Although most builders do not

Answer choices

1. A

   Bad Premise Match41% picked this

   confuses what is promising for small-scale construction with what is promising

   If a Flaw answer has the syntax of "confuses X with Y", it's trying to express that the author went from talking about This to talking about That. The conclusion is definitely talking about what is promising for large-scale, but so is the Evidence. It says that builders who regularly work with papercrete think that it is promising for large-scale construction. The phrase "think otherwise" is a callback to the very first claim (most builders think P isn't promising for large-scale). The little parenthetical aside about them using papercrete primarily on small-scale stuff isn't a part of the argument; it's just some filler. This answer accuses the argument of being, "Because papercrete is promising on small-scale, it would likely be promising on large scale." But the argument actually goes, "Because the people who regularly work with papercrete believe it would be promising on large-scale, it would likely be promising on large-scale."

   41%
2. B

   Opposite3% picked this

   presumes that what the majority of builders thinks is promising must in

   The author, without a great reason, is actually going against what the majority of builders thinks is promising. Most builders think papercrete isn't promising for large-scale, and the author is not presuming they're correct; he's concluding the opposite.

   3%
3. C

   Wrong Flaw1% picked this

   equivocates between two different meanings of the

   This describes the famous Equivocation flaw, but the word "promising" is being used consistently throughout.

   1%
4. D

   Opposite1% picked this

   does not consider the views of the builders who have the most experience working

   The author is blindly trusting the views of the builders who have the most experience working with papercrete! That's the entire crux of his argument: because the ones who have the most experience with papercrete think it's promising for large scale, I conclude it is promising for large-scale.

   1%
5. E

   Correct54% picked this

   fails to consider that most builders might not regularly use papercrete precisely because they are

   Why this is right

   The author presents a He Said / She Said and says, I'm going with these builders, the ones in the minority, who think that papercrete is promising for large-scale. After all, they are familiar with its properties! In order for that reason to justify the author's pick, that has to be something that's different between the two camps. This answer is making the objection that "being familiar with its properties" might not be a difference between the two groups, thus, it doesn't constitute a good reason (or really any reason) to believe one group over the other. If we said "Most dentists don't think the X-drill is good for root canals, but those who regularly use the X-drill think it's good for root canals. So it must be.", then someone could object by saying what if those dentists who don't use the X-drill did their homework, tried it out, and judged it to be inferior to other options? This answer is saying, "What if most builders know what they're talkin' about, tried out this papercrete, read up on it, and decided that its chemical and molecular structure just aren't great for large-scale." The author can't defend his camp by saying, "but MY guys are familiar with its properties", because we'll say "yeah but so are ALL builders".

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

   54%