Engineer: Wide roads free of obstructions

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct85% picked this

   Conditions that create a feeling of security also encourage

   Why this is right

   Yes, this is true in both halves of the analogy. Making a road wider and clearing it of obstructions makes drivers feel more security that they're not going to run into other cars or obstacles. Does that encourage risk taking? Yes, wide and unobstructed roads "have been shown to encourage drivers to take more risks". Blocking out part of the sun to reduce the threat of global warming makes polluters feel more secure that their CO2 emissions will not imperil the future habitability of Earth for humans. Does that encourage risk taking? Yes, it "encourages more carbon dioxide emissions (which risks causing more global warming in the future)". Interestingly, this answer definitely requires a common sense notion that "less global warming = more feeling of security".

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

   85%
2. B

   Too Strong1% picked this

   Problems created by humans require human-created

   Too Strong: require Weak Match: created by humans Is this answer true for both halves of the analogy? When we make a road wider and clear it of obstructions, can we say that we're solving a problem created by humans? Hmm. Maybe. The thing motivating us to widen a road would be that there are too many cars for the existing width to feel safe. Is the author stressing that such a thing requires human-created solutions? No, there's nothing like that. First of all, what other solutions are we talking about? Beavers are going to clear the logjam of our congested highway? Robots are going to innovate and implement a road re-design project? Practically all solutions are human-created solutions, unless we're talking about the time scale of evolutionary "solutions" (i.e. adaptations). The paragraph also doesn't say that global warming is a problem created by humans, nor does it stress that humans will be needed to solve global warming.

   1%
3. C

   Too Strong6% picked this

   Technical fixes are inevitably

   Too Strong: inevitably Weak Match: technical fixes Is this answer true for both halves of the analogy? When we make a road wider and clear it of obstructions, can we say that doing a technical fix? Hmm. Maybe. But we're more renovating / re-designing something than fixing it. It's also not clear that clearing obstructions is a technical fix. Taking a stray mattress off the side of the road? Removing fallen tree branches? Those are technical fixes? Is the author stressing that the wideness and unobstructed-ness is inevitably temporary? Soon, it will be narrower and obstructed again? No, that's awkward to match up. Furthermore, using our Necessary Assumption brain should be trying to be conservative with language, so inevitably should scare us a little, unless we see something in the passage to match that drama.

   6%
4. D

   Too Strong7% picked this

   Technical fixes cannot discourage risk-taking

   Too Strong: cannot Weak Match: technical fixes Is this answer true for both halves of the analogy? As we discussed for (C), it feels a bit stretchy to say that the 1st half was dealing with a technical fix. Is the author stressing that the wideness and unobstructed-ness cannot discourage risk-taking behavior? That's a bit of a leap. but if the author is saying that it encourages drivers to take more risks, then I guess it doesn't discourage drivers from taking more risks. But, using our Necessary Assumption brain, which is scared by strong language ... can we feel good saying that this author thinks that zero technical fixes ever have discouraged risk-taking behavior? That seems far too strong.

   7%
5. E

   Out of Scope: unresolved / worse1% picked this

   The longer a problem goes unresolved, the worse

   Is this answer true for both halves of the analogy? When we make a road wider and clear it of obstructions, can we say that a problem is going unresolved for longer? No, that would seemingly be the opposite. We're attempting to resolve a problem, by making roads wider and less obstructed. However, we're allowed to invert Volume Dial statements. This answer also means, "the sooner a problem gets resolved, the less worse it becomes". Is the author stressing that "the sooner we widen the roads and clear the obstructions, the less of a problem we'll have with roadway accidents"? No, she's stressing something that moves in the opposite direction. We'll attempt to resolve the problem, but it will prompt a behavior that actually adds back something onto the problem.

   1%