The rejection by the meteorologist

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct52% picked this

   supporting a conclusion about a specific case by invoking a

   Why this is right

   The generalization invoked is this: In a complicated system, no significant aspect can be controlled by just one factor. Her conclusion is about the specific case of whether the Sun could be the sole cause of land temperatures on Earth. She says "no it couldn't", because climate is a complicated system, land temperatures are a significant factor in climate, and so they cannot be controlled by just one factor, such as the Sun.

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

   52%
2. B

   Out of Scope: counterexample13% picked this

   producing a single counterexample that establishes that a generalization is false

   The generalization being argued with is that "the Sun's luminosity essentially controls land temperatures on Earth". If we were trying to prove that false with a single counterexample (we couldn't, since the 'essentially' tolerates exceptions), we would want one of these situations: - the Sun's luminosity changed a bunch, but land temperatures didn't or - land temperatures changed a bunch, but the Sun's luminosity hadn't This author doesn't provide either of those.

   13%
3. C

   Opposite: single cause21% picked this

   reanalyzing a correlation as reflecting the multiple effects of a

   The first author presented the correlation between Sun's luminosity and land temps on Earth. He concluded the Sun essentially controls land temps. Our author is reanalyzing that correlation, and specifically saying that in a complicated system, changes to significant factors are not from a single cause.

   21%
4. D

   Out of Scope: can't be tested6% picked this

   rejecting a conclusion because it is a proposition that cannot be

   We're talking about relationships between the Sun's luminosity and land temperatures on Earth, both of which seem like things that could certainly be measured and experimentally tested.

   6%
5. E

   Out of Scope: unfavorable evidence8% picked this

   pointing out that potentially unfavorable evidence has been

   This author doesn't present counterevidence that's been systematically neglected. She cites a generalization that's incompatible with what the first author has claimed. He may have failed to consider that principle, but he hasn't systematically neglected evidence.

   8%