Q2 - Columnist: Making some types of products

[Laura Damone]

Question Type:
ID the Flaw

Stimulus Breakdown:
Conclusion: Making some types of products from recycled materials is probably as damaging to the environment as making them from totally non-recycled materials.

Premises: Recycling said products uses as much energy as producing them from raw materials, and almost all energy production damages the environment.

Answer Anticipation:
Energy use doesn't tell the whole story of environmental impact. What about the extraction of raw materials? This certainly has impacts of its own that need to be considered when comparing the impact of making an item from raw materials against the impact of making an item from recycled materials.

Correct answer:
D

Answer choice analysis:
(A) This answer describes an Equivocation Flaw. But the word "environment" was used consistently throughout this argument. Eliminate!

(B) Cause and Effect Reversal Flaw? No way. This argument doesn't even mention an effect of energy-related damage to the environment, much less act as though it's a cause of such damage.

(C) Sampling Flaw? Tempting. But the premise and conclusion both deal with the same sample: a particular subset of products. Since we don't project what's true about that subset onto products more generally, there's no Sampling Flaw here.

(D) Bingo! Although we prephrased the negative version of this idea (making products from raw materials can do damage unrelated to energy consumption), the positive version of the idea works, too. The argument definitely overlooks the fact that recycled products may have environmental benefits unrelated to energy consumption.

(E) Another Causal Flaw: Mistaking Order for Causality. This argument doesn't talk about things happening in order, and it doesn't conclude that the first caused the second. Eliminate!

Takeaway/Pattern:
About 50% of ID the Flaw questions will contain one of the Famous Flaws, the ones with names. The other 50% will address an assumption the argument made, or an objection the argument failed to consider. But that doesn't mean that the Famous Flaws don't help you answer the question. Knowing which answers describe which flaws can help you make quick work of the wrong answers. In this question, it got rid of all 4!

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