Logical Reasoning

PT146 · S2 · Q9 Even though she thought the informant

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Even though she thought the informant was untrustworthy, the journalist promised not to reveal his identity so long as the information he provided did not turn out to be false.

Conclusion (Thus)

(even if information is accurate), the journalist will surely reveal the informant's identity.

Evidence (after all)

Journalist is ordered to reveal by judge → will reveal or her editor

The information concerns safety violations at the power plant.

Evaluate

On Sufficient Assumption, we're trying to prove the conclusion. In this case, the conclusion is that a journalist will reveal informant's identity.

Either the Evidence or the correct answer will thus need to give us some mechanism, some rule that feels like "if xyz is true, then will reveal identity".

In this case, the Evidence provided that rule.

If the judge or the editor order the journalist to reveal the identity, the journalist will reveal the identity.

So if we want to prove that the journalist will reveal the informant's identity, that means our job is to establish that .

We could head to the answers with that goal in mind and be fine.

If we want to be a little more savvy and suss out what the correct answer might sound like, we should make use of the explicit premise (after all), that .

How could an answer make that fact relevant to our goal, of establishing that the judge/editor will order a reveal?

Goal

It seems like the correct answer might say,

But any answer that establishes that the judge or editor will order her to reveal the identity will work for us, because that idea automatically triggers the conclusion, that the journalist will in fact reveal the identity.

9.

The conclusion of the argument follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

  1. The information that the informant

    Unrelated to Goal

    We're only shopping for answers that allow us to establish that the judge or her editor will order her to reveal the informant's identity. This answer comes nowhere close to that goal.

    1% picked this

  2. The journalist's editor will not

    Opposite Logic

    We're shopping for answers that allow us to establish that the judge or her editor will order her to reveal the informant's identity. Meanwhile, this answer gives us a rule that would lead to the editor's not ordering her to reveal. It says, information isn't accurate won't or → order her doesn't concern public safety to reveal We basically want the opposite: if the info is accurate then editor and it does concern safety will order reveal

    6% picked this

  3. Correct

    If the information concerns safety

    Why this is right

    We're shopping for answers that allow us to establish that the judge or her editor will order her to reveal the informant's identity. This answer says that info concerns safety → judge will order at power plant her to reveal Cool, well does the informant's info concern safety at the power plant? Yes, we were told it concerns safety violations at the power plant. Thus, according to this answer, the judge will order the journalist to reveal the informant's identity. Thus, according to the 'However' sentence, the journalist will publicly reveal the informant's identity. So this answer guarantees the truth of the conclusion. info is about → judge plant safety orders reveal + Premise judge/editor → journey will orders reveal reveal identity informant's info is about plant safety journey will reveal informant's identity

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

    87% picked this

  4. The truth of the information

    Unrelated to Goal

    We're only shopping for answers that allow us to establish that the judge or her editor will order her to reveal the informant's identity. This answer comes nowhere close to that goal.

    4% picked this

  5. The informant understood, at the

    Unrelated to Goal

    We're only shopping for answers that allow us to establish that the judge or her editor will order her to reveal the informant's identity. This answer talks about the informant's awareness of the fact that a judge's order could cause the journalist to leak their identity. But this answer does nothing to establish that the judge or editor will in fact order a reveal of the identity.

    2% picked this

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