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suntan lotion

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suntan lotion

by papgust » Sun Dec 27, 2009 6:40 am
According to advertisements, the higher a suntan lotion's sun protection factor, or SPF, the more protection from sunburn . In order for a suntan lotion to work, however, one has to remember to put it on before going in the sun, put on an adequate amount to cover the skin, and reapply it as needed. Therefore, it really does not matter that SPF a suntan lotion has.

Which one of the following best identifies the error in reasoning made in the passage?
(A) It is unreasonable to assume that the only purpose of a suntan lotion is to provide protection from sunburn.
(B) Because some people get sunburned more easily than others, the fact that there are different SPFs cannot be ignored.
(C) It cannot be concluded that the SPF is not important just because there are requirements for the application of the suntan lotion.
(D) It is unreasonable to assume that all suntan lotions require the same application
(E) There is no reason to assume that manufacturer are unaware that people sometimes forget to apply suntan lotion before going in the sun.

OA to follow.
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by linkinpark » Sun Dec 27, 2009 7:39 am
I picked C, conclusions says SPF factor isn't important, while C says application requirements can't be determinant of spf is important or not
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by papgust » Sun Dec 27, 2009 10:49 pm
Why not B?
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by heshamelaziry » Mon Dec 28, 2009 1:01 am
As usual, I am stuck between B and C. I picked B
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by Testluv » Mon Dec 28, 2009 1:20 am
papgust wrote:According to advertisements, the higher a suntan lotion's sun protection factor, or SPF, the more protection from sunburn . In order for a suntan lotion to work, however, one has to remember to put it on before going in the sun, put on an adequate amount to cover the skin, and reapply it as needed. Therefore, it really does not matter that SPF a suntan lotion has.

Which one of the following best identifies the error in reasoning made in the passage?
(A) It is unreasonable to assume that the only purpose of a suntan lotion is to provide protection from sunburn.
(B) Because some people get sunburned more easily than others, the fact that there are different SPFs cannot be ignored.
(C) It cannot be concluded that the SPF is not important just because there are requirements for the application of the suntan lotion.
(D) It is unreasonable to assume that all suntan lotions require the same application
(E) There is no reason to assume that manufacturer are unaware that people sometimes forget to apply suntan lotion before going in the sun.

OA to follow.
Looking at the last two sentences in abstract:

"In order for x,....one has to... . Therefore,....."

Of course, "therefore" is a conclusion keyword. What is the conclusion "thereforing" from? Naturally, it is following from the idea discussed in the preceding sentence. The preceding sentence is clearly listing requirements. So he thinks he can draw his conclusion because of some requirements.

But, obviously, the fact that there are requirements to its use does not mean that suntan lotion is useless (if that were the case, with the same line of reasoning, we could argue that cars are useless because one has to remember to fill the tank with gas, push the pedal, etc.).

So, choice C correctly identifies this reasoning error.

As for choice B, the author isn't arguing that SPFs can be ignored because different people have different vulnerabilities to the sun; rather, he is arguing that SPFs can be safely ignored because one has to remember to put it on before going in the sun, put on an adequate amount to cover the skin.....

______________

When analyzing arguments, make sure you boil it down using as few words as possible. First boil it down to "because x, y". You have to paraphrase the argument, piercing verbal filler to arrive at the decisive idea in the conclusion and ideas in the evidence. Then you need to sum it up: "he thinks that because of this, that". Then, ask how the evidence supports the conclusion, what the differential ideas are in conclusion and evidence. Then generate a prediction. Then, aggressively scan the answer choices for a match. Mastering this procedure allows one to zoom in on choice C here. Don't overuse POE. Remember you don't care about wrong answers and why they are wrong. You only get rewarded for announcing the accredited response. Therefore, after generating a prediction of the correct answer, your first run through the answer choices should be an aggressive scan for a choice that matches the insight in your head--you don't have to decide whether a chioce is wrong or right the first time you read it--and you don't want to get lured in by wrong answers which are designed by the test-maker to be seductive and tempting. Also, getting suckered into analyzing a choice too deeply before you've even looked at the other choices causes your original understanding/analysis/prediction of the argument to get dim.
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by papgust » Mon Dec 28, 2009 2:49 am
That's a wonderful explanation. Thanks testluv!

OA is C
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