Logical Reasoning

PT102 · S2 · Q4 Advances in photocopying technology

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Advances in photocopying technology allow criminals with no printing expertise to counterfeit paper currency.

Conclusion (should = opinion)

The color-changing ink should be adopted, rather than microprinting.

Evidence

Even though the color-changing ink is more expensive, it would allow anyone to detect photocopied counterfeit currency easily.

Meanwhile, microprinting would be easily detected by experts but not by normal people (which is why counterfeits of microprinting often circulate widely before being detected, i.e. those counterfeit bills get used in a lots of different financial transactions before someone realizes the bill is a fake).

Evaluate

We're choosing between Option A (microprinting) and Option B (color-changing ink).

They each have a stated advantage and disadvantage.

Microprinting wins when it comes to being less costly, but loses when it comes to the fact that it's hard for non-experts to detect counterfeit bills when microprinting is the giveaway.

Color-changing ink loses when it comes to being more costly, but wins when it comes to the fact that it's easy for anyone (including non-experts) to detect a counterfeit bill.

Goal

Since we're Weighing Tradeoffs, we would want to strengthen by adding another positive to colored-ink, another negative to microprinting, or to hear that the positive about colored-ink outweighs the negative.

4.

Which one of the following, if true, provides the most support for the recommendation made by the argument?

  1. Correct

    When an anticounterfeiting technique depends

    Why this is right

    This elaborates on the negative of microprinting. Microprinting depends on detection of counterfeits by expert (we know that because counterfeits of this style usually circulate widely before being detected, meaning that regular non-experts don't notice that it's a fake and so the counterfeit bill gets used in lots of different transactions). If we have to pay those experts a lot of money to detect the fakes, then maybe microprinting isn't less costly overall. Said another way, this answer is taking the one advantage that microprinting supposedly had (less costly) and watering down that advantage a lot, since the money we have to pay for the experts significantly adds to the societal cost of that method.

    Skill tested: Strengthen · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    69% picked this

  2. For any anticounterfeiting technique to

    No Distinction, No Impact

    As soon as we see "for any counterfeiting technique to be effective", we should start suspecting this answer won't help us. We don't want any general truth about counterfeiting techniques. We need a specific fact that makes us lean more towards colored ink and more away from microprinting.

    8% picked this

  3. The process of microprinting paper

    Weakens, if anything

    This seems to describe a positive about microprinting (it takes the mint fewer steps to make it). We want negatives about microprinting or positives about colored ink.

    7% picked this

  4. Before photocopying technology existed, most

    No Impact: past methods

    This historical footnote about counterfeiting in the days before photocopying existed is totally irrelevant to our present concern. Today, there are photocopiers. So given that, should we go with microprinting or colored ink? This answer offers us nothing to help inform that decision.

    1% picked this

  5. Many criminals do not have

    Weakens, if anything

    This seems to describe a positive about microprinting (a lot of criminals don't have access to the advanced photocopiers you would need to make a microprint counterfeit) We want negatives about microprinting or positives about colored ink.

    15% picked this

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