Fishing columnist: When an independent

Answer choices

1. A

   Valid Objection5% picked this

   The argument overlooks the possibility that some other bait is more successful than any of

   We only measured the top 5 sellers but then concluded that Benton is #1 among all baits.

   5%
2. B

   Valid Objection4% picked this

   The argument overlooks the possibility that what works best for expert anglers will not work

   We only measured what was best for top anglers but we're concluding Benton would be #1 for anyone.

   4%
3. C

   Valid Objection3% picked this

   The argument overlooks the possibility that the relative effectiveness of different baits changes when used

   We only measured how Benton performed in a pristine northern stream. Maybe if you're trout fishing in a turgid southern rivulet (just having fun with my mental thesaurus), it wouldn't work as well.

   3%
4. D

   Correct66% picked this

   The argument overlooks the possibility that two best-selling brands of bait may

   Why this is right

   Would it weaken the argument for us to say, "Hey, author, the two best-selling brands of bait are equally effective"? Not necessarily. We know that the author is arguing that Benton is the best, and we know that Benton is one of the top five best-selling brands. Is Benton #1? #4? #5? We don't know where it ranks in sales among the five best-selling brands. Let's say that it's the 3rd best selling bait. This answer is saying that the 1st and 2nd best selling baits are equally effective. That wouldn't weaken the author's argument at all. She isn't claiming that Benton is ranked #1 in terms of sales. She's saying Benton is #1 in terms of effectiveness. If the 1st and 2nd best selling baits are equally effective, that doesn't pose any problem for the author. They can be tied at a lower level of effectiveness. We know that anglers had the most success with Benton. Let's say they caught an average of 10 trout per hour and call that Benton bait's effectiveness. This answer is saying, "Hey, author, you're failing to consider that the two best selling brands are tied at an average of 7 trout caught per hour." That doesn't hurt the author's argument in any way, so we can't consider this overlooked possibility a flaw.

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

   66%
5. E

   Valid Objection22% picked this

   The argument overlooks the possibility that baits that work well with a particular variety of fish may not work well with

   We only measured how Benton performed with speckled trout, but maybe it doesn't do as well with other varieties of trout.

   22%