Logical Reasoning

PT117 · S3 · Q20 Current maps showing the North

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Current maps showing the North American regions where different types of garden plants will flourish are based on weather data gathered 60 years ago from a few hundred primitive weather stations.

Claim

These new maps (compiled using computerized data from several thousand modern weather stations and input from home gardeners across NA) will be far more useful than the old maps (gathered 60 years ago from a few hundred primitive weather stations).

Evaluate

The question stem doesn't say we're supporting an argument, just that we're supporting a Claim, so we don't necessarily have to think of this as "Conclusion, supported by Evidence".

We just need four reasons why these new maps would be better.

We can focus on the current differences we know about them

OLD MAPS NEW MAPS

weather data gathered computerized data 60 yrs ago from a few from several thousand a few hundred primitive modern weather stations weather stations + input from gardeners

Goal

Find four ways that support that these new ones are more useful when it comes to showing where different types of garden plants will flourish.

20.

Each of the following, if true, helps to support the claim that the new maps will be more useful EXCEPT:

Home gardeners can provide information
Supports
New > Old, because New has gardener input and Old didn't, and gardener input can provide special information that old weather stations didn't.
7% picked this
Correct
Some of the weather stations
Why this is right
New = Old? This sound like something not that good about the New, or not that relevant to the New. We were told that the New maps use "several thousand modern weather stations". If some of those weather stations are more than 60 years old, then they are basically as old as the Old weather stations we used 60 years go to make the Old maps. If the new maps are only using modern weather stations, and 60+ years old doesn't count as modern, then this answer is not even talking to us about the Old or the New maps. It's just saying, "There's at least one weather station in the world that is still used that is more than 60 yrs old." So this answer either has no impact (because it's not even talking about the New plan), or it has weakening impact, because it's telling us that some of the stations feeding info to the New maps are basically the same as the stations with which we made the old maps.
Skill tested: Strengthen · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
71% picked this
Weather patterns can be described
Supports
New > Old, because New has several 1000 information inputs, whereas Old only had a few hundred information inputs, and we're better at describing weather patterns when we have more information.
2% picked this
Weather conditions are the most
Supports
This answer kind of sucks, but so does (B). Neither one of them offers a clear difference between the Old map and the New map. This answer is at least strongly worded (most important factor) whereas (B) is very weakly worded (some). This answer choice helps to convince us that the New maps will be useful, in the sense that they are compiled using data from weather stations (which presumably monitor weather conditions), and attempt to tell us where different types of plants will flourish. According to this answer, weather data is the most important factor in determining where plants will grow, so this helps us believe that these maps are informed by the most important type of data there is for what the map is trying to display. The annoying part of this answer choice is that it doesn't seem to give any reason to think that the new maps will be far more useful than the old ones, that were also based on on weather data. It seems like we also need to add in the fact that the Old one only had weather data from a few hundred primitive weather stations whereas the New one has weather data from several thousand modern weather stations. In other words, we already knew / assumed that the New one has richer, more accurate weather data, since it has more stations and better stations from which to get that data. This answer choice just piles on to that advantage by saying, "Oh, man! Weather data is what it's all about!" I would honestly feel like this could be the answer, if it weren't for the fact that (B) is either supremely irrelevant or actually kind of weakens the claim.
14% picked this
Weather patterns have changed in
Supports
Consider the opposite of this --- if weather patterns haven't changed in the past 60 years, then why would the New map be far more useful than the Old map? The Old map already had a lot of weather data. If the weather data hasn't changed, then why would someone need the updated map? This answer is giving us a reason why it would be very useful to have an updated map --- the weather patterns have changed since the last map, so the regions where different types of plants can flourish have likely changed as well.
6% picked this

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