A tax preparation company automatically

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct62% picked this

   If the e-mail does not elsewhere suggest that the client do anything illegal, then the company does

   Why this is right

   This is one of the most fiendishly designed correct answers to Sufficient Assumption we've ever seen. Let's contrapose this rule, because we were looking for the idea that "the e-mail suggests something illegal", and we would need to contrapose the rule to get the positive version of this idea. If the company needs → then email suggests legal protection doing something illegal Every conditional trigger is either true or false. The company either needs legal protection or doesn't need legal protection. If they do need legal protection, then the email suggests something illegal. If the email suggests something illegal, then the disclaimer offers no legal protection. And since the only purpose this disclaimer could serve is to provide legal protection, this disclaimer would serve no purpose. If the company doesn't need legal protection, then since the only purpose this disclaimer could serve is to provide legal protection, then this disclaimer would serve no purpose. So whether they do or don't need legal protection, In Either Case, we arrive at the same conclusion: the disclaimer serves no purpose.

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

   62%
2. B

   Unclear Impact20% picked this

   If e-mail messages sent by the tax preparation company do elsewhere suggest that the recipient do something illegal, then the company could

   This also has our desired language about the email suggesting something illegal, but this rule doesn't have the power to prove our conclusion. We don't know if the email suggests anything illegal, so there's no way to trigger this rule. We could do the same procedure we did for (A), where we trace out what would happen if the trigger were true vs. if it weren't true, but in this case the situation where the trigger isn't true would not prove the conclusion. If the email does suggest something illegal, then it provides no legal protection, and serves no purpose. If the email doesn't suggest something illegal, then it may provide legal protection, and may serve a purpose.

   20%
3. C

   Out of Scope3% picked this

   A disclaimer that is included in every e-mail message sent by a company will tend to be ignored by recipients who have already

   Out of Scope: ignored Unrelated to Goal This doesn't help us to establish either of the trigger ideas we need to establish in order to prove the conclusion. Our answer needs to either convince us that 1. the email suggests something illegal or convince us that 2. the email doesn't provide legal protection

   3%
4. D

   Out of Scope12% picked this

   At least some of the recipients of the company's e-mails will follow the advice contained in the body of at least some

   Out of Scope: follow advice Unrelated to Goal Weak: at least some This doesn't help us to establish either of the trigger ideas we need to establish in order to prove the conclusion. Our answer needs to either convince us that 1. the email suggests something illegal or convince us that 2. the email doesn't provide legal protection If we were just guessing on this problem, we would always avoid guessing a weakly worded answer on Sufficient Assumption (or Strengthen, Weaken, and Paradox).

   12%
5. E

   Trap3% picked this

   Some of the tax preparation company's clients would try to illegally evade penalties if they knew

   Unrelated to Goal Out of Scope: illegally evade penalties Weak Language: some This doesn't help us to establish either of the trigger ideas we need to establish in order to prove the conclusion. Our answer needs to either convince us that 1. the email suggests something illegal or convince us that 2. the email doesn't provide legal protection If we were just guessing on this problem, we would always avoid guessing a weakly worded answer on Sufficient Assumption (or Strengthen, Weaken, and Paradox).

   3%