Logical Reasoning

PT124 · S3 · Q8 Environmentalist: When bacteria degrade

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Environmentalist: When bacteria degrade household cleaning products, vapors that are toxic to humans are produced.

Evidence

When bacteria degrade household BDHC → TV cleaning products, vapors that are toxic to humans are produced.

Unfortunately, household cleaning L ↢some↣ HC products are often found in landfills.

Conclusion

Thus, the common practice of CL → DH converting landfills into public parks is damaging human health.

Evaluate

There are several gaps in this argument. First, it assumes that the landfills which contain household cleaning products are the same ones that are being converted into parks.

Second, it assumes that bacteria are degrading the household cleaners in those landfills. And finally, the argument does assume that if toxic vapors are produced, human health will be harmed.

8.

Which one of the following is an assumption the environmentalist's argument requires?

  1. Correct

    In at least some landfills

    Why this is right

    This provides the second of the anticipated assumptions in the argument. Unless the bacteria are degrading household cleaning products, the presence of those products do not threaten human health.

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

    72% picked this

  2. Converting a landfill into a

    Reversal

    This reverses an assumption of DH → TV the argument that toxic vapors damage human health.

    5% picked this

  3. If a practice involves the

    Wrong Trigger

    The trigger should not be exposure to vapors from household cleaning products, but rather toxic vapors produced when bacteria degrade household cleaning products.

    12% picked this

  4. When landfills are converted to

    Out of Scope

    Whether the problem could be mitigated is not relevant to whether the problem currently exists.

    1% picked this

  5. If vapors toxic to humans

    Too Strong

    The trigger has been strengthened to apply to any landfill, while the argument only assumes that human health will be damaged at those landfills converted to public parks.

    11% picked this

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