Logical Reasoning

PT148 · S4 · Q12 On average, cats fed canned cat food

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On average, cats fed canned cat food eat fewer ounces of food per day than do cats fed dry cat food; the canned food contains more calories per ounce than does the dry food.

Information

comparisons

total ounces cat food eaten daily canned < dry

calories per ounce canned > dry

ends with pivot (nonetheless)

cost per day canned > dry

Evaluate

On Inference questions, we're trying to figure out what they want us to synthesize, by looking out for indicators: Conditional, Causal, Pivot, Math-y, or Comparative.

This paragraph has three Comparisons, and it ends with a Pivot, suggesting that we're supposed to reconcile this last idea with the facts that came before it. It seems like it might be a mathematical inference, since all three comparisons are quantitative in nature.

If you feed your cat canned cat food, you feed it fewer ounces per day than someone who feeds their cat dry food, but you spend more money per day on your cat food than does someone who feeds their cat dry food.

If I'm feeding Buffy 5 oz of canned food and paying $1.00 for it, whereas you're feeding Midnight 8 oz of canned food and paying only $0.60 for it, then I'm spending more per ounce than you.

Can we say who's spending more per calorie?

No, because we don't know which of our cats is being fed more calories.

We know that there are more calories in 1 oz of canned food than in 1 oz of dry food, but we don't know whether there's more calories in 5 oz of canned food than in 8 oz of dry food.

Goal

The only real definite, derivable idea it seems we have is that owners who feed their cat canned food pay more per ounce of food than do owners who feed their cat dry food.

But we'll stay flexible for any other answer we could support, in case they're going for something else.

12.

Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the information above?

  1. On average, cats fed canned

    Unknown Comparison: more calories

    As we evaluated, we can't figure out which type of cat consumes more calories. Compared to a cat eating dry food, the cat eating canned food is getting fewer ounces of food, but each ounce of food contains more calories. If the canned-food cat gets 1/2 as many ounces of food but each ounce contains twice as many calories as dry food does, then the canned food and the dry food cat would eat the same number of calories. But if the canned-food cat gets 20% fewer ounces whereas each ounce contains twice as many calories, then the canned food cat is getting more calories. And if the canned-food cat is getting 1/2 as many ounces but each ounce contains 20% more calories, then the the canned-food cat is still getting fewer calories. We know that (Bigger) * (Bigger) > (Smaller) * (Smaller) But we can't judge (Smaller) * (Bigger) vs. (Bigger) * (Smaller) The cats getting canned food are getting fewer ounces of something that is more-calorie-enriched. Depending on how many fewer ounces / how much more enriched, the canned food could end up being more calories overall, fewer calories overall, or the same calories overall as the dry food.

    6% picked this

  2. Typically, cats are fed either

    Too Strong: typically

    The fact that the paragraph only mentions canned food and dry food doesn't mean that we can infer that those two types of food are the typical options for cats. I could say, "On average, high school students with extra fingers have more TikTok followers than do students with no hair". Does that mean we can infer that, "Typically, high schoolers have extra fingers, no hair, or both"?

    2% picked this

  3. How much it costs to

    Too Strong: only

    We have no way to justify the extreme claim that the only influence on the cost feeding a cat a given kind of food is how many calories per ounce that food contains. (Maybe the size or exercise level of the cat also affects how many ounces you feed the cat and thus how much it costs to feed that cat).

    5% picked this

  4. On average, it costs no

    Goes Against Common Sense

    Huh? It costs the same to feed a cat fewer ounces of food per day as it does to feed a cat more ounces of food per day? We have no reason to think it wouldn't cost less to feed a cat 10 oz of food than it would to feed a cat 20 oz of food. In fact, it's seems to contradict common sense. The paragraph certainly creates a possibility like "a cat being fed 5 oz of canned food costs no less than a cat being fed 8 oz of dry food", but there's no we could say, "on average, cats being fed less cat food aren't cheaper to feed than cats being fed more cat food".

    8% picked this

  5. Correct

    Canned cat food typically costs

    Why this is right

    This was the mathematical inference we predicted. The final claim was telegraphed with a Pivot (nonetheless), which is a huge hint that we're supposed to combine this last idea with something that came before it. We know that if the owner who feeds their cat canned food is spending more money each day on cat food, but feeding their cat fewer ounces of cat food each day, then they are spending more per ounce of food than is the owner who feeds their cat dry food.

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

    79% picked this

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