Question

Studies show that children who watch too much television are more likely than others to become obese adults. Jacob, who is an obese adult, must have watched more television as a child than I did, since I am not obese.
Which of the following most closely parallels the logical structure above ?

A. The hardware store on Main Street must have had a bigger advertisement in the Sunday paper than the hardware store around the corner had. The hardware store on Main Street sold twice as many items as the hardware store around the corner did last week, and a Sunday paper advertisement has been shown to increase the number of items sold.
B. Studies show that large dogs live shorter lives, on average, than small dogs do. Rex is a large dog and therefore might be expected to live a shorter life than Mustang, who is a small dog.
C.The county superintendent stated that all schools would be canceled for the day if snowfall last night were greater than six inches. Therefore, since the snowfall was only five inches, we must be following the usual school schedule today.
D. According to research, people with unusual musical talent do not achieve their true potential unless they are given formal lessons. Therefore Jesse, who has achieved his full musical potential without formal lessons must not have unusual musical talent.
E. People who like vegetables also like fruits. Elizabeth does not like fruits, so she must not like vegetables either.

Answer 1

Answer:

A. The hardware store on Main Street must have had a bigger advertisement in the Sunday paper than the hardware store around the corner had. The hardware store on Main Street sold twice as many items as the hardware store around the corner did last week, and a Sunday paper advertisement has been shown to increase the number of items sold.

Explanation:

The statement in the example has the following logical structure. It finds explanation to a present state (Jacob is obese, while I am not) that came as a result of actions in the past (as a child Jacob watched more television than I did) on the basis of a study (correlation between watching TV and obesity in children).

In the same manner, statement A finds explanation to a present state (hardware store on Main Street sold twice as many items as the hardware store around the corner did last week) that came as a result of the action in the past (the hardware store on Main Street must have had a bigger advertisement in the Sunday paper than the hardware store around the corner had) on the basis of a study (Sunday paper advertisement has been shown to increase the number of items sold).