The manager of a nuclear power

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Stimulus

The manager of a nuclear power plant defended the claim that the plant was safe by revealing its rate of injury for current workers: only 3.2 injuries per 200,000 hours of work, a rate less than half the national average for all industrial plants. The manager claimed that, therefore, by the safer than most other plants where the employees could work.

What this question is testing

Weaken

Your task

Find the choice that makes the argument's conclusion less likely to be true.

Common trap

Answers that look negative but attack a claim the argument never relied on.

Winning move

Find the assumption the argument depends on, then pick the choice that undermines it.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question

Which one of the following, if true, most calls into question the

Answer choices

Opposite (if anything)4% picked this
Workers at nuclear power plants are required to receive extra training in safety precautions on their own time
The fact that nuclear plant workers are required to receive extra safety training doesn't help us argue that this nuclear plant is less safe than most other plants. If anything going through safety training should make a place more safe.
4%
Opposite (if anything)1% picked this
Workers at nuclear power plants are required to report to the manager any cases of
The fact that nuclear plant workers are required to report potentially unsafe conditions doesn't help us argue that this nuclear plant is less safe than most other plants. If anything, a workplace that forces you to alert your bosses to safety hazards should make a place more safe.
1%
Opposite (if anything)2% picked this
The exposure of the workers to radiation at nuclear power plants was within levels the
This sounds like the radiation levels at this plant are safe, so it doesn't help us argue that this nuclear plant is less safe than most other plants.
2%
Opposite (if anything)4% picked this
Workers at nuclear power plants have filed only a few lawsuits against the management concerning
The fact that there are few lawsuits claiming unsafe working conditions, makes it seem like nuclear plant workers are in a pretty safe working environment, so it's not gonna help us argue that this nuclear plant is less safe than most other plants.
4%
Correct89% picked this
Medical problems arising from work at a nuclear power plant are unusual in that they are not likely to appear until after an employee
Why this is right
This gives us way to say, "even though the injury rate is lower than that of most plants, this nuclear plant is not safer than most plants". After all, the medical problems you get (like cancer from the radiation) don't appear until later. This also impugns the quality of the evidence as a way of measuring the safety of nuclear plants. If most medical problems don't appear until after the employee has left employment, then it would be hard to measure the safety of the workplace by measuring current workers and their injury rate.
Skill tested: Weaken · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
89%

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