9. 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.
This paragraph best supports the statement that Generation Xers
a. work harder than people from other
generations.
b. have a tendency to be self-directed workers.
c. have an interest in making history.
d. tend to work in jobs that require risk-taking
behavior.
e. like to challenge their bosses’ work
attitudes.
10. Today’s high school students spend too much time thinking about trivial and distracting matters such as fashion. Additionally, they often dress inappropriately on school
grounds. Rather than spending time writing another detailed dress policy, we should make school uniforms mandatory. If students were required to wear uniforms, it would increase a sense of community and harmony in our schools and it would instill a sense of discipline in our students. Another positive effect would be that teachers and administrators would no longer have to act as clothing police, freeing them up to focus on more important issues. This paragraph best supports the statement that
a. inappropriate clothing leads to failing
grades.
b. students who wear school uniforms get into
better colleges.
c. teachers and administrators spend at least
25% of their time enforcing the dress code.
d. students are not interested in being part of
a community.
e. school uniforms should be compulsory for
high school students.
Answers:
454.d. By stating that fitness walking does not require a commute to a health club, the author stresses the convenience of this form of exercise. The paragraph also states that fitness walking will result in a good workout. Choice a is incorrect because no comparison to weight lifting is made. Choice b may seem like a logical answer, but the paragraph only refers to people who are fitness walkers, so for others, a health club might be a good investment. Choice c is not in the passage. Although choice e seems logical, the paragraph does not indicate that the wrong shoes will produce major injuries.
455. e. This answer is implied by the statement that redistribution is needed so that people in emerging nations can have proper medical care. Choices a, b, and c are not mentioned in the passage. Choice d is also incorrect—the passage indicates that the distribution of medicine, not its production, is inadequate.
456.b. This answer is clearly stated in the first sentence of the paragraph. There is no support in the passage for choices a, d, or e. As for choice c, although mediation is mentioned, the statement does not indicate that victims should be the mediators.
457. c. 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.
458. a. The paragraph clearly states that there are two differing opinions with regard to the use of calculators in the classroom. Although some people may believe that choice b is true, the paragraph does not indicate this. Choice c has no relation to the paragraph. Choice d makes logical sense, but the paragraph says nothing about cost. Choice e is an opinion that is not given in the paragraph.
459. e. This is clearly the best answer because the paragraph directly states that warm weather affects consumers’ inclination to spend. It furthers states that the sales of single-family homes was at an all-time high. There is no support for choice a or c. Choice b is wrong because even though there were high sales for a particular February, this does not mean that sales are not higher in other months. Choice d presents a misleading figure of 4 million. The paragraph states that the record of 4.75 million was at an annual, not a monthly, rate.
460.b. The last sentence in the paragraph clearly gives support for the idea that the interest in Shakespeare is due to the development of his characters. Choice a is incorrect because the writer never makes this type of comparison. Choice c is wrong because even though scholars are mentioned in the paragraph, there is no indication that the scholars are compiling the anthology. Choice d is wrong because there is no support to show that most New Yorkers are interested in this work. There is no support for choice e either.
461. c. A change in employee social values over the past ten years is implied in the whole paragraph, but particularly in the first sentence. Choice a is incorrect because the loyalty of the managers to their corporations is never discussed. There is no support for choice b. In choice d, perhaps career advancement is less important than it once was, but the paragraph does not indicate that advancement is unimportant to managers. Choice e is an opinion that is not supported.
462.b. The support for choice b is given in the second sentence of the paragraph. Generation Xers like to work independently, which means they are self-directed. No support is given for either choice a or choice c. Choice d is not related to the paragraph. Although the paragraph mentions that Generation Xers like to be challenged,
it does not say they like to challenge their bosses’ attitudes; therefore, choice e can be
ruled out.
463. e. The support for choice e is in the third sentence “. . . we should make school uniforms mandatory.” There is no evidence provided to support choices a, b, and d. And although we know that teachers and administrators are spending some of their time enforcing dress code, the paragraph does not quantify how much of their time is spent that way, so there is no support for choice c.

No comments:

Post a Comment