Logical Reasoning

PT17 · S2 · Q1 The basic ingredients from which

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The basic ingredients from which cement is made are both cheap and plentiful.

Given

Cement's basic ingredients are cheap and widely available.

Limestone and clay can be basic ingredients of cement.

The price of cement is influenced by the price of oil.

Turing the basic ingredients into cement in high-temperature kilns uses large amounts of energy.

Evaluate

If it's true the price of oil influences the price of cement because the high-temperature kilns use a lot of energy, it must be true that those kilns use oil or oil products to produce that energy.

Goal

Look for an answer that connects kilns to the use of oil or oil products like gas, diesel, etc.

1.

Which one of the following can be logically inferred from the passage?

  1. Oil is one of the

    Opposite (if anything)

    If anything, the stimulus implies that oil is not among the ingredients of cement.

    4% picked this

  2. Correct

    Oil is a source of

    Why this is right

    In order for the price of oil to influence the price of cement because of the energy used to run the kilns, it has to be true that at least some of the kilns use oil as a source of energy.

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

    91% picked this

  3. The higher the price of

    Unsupported Relationship

    Nothing here should lead us to infer a directly proportional relationship between the cost of cement and the cost one basic ingredient (clay).

    2% picked this

  4. Whenever oil prices rise, cement

    Unsupported Relationship

    Nothing here should lead us to infer an inversely proportional relationship between the cost of oil and the cost of cement. If anything, the stimulus seems to imply a proportional relationship: as oil prices go up, so go cement prices because it now costs more to fire the kilns and produce the product.

    1% picked this

  5. A given amount of cement

    Contradicted

    We're told that the cost of oil influences the price of cement. That means the cost of cement is more than the cost of the sum of its parts.

    2% picked this

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