Logical Reasoning

PT120 · S4 · Q13 Britain is now rabies free

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Britain is now rabies free.

Conclusion

Britain's strict quarantine of imported domesticated animals cannot succeed in indefinitely preventing widespread outbreaks of rabies.

Intermediate Conclusion

This policy cannot control rabies spread by wild bats.

Evidence (since)

Bats fly into Britain from continental Europe. Wild bats cannot be quarantined.

Evaluate

In the vernacular of Method questions, we usually think about whether the argument ever did one of these things: - analogy - bad implications - (counter)example to general - calls out dubious assumption - raises overlooked consideration - makes a definition / distinction - suggests alternate explanation - rules out other options

This felt like the author was rebutting a plan by raising an overlooked consideration. The plan might solve part of the problem (rabies from domesticated animals) but not other parts of the problem (rabies from wild bats who fly in).

Goal

Let's find an answer whose language descriptively matches the argument.

13.

Which one of the following is an argumentative strategy employed in the argument?

  1. trying to undermine support for

    Bad Conclusion Match

    The author is saying that a policy will fail to achieve a certain effect. She isn't trying to undermine support for the policy. There were no results that were attributed to this plan; there was only the intent of achieving certain results (preventing widespread outbreaks of rabies).

    6% picked this

  2. raising a possible objection to

    Out of Scope: objection is irrelevant

    The author does raise a possible objection to a certain policy: "This policy of quarantining imported domesticated animals will not forever prevent outbreaks, because it doesn't stop wild bats from coming and spreading rabies". The author is never trying to show that the objection is irrelevant. The author totally thinks it's relevant. It's her objection!

    1% picked this

  3. providing evidence that because the

    Bad Evidence Match

    The author is kind of arguing that a policy is sure to have little effect, because she's saying this policy won't prevent outbreaks in the long term. But the evidence has nothing to do with saying that enforcement officials fail to perform their duty. It's that even if officials perfectly enforce the quarantine on imported pets, that policy won't prevent rabies that comes from wild bats flying over the English channel from the rest of Europe.

    0% picked this

  4. showing that because a certain

    Bad Evidence Match

    The author is kind of arguing that a policy cannot accomplish what it was designed to do, because she's saying this policy won't prevent outbreaks in the long term. But the evidence has nothing to do with saying that this quarantining policy won't be universally adopted. The premise is just saying that the policy won't prevent rabies that comes from wild bats flying over the English channel from the rest of Europe.

    4% picked this

  5. Correct

    arguing that a certain policy

    Why this is right

    The author's conclusion does basically say that a policy is bound to fail, because she's saying this quarantining policy will fail to prevent rabies outbreaks in the long term. And the evidence is talking about an event (wild bats flying in from continental Europe) that is likely to defeat the aim of the policy (bats are very susceptible to rabies) that falls outside the policy's influence (the policy is a quarantine and wild bats cannot be quarantined).

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

    88% picked this

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