Working shorter workweeks causes managers to feel less stress than does working longer workweeks. In addition, greater perceived control over one’s work life reduces stress levels. It can be concluded, therefore, that shorter workweeks cause managers to feel they have more control over their work life.
The argument made above uses which of the following questionable techniques?
(A) Associating two conditions as cause and effect on the basis of their being causally associated with the same phenomenon
(B) Taking for granted that two factors that have a certain effect individually produce that effect more strongly when both act together
(C) Assuming what it sets out to prove
(D) Using an irrelevant point in order to draw a conclusion
(E) Basing a conclusion on preconceived views about the needs of managers
Answer: A
Industrialists from the country Distopia were accused of promoting the Distopian intervention in the Arcadian civil war merely to insure that the industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia made substantial profits during the war. Yet this cannot be the motive since, as the Distopians foresaw, Distopia’s federal expenses for the intervention were eight billion dollars, whereas, during the war, profits from the Distopian industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia totaled only four billion dollars.
Which of the following, if true, exposes a serious flaw in the argument made in the second sentence above?
(A) During the Arcadian war, many Distopian industrialists with facilities located in Arcadia experienced a significant rise in productivity in their facilities located in Distopia.
(B) The largest proportion of Distopia’s federal expenses is borne by those who receive no significant industrial profits.
(C) Most Distopian industrialists’ facilities located in Arcadia are expected to maintain the level of profits they achieved during the war.
(D) Distopian industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia made substantial profits before the events that triggered the civil war.
(E) Many Distopians expressed concern over the suffering that Arcadians underwent during the civil war.
Answer: B
The argument made above uses which of the following questionable techniques?
(A) Associating two conditions as cause and effect on the basis of their being causally associated with the same phenomenon
(B) Taking for granted that two factors that have a certain effect individually produce that effect more strongly when both act together
(C) Assuming what it sets out to prove
(D) Using an irrelevant point in order to draw a conclusion
(E) Basing a conclusion on preconceived views about the needs of managers
Answer: A
Industrialists from the country Distopia were accused of promoting the Distopian intervention in the Arcadian civil war merely to insure that the industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia made substantial profits during the war. Yet this cannot be the motive since, as the Distopians foresaw, Distopia’s federal expenses for the intervention were eight billion dollars, whereas, during the war, profits from the Distopian industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia totaled only four billion dollars.
Which of the following, if true, exposes a serious flaw in the argument made in the second sentence above?
(A) During the Arcadian war, many Distopian industrialists with facilities located in Arcadia experienced a significant rise in productivity in their facilities located in Distopia.
(B) The largest proportion of Distopia’s federal expenses is borne by those who receive no significant industrial profits.
(C) Most Distopian industrialists’ facilities located in Arcadia are expected to maintain the level of profits they achieved during the war.
(D) Distopian industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia made substantial profits before the events that triggered the civil war.
(E) Many Distopians expressed concern over the suffering that Arcadians underwent during the civil war.
Answer: B
