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department support Karen s claim (choice a), Karen is
more likely to convince the management by citing con-
crete statistics. It s clear from the numbers provided in
choice b that the math department does indeed have
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 PROBLEM SOLVING REVISITED
more technological amenities than the English depart- 4. Which of the following is most likely to work
ment does. Choice c isn t the strongest piece of evidence against Anderson s argument?
because it merely states that there is a small percentage a. statements from citizens protesting the switch
difference between the amount of employees in the from public to private services
math and English departments, without relating this b. statistics demonstrating how much more the
fact to the issue at hand the technological amenities. average citizen would have to pay for privati-
Choice d, while it could be used to support Karen s zation of these services
claim, is not as strong as b, because it also doesn t c. reports from other cities with privatized serv-
directly address the amenities. ices about citizen protests that forced the
Now it s your turn. return to public services
d. reports from other cities about corruption
Practice among privatized service providers
Read the following scenario carefully and answer the
questions that follow. Answers
3. The strongest support for Anderson s argument is
City Council member Andrew Anderson claims that d, a direct comparison of how much the city
the city could save millions of dollars each year by spends per year on these services and how much
turning services like garbage collection over to pri- the city would save by farming the services out to
vate companies. private companies. Remember, Anderson s argu-
ment is that the city could save millions by turn-
3. Which of the following would provide the ing these services over to the private sector, and
strongest support for Anderson s argument? this comparison would show exactly how much
a. statistics showing how much the city spends this city (not other cities) would save.
each year on these services 4. Answer c is most likely to work against Ander-
b. statistics showing how much comparable son s argument because it is the strongest evi-
cities have saved by farming out these services dence that the plan didn t work in similar cities.
to private companies Furthermore, it shows that city councils that had
c. proposals from private companies showing approved similar plans had to reinstate public
how well they could perform these services for services due to citizen protests. Since city council
the city and at what costs members are elected officials, it s important for
d. a direct comparison of how much the city them to keep their constituents happy, and c sug-
spends per year on these services and how gests privatizing these services does not keep cit-
much the city would save by farming the serv- izens happy. Furthermore, you should be able to
ices out to private companies see that a, b, and d are all reasons that would be
likely to cause citizens to protest and demand a
return to public services.
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 PROBLEM SOLVING REVISITED
Given the facts especially the key fact that there
Drawing Conclusions from
are skid marks you can automatically eliminate
Evidence
choices a and b. If the driver were aiming for the fawn,
he probably wouldn t have hit the brakes and created
Many questions you face when you re being tested on
skid marks. Instead, he probably would have acceler-
your reasoning skills will ask you to draw conclusions
ated, in which case, his impact with the tree would
from evidence. You ve completed several lessons on
have been harder and resulted in more damage. Simi-
inductive reasoning, so you should be quite good at
larly, if the driver had fallen asleep at the wheel and only
these questions, even if their format is different from
woken up when he hit the fawn, there wouldn t have
what you re used to.
been skid marks leading up to the fawn.
As in the other types of questions, you can help
So now you re down to two possibilities: c and d.
ensure a correct response by using the process of
Which is more likely to be true? While it is entirely pos-
elimination. Given the evidence the question pro-
sible that the driver was drunk, all of the evidence
vides, you should automatically be able to eliminate
points to c as the most likely possibility. The skid marks
some of the answers.
indicate that the driver was trying to stop to avoid hit-
ting the fawn. Unsuccessful, he hit the animal and
Sample Question
swerved off the road into a tree.
For example, read the following question:
Other questions that ask you to draw conclu-
sions from evidence may vary in format, but don t let
A jeep has driven off the road and hit a tree.
their appearance throw you. If you read the following
There are skid marks along the road for several
practice problems, for example, you ll see that you can
yards leading up to a dead fawn. The marks then
tackle them quickly and easily by applying the evi-
swerve to the right and off the road, stopping
dence that s provided and eliminating the incorrect
where the jeep is. The impact with the tree is
answers as you go along.
head-on, but the damage is not severe. Based on
the evidence, which of the following is most
Practice
likely what happened?
5. There are four brothers Al, Bob, Carl, and
a. The driver was aiming for the fawn and lost
Dave. Dave is two years older than Bob; Bob is
control of the jeep.
one year younger than Carl; Al, who is 34, is two
b. The driver fell asleep at the wheel and was
years younger than Carl. Which brother is oldest?
awakened when he hit the fawn.
a. Al
c. The driver tried to avoid the fawn and lost
b. Bob
control of the jeep.
c. Carl
d. The driver was drunk and out of control.
d. Dave
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 PROBLEM SOLVING REVISITED
6. Jack and Allison are planning the seating Answers
arrangements for their wedding reception. At 5. You can solve this puzzle easily by starting with
one table are six guests. When deciding who this key fact: Al is 34 years old. Because you know [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]