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June 2007, Logical Reasoning 1, Question 8

Transcript

So we begin with a question stem, which following most logically completes the argument. Now, when they're asking you to complete the argument that on its own does not tell you what type of question you're dealing with. You need to know what they're asking you to complete the argument with. So when you glance back at the argument and you see the blank, look for the keywords that are in front of the blank.

So here we have a Thus. Thus indicates a conclusion. If you're filling in a conclusion, then what we have is an inference question. So for an inference question, we're gonna take stock of the facts that we have. We're gonna take all of them as true. And then we're gonna look for the answer that we can prove absolutely, with no doubt, with those facts.

So all right, first fact. Proponents of the electric car say that once they've handled the battery problems with the electric car, those cars are gonna be widely used. Second fact, because they that is the electric cars are emission-free. This is going to result in an abatement of the environmental degradation caused by auto emissions.

In other words, it's gonna cut down on the pollution that comes from the emissions that cars put out. All right, but the next fact. Unless we dam more rivers, the electricity to charge these batteries will come from nuclear or coal-fired plants. So basically, to get energy we need we're going to either have to dam a river, have a nuclear plant, or have a coal-fired plant.

Final piece of information each of these three power sources produces considerable environmental damage. So the correct answer will be provable with some combination of those four facts. Lets go to A. A says that electric cars will have worse environmental consequences than its proponents may believe.

Well, that's certainly provable. The proponents said that because there's not gonna be emissions then pollution is going down. But we know that you need electricity for the cars. And each of the three places you can get electricity is going to result in some pollution.

So answer choice A is good. Now, let's see why the others are wrong. Answer choice B says that the electric car will probably remain less popular than other types of cars. So notice the only thing I know here is that the proponents think that the car is gonna become popular.

The speaker in this prompt doesn't weigh in on that. I don't know if they're right or wrong. So answer choice B is not my answer. Answer choice C says that the electric car requires that purely technical problems be solved before it can succeed. Well, I know that the proponents think that there is one technical problem left, the battery.

I don't know if they're right. Again, the author doesn't take a stance on that. So answer choice C is not my. Answer is choice D will increase the total level of emissions rather than reduce it. Now, answer choice D might seem very similar to A. A says that there's gonna be more pollution or more environmental consequences than the proponents may believe.

And we say, yeah, it's gonna be worse than they think, because they think it's gonna get rid of pollution. And our author says no, there's gonna be pollution from other places. Now, answer choice D says that the car is going to increase the total level of emissions rather than reduce it. So I don't know if the electricity from the dams or the plants it's gonna cause more pollution than is gonna be saved with the switch over to the electric car.

Could be more, could be less. I can't say for sure that it's going to increase. So answer choice D is not my answer. And answer choice E is pretty much the same thing. It says that it will not produce a net reduction. Well, I don't know which way it's gonna go.

Could be more, could be less. All I know is it's gonna be more pollution than the proponents think. I don't know if it's gonna be more pollution overall. Or if it's gonna be the same amount overall. Or if it's gonna be less overall. I just know that it's not gonna be zero like the proponents think, so the answer choice is not E

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