Logical Reasoning

PT17 · S2 · Q7 The fishing industry cannot

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The fishing industry cannot currently be relied upon to help the government count the seabirds killed by net fishing, since an accurate count might result in restriction of net fishing.

Conclusion (should therefore)

The government should institute a program where tissue samples from dead birds are examined to determine the amount of toxins in the fish eaten by the birds.

Evidence

The fishing industry cannot currently be relied upon to help the government count the seabirds killed by net fishing because an accurate count might result in restriction of net fishing.

The industry needs to know whether the fish it catches are contaminated with toxins.

Evaluate

This argument is making a Plan/Goal argument:

Plan: Implement a program to analyze bird tissues for toxins.

Goal: determine the amount of seabirds killed by net fishing.

The idea is that by instituting a program to test birds for toxins, the fishing industry will have an incentive to cooperate and turn in the bird carcasses because they are concerned about the potential contamination of fish. Meanwhile, the government will finally get the "dead bird count" they seek, to analyze the effect of net fishing on seabirds.

Goal

Let's look for an answer that makes us more likely to think that any part of this Plan will work as intended to get us closer to the Goal. We want to know that the fishing industry will indeed be motivated to turn in the seabirds they kill and that the government will thereby get a good sense for the number of seabirds being killed by net fishing.

7.

Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?

  1. The seabirds that are killed

    Irrelevant Quality

    Who cares whether the birds eat ALL the species of fish that get caught or only some of them? That has nothing to do with whether this Plan of testing carcasses for toxins will help the government get numbers on dead seabirds.

    4% picked this

  2. The government has not in

    No Impact

    The government's past actions related to examining tissue samples do not address whether the fishing industry would be motivated to report dead birds now. This has no bearing on the success or failure of the program being proposed.

    9% picked this

  3. Correct

    The government cannot gain an

    Why this is right

    If the government cannot gain an accurate count without the fishing industry's cooperation, this strengthens the argument by highlighting the need for the new program as a means to incentivize participation in accurate reporting. This accentuates the problem and thus intensifies the need for a solution. It rules out the possibility of alternate solutions that don't involve bribing the fishing industry to cooperate.

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

    70% picked this

  4. If the government knew that

    Opposite Impact

    If anything, this makes it seem like this Plan would be risky for the fishing industry to cooperate with, because it could lead to the government restricting their industry.

    9% picked this

  5. If net fishing were restricted

    No Impact

    This hypothetical has nothing to do with the Plan. If anything it reveals an alternate plan the author could use, which would weaken.

    7% picked this

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