Funding opponent: Some people favor

Answer choices

1. A

   Strengthens6% picked this

   Very few of the stray animals in the city are offspring

   This helps convince us that the strays in this city almost never come from pets, so the 20% of pets that aren’t spayed / neutered aren’t part of the problem. Even if the city pays for those pets to be spayed / neutered, it won’t significantly affect the number of strays, since those pets were never causing strays in the first place.

   6%
2. B

   Correct66% picked this

   Many pet owners would have their animals spayed or neutered sooner if funding were provided

   Why this is right

   This weakens! We could strengthen the argument by saying, “Even if the city provides funding, it won’t make a big difference in the number of strays, since no pet owners are going to have their animals spayed or neutered any sooner because of this funding.”

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

   66%
3. C

   Strengthens11% picked this

   The only way the number of stray animals can decrease is if existing strays are

   This helps show that the plan to provide funding for pet owners to spay / neuter their pets wouldn’t make a big difference in the stray problem, because the only way to decrease strays is trying to get strays spayed or neutered. “Plan A won’t make a big difference with Problem X, because the only way to address Problem X is by doing something that Plan A doesn’t do.”

   11%
4. D

   Strengthens14% picked this

   Most pet owners who do not have their pets spayed or neutered believe that spaying and

   This helps convince us that the 20% of pet owners who are holdouts are not holding out because of the money. They’re holding out on spaying / neutering their pets because they think it’s morally wrong to do so. Thus, it helps the author to argue that providing funding isn’t going to make any difference.

   14%
5. E

   Strengthens3% picked this

   The majority of pets that are not spayed or neutered are used for breeding purposes, and are not

   Just like (A), this helps convince us that the strays in this city don’t come from the 20% of pets that aren’t spayed / neutered. That 20% is mostly used for breeding purposes and unlikely to produce stray animals. If it’s not contributing to the problem with strays, then the city’s plan to try to get those pets spayed / neutered isn’t going to affect the problem with strays.

   3%