The temperature in Taychester

Answer choices

1. A

   Helps Explain10% picked this

   Heat loss due to wind is less in Taychester than

   This says that Charlesville loses more heat due to wind than Taychester does. So even though Charlesville has warmer temperatures, they lose more of that heat due to wind, and so that could explain why in the end it ends up feeling cold enough for people in C to run their heaters more. Put another way, it sounds like even though Taychester gets less radiation from the sun (lower temperatures), it has an easier time preserving the heat it receives. By analogy, if Chester gets a bigger allowance every week than Tommy, but Chester loses more of his allowance from leaky pockets, then Tommy could still end up having more money.

   10%
2. B

   Correct60% picked this

   Although Charlesville is always fairly warm during the daytime, temperatures in Charlesville drop

   Why this is right

   It doesn't matter how cold it gets in Charlesville at night, since we were told that the temperature in Taychester is always at least 10 degrees lower. So if the temperature in Charlesville plummets to 40 degrees Fahrenheit at night, then according to our background fact, it's at most 30 degrees Fahrenheit in Taychester. Hence, this doesn't give us a way to explain why Charlesville's heating expenses are higher.

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

   60%
3. C

   Helps Explain11% picked this

   Utility rates in Taychester are lower than utility rates

   Charlesville is the warmer city, and so all other things being equal, houses in Charlesville don't need to run their heater quite as long or as hard as houses in Taychester would have to (in order to achieve comparable indoor temperatures). But if the utility rates are higher in Charlesville, then even though they're running their heaters less or on lower strength, the exorbitant utility rates could still lead to their expenses on heating being higher.

   11%
4. D

   Helps Explain12% picked this

   People who are used to warmer temperatures generally keep their homes warmer in the winter than do people who

   Since Charlesville is the warmer city, the people of Charlesville would generally want to keep their homes warmer during the winter than would people who live in Taychester. Thus, even though it's colder in Taychester during the winter (and all other parts of the year), they are so used to wearing thermal underwear and seeing their breath and relishing the brisk temperatures that they don't set their thermostat during the winter at much lower temperatures than the people in Charlesville do. As an analogy ... People in Los Angeles get used to balmy temperatures and so during the cold winter months, they're trying to make the inside of their house feel like a summer's day, so they're running their heaters on high so that they can continue wearing shorts / T-shirts. Meanwhile, people in Minneapolis get used to brisk temperatures and so during the cold winter months, they're still wearing multiple layers and thick socks inside their barely-heated homes. So even though LA is warmer during the winter than Minneapolis, LA residents are paying more for their heating expenses because they're trying to heat their homes to a summery level.

   12%
5. E

   Helps Explain7% picked this

   Houses in colder climates are usually better insulated than houses in

   This one is similar to how (A) explains things. There is less heat coming into Taychester, but Taychester has an easier time preserving that heat. Since they are in the colder climate, their houses are better insulated, so when they run their heaters during the winter, the heat produced stays inside the house better. In Charlesville, they run their heaters and much of the heat leaks outside the house, causing the heaters to need to run more constantly / at a stronger level.

   7%