Reptiles are air-breathing vertebrates

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct78% picked this

   Green plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen back into the air; so it follows that grass takes in carbon dioxide

   Why this is right

   We can match this up with the original: Prem: Group X has trait A. Green plants take in CO2, release oxygen. (Reptiles are air-breathing V's with ossified S) Conc: Member of Group X has trait A. Green plants take in CO2, release oxygen. (Alligators are air-breathing V's with ossified S)

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

   78%
2. B

   Bad Premise Match2% picked this

   Some red butterflies are poisonous to birds that prey on them; so this particular red butterfly is poisonous to

   The premise here is not telling us about a Group that all has a certain trait. The premise in the original was about all reptiles, of which alligators are one member. The premise in the correct answer is about all green plants, of which green grass is one member. The premise in this answer is about some red butterflies, and the "particular red butterfly" in the conclusion may or may not be a member of that group.

   2%
3. C

   Weak Premise Match8% picked this

   Knowledge about the empirical world can be gained from books; so Virginia Woolf’s book A Room of One’s Own must provide

   It's tough to say that the premise here could be construed as telling us about a Group that all has a certain trait. The premise is saying, "It's possible to gain knowledge about the empirical world from a book. It can be done." That's different from saying, "all books provide knowledge about the empirical world", which is what we would need it to say for the Conclusion to work the way it did in the original argument. In other words, the fixed version of this answer is: "Books provide knowledge about the empirical world; so Virginia Woolf's book A Room of One's Own must provide knowledge about the empirical world".

   8%
4. D

   Weaker Evidence / Conclusion Match12% picked this

   Dierdre has seen every film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder; so Dierdre must have seen Ali: Fear Eats the Soul,

   This argument could actually match the original, if we express it a little differently and treat "Dierdre has seen it" as the trait. Prem: Group X has trait A. Fassbinder-movies have all been seen by Dierdre. Conc: Member of Group X has trait A. Fassbinder's Ali: Fear Eats the Soul has been seen by Dierdre. If we didn't have a better option, then we could conceivably stretch this answer to work, but because we have to do manipulation to get it to look parallel to the original, this isn't as close a match as was the correct answer, which required no manipulation to look parallel.

   12%
5. E

   Bad Conclusion Match1% picked this

   Skiers run a high risk of bone fracture; so it is likely that Lindsey, who has been an avid skier for many years, has

   The fact that this conclusion is not certain of itself ("likely" vs. "must be"), will be enough to disqualify this from consideration.

   1%