Despite the efforts of a small

Answer choices

1. A

   Trap1% picked this

   tries to establish a conclusion simply on the premise that the conclusion agrees with

   Bad Premise Match Out of Scope: "long-standing practice" There is nothing in the evidence about something being a long-standing practice.

   1%
2. B

   Bad Conclusion Match1% picked this

   fails to exclude alternative explanations for why some graduate students disapprove

   This isn't a causal conclusion. The author isn't saying, "Thus, X must be the cause for why the grad students disapprove". That's the sort of conclusion that choice (B) would address.

   1%
3. C

   Too Strong: "simply because"17% picked this

   presumes that simply because a majority of a population is unaware of something, it must not

   When an answer says that the author "concludes X merely/simply on the grounds that Y ", that answer choice is saying that Y was the only premise. Is the author's only reason for rejecting the attempt to unionize that a majority of students are unaware of it? No, there's also the premise that "the people who are aware generally reject it".

   17%
4. D

   Bad Premise Match11% picked this

   ignores the possibility that although a union might not effectively pursue graduate student interests, there are

   This is tempting, but the author's argument isn't saying "Because the union wouldn't effectively pursue the grad students' interests, the grad students shouldn't unionize." Rather, the argument says, "Because a majority of grad students disapprove of the attempt to unionize, the grad students shouldn't unionize." This answer is really a flaw in the thinking of the grad students who said, "I don't approve of the attempt to unionize, because I don't think the union will effectively represent our interests."

   11%
5. E

   Correct70% picked this

   blurs the distinction between active disapproval and mere lack

   Why this is right

   This obliquely gets at the bad math we discussed. We know that a majority of the aware-students disapprove. We have no idea how the unaware-students feel, and they comprise a majority of grad students! The author seems to count the unaware students among the ranks of those who disapprove, so this answer is saying "whoa, there's a difference between they don't know about the attempt and they disapprove of the attempt."

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

   70%