Law School Discussion

From test #33-Dec 2000-Section 1

11) Researchers have discovered that caffeine can be as physically addictive as other psychoactive substances. Some people find that they become unusally depressed, drowsy, or even irritable if they do not have their customary dose of caffeine. This is significant because as many people consume caffeine as consume any one of the other addictive psychoactive substances.

Which one of the following can be logically conclucded from the information above?

a) There is no psychoactive substance to which more people are physically addicted than are addicted to caffeine
b) A physical addiction to a particular psychoactive substance will typically give rise to diverse psychological symptoms
c) Not all substances to which people can become physically addicted are psychoactive
d) If one is physically addicted to a psychoactive substance, one will become unusually depressed when one is no longer ingesting that substance
e) If alcohol is a physically addictve psychoactive substance, there are not more people who consume alcohol than consume caffeine.

{answer is E} don't understand why




18) The use of space-based satellites to study environmental conditions on Earth is an important development in the conservation movement's history. Environmental problems may no be observed long before they otherwise would be noticed, allowing for intenvention before they reach the crisis stage. It is no wonder that environmentalists fail to consider both that spacecraft may damage the ozone layer and that this damage could be serious enough to warrant discontinuing spaceflight.

a) People tend to ignore possible objectionable consequences of actiosn that support their activities
b) A negative consequence of an activity may be outseighed by its great positive consequences
c) Technology usually has at least some negative impact on the environment, even if it is largely beneficial.
d) Even well-intentioned attempts to solve problems sometimes make them worse
e) Attempts to employ technology often have unforeseen consequences that may be negative.

{answer is A}



20) Recently discovered prehistoric rock paintings on small islands off the northern coast of Norway have archaeologists puzzled. The predominant theory about northern cave paintings was that they were largely a description of the current diets of the painters. This theory cannot be right, ecause the painters must have needed to eat the sea animals populating the waters north of Nrway if they were to make the long journey to and from the islands, and there are no paintings that unambiguously depict such creatures.

Each of the following, if true, weakens the argument against the predominant theory about northern cave paintings Except:

a) Once on these islands, the cave painters hunted and ate land animals
b) Parts of the cave apintings on the islands did not survive the centuries
c) The cave paintings that were discovered on the islands decpited many land animals
d) Those who did the cave paintings that were discovered on the islands had unusually advanced techniques of preserving meats
e) The cave paintings on the islands were done by the original inhabitants of the islands who ate the meat of land animals.

{answer is C}

From Section 3 of the same test

9) At some point in any discussion of societal justice, the only possible doctrinal defense seems to be "That is the way we do things here." Different communities that each recognize the dignity and equality of all citizens will, for example, nevertheless settle on somewhat different provisions for the elderly. So we can see that general principles of justice are never sufficient to determine the details of social policies fixed within a particular state.

Which one of the following statements, if true, most strengthens the argument concerning the general principles of justice?

d) Two states founded on and adhering to similar principles of justice had different requirements that had to be met in order to be eligible for government-subsidized day care.
e) Two societies based on different principles of justice, each adhering to its own principles, had the same unemployment benfits.

{answer is D} I was stuck between the two but I ultimately ended up choosing e.

From P.S. homework-Lesson 9.

10) Page 33

Those influenced by modern Western science take it for granted that a genuine beief in astrology is proof of a credulous and unscientific mind. Yet, in the past, people of indisputable intellectual and scientific briliance accepted astrology as a fact. Therefore, there is no scientific basis for rejecting astrology.

The argument is most vulnerable to criticism on which one of the following grounds?

A- A belief can be consistent with the available evidence and accepted scientific theories at one time but not with the accepted evidence and theories of a later time.


E- The fact that there might be legitimate nonscientific reasons for rejecting astrology has been overlooked.

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13) A fourteen-year study of finches on the Galapagos islands concluded that there is a definite relationship between climate the population size of finch species that thrive at various times. During droughts, more members of large finch species survive because their bills are large enough to crack large, hard seeds, giving them a food supply unavailable to smaller birds. In rainy years, fewer members of the large finch species survive because the additional moisture fosters the growth of plants that produce small seeds. The larger finch varities have to consume enormous num bers of small seeds to meet their energy demands, and some just cannot eat them fast enough.

Which one of the following must be assumed in order to justify the conclusion that climatic variations cause a major difference in survival rates of small and large finches?

B- A length period of rainy weather results in fewer large, hard seeds being produced


C- in rainy periods, the small finches gathe enough food to grow much larger and heavier, but their ultimate size is limited by their inability to eat small seeds fast.

Is C wrong because it says all are not able to eat small seeds fast whereas the stimulus only says some?

Thanks!

just don't see it.

Premise: /a double not arrow /b
Conclusion: C->a

i broke the premise down to /a->b then /b->a but...i don't know where to go from there.

help!
 

I wish you guys the best of luck (skill, ease, etc)!!! Cya after the test!! (:

We can do it! We can do it! We can do it!

Question 19-24,

Zeno's Unfinished Furniture sells exactly five types of furniture-footstools, hutches, sideboards, tables and vanities. Irene buys just four items, each of different type and each made entirely of one kind of wood-maple, oak, pine or rosewood. The following conditions govern Irene's purchases:

Any vanity she buys is maple.

V->M
~M-~V

Any rosewood item she buys is a sideboard.

R->S
~S->~R

If she buys a vanity, she does not buy a footstool.

V->~F
F->~V


If she buys a footstool, she also buys a table made of the same wood.

F?->T?
~T?->~F?

Irene does not buy an oak table.
~OT

*~TO->~FO
*still can buy pine, maple or rosewood.

Exactly two of the items she buys are made of the same kind of wood as each other.

only 2 items made of the same wood.
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Question 23) Which one of the following CANNOT be the two items Irene buys that are made of the same wood as each other?

a) footstool, hutch
b) hutch, sideboard
c) hutch, table
d) sideboard, vanity
e) table, vanity

**I'm stumped on answer choices a, b, c.